Sticking caliper

[okiefirefighter]

87 VR has sat since Oct, last year. THe front caliper is sticking now. What is the fix?

Kevin

[lonestarmedic]

Kevin, 3 ideas here.

 

You can try spreading the pucks back into the bores.

This might break them loose. Kinda work them back and forth. Remember

that the pucks work from both sides equally. So yo have to take into

account the movement of one side when you push the other side.

 

THe other idea is to go ahead and remove the caliper. Pull the pistons

from the bores and inspect. Depending on the condition of the o-rings

and dust seals you might get away with re-assembling. Otherwise it

takes 2 kits to rebuild. Kit prices are about $60.00 for the pair.

 

LAst idea is purchasing a caliper from e-bay. I have seen them go for

half the price of the lits!! Or even less.

 

JB

[bill p]

:farmer:Now were talking a real problem. Do you know which side is sticking? The left side is coupled to the foot brake and the right side to the r/h hand brake . First I would bleed the old fluid from the system till it runs clear. You might try to remove the pads from the sticking side and soak the pistons and calper with liberal spraying of a good penetrating oil. You can use a piece of wood ..... like a wedge or prying tool to push the piston back into the caliper, then pump it back out with either the foot pedal or the hand brake. Not knowing what tools you have and what experience you have in using them puts us at a big disadvantage. Should you take it into a shop they will tell you a complete overhaul of the brakes system is needed. That is the only way they can protect themselfs from liability. A 20 year old bike probably should have the brakes hoses replaced. I did mine 3 years ago with lines from BUCKEYE PERFORMANCE. You will never be sorry but it an full days work. My 88 Vr s only limit on stopping power is the condition of the tires. Do you have a service manul? You will need it for bleeding . The instructiond are in the tech section here, or in Venturers site.

good luck

 

Bill P

[okiefirefighter]

Ok I will try this next week. Thanks,

Kevin

 

JB

[okiefirefighter]

:farmer:Now were talking a real problem. Do you know which side is sticking? The left side is coupled to the foot brake and the right side to the r/h hand brake . First I would bleed the old fluid from the system till it runs clear. You might try to remove the pads from the sticking side and soak the pistons and calper with liberal spraying of a good penetrating oil. You can use a piece of wood ..... like a wedge or prying tool to push the piston back into the caliper, then pump it back out with either the foot pedal or the hand brake. Not knowing what tools you have and what experience you have in using them puts us at a big disadvantage. Should you take it into a shop they will tell you a complete overhaul of the brakes system is needed. That is the only way they can protect themselfs from liability. A 20 year old bike probably should have the brakes hoses replaced. I did mine 3 years ago with lines from BUCKEYE PERFORMANCE. You will never be sorry but it an full days work. My 88 Vr s only limit on stopping power is the condition of the tires. Do you have a service manul? You will need it for bleeding . The instructiond are in the tech section here, or in Venturers site.

good luck

 

Bill P

 

Bill,

it is on the left side. I need a service manual. Where to buy a good one?

Kevin

[lonestarmedic]

Kevin,

The manual is available in electronic format for about #15.00 I got mine off of e-bay. It is about 96mb file. Got a broadband connection and the ability to receive a 100mb e-mail?

 

JB

[Rocket]

Bill,

it is on the left side. I need a service manual. Where to buy a good one?

Kevin

 

Check out this thread......

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3384

[Squidley]

Something you might want to think of is if you plan on keeping the bike for a while then perhaps it's time to upgrade the front brakes to an R1 set up. Go into the search bar and type in R1 and it will bring up all the threads on these brakes.

[IH Truck Guy]

Something you might want to think of is if you plan on keeping the bike for a while then perhaps it's time to upgrade the front brakes to an R1 set up. Go into the search bar and type in R1 and it will bring up all the threads on these brakes.

Hey Brad,is my search function different then yours????????? I typed in R1 and got no matches....:think: You know it doesn't take much to baffle me....

[Neil86]

I H Guy....heres a thread covering the R1 swap..

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27170

[Squeeze]

Hey Brad,is my search function different then yours????????? I typed in R1 and got no matches....:think: You know it doesn't take much to baffle me....

 

here are some recent Threads about the R1 Thing

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25741

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27170

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25741

[Squidley]

....and there you go Dan

Glad I could help

[dynodon]

Verify if it is just the LF brake that is sticking. If the rear is also running hot, you have a stuck or plugged valve in the Master cyl connected to the foot brake pedal. This happened on my bike.

 

If just the front left if hot and dragging, then go into the caliper and try the things mentioned before.

 

The pistons are available from Yamaha, but they want a small fortune for a rebuild kit, and it only does ONE side of the caliper!

[IH Truck Guy]

Thanks for the thread links guys.

Did you have them saved some where or did you search for them??????

I have tried to search for other things as well,and have not had much luck..

I find if you type in too many words,you end up with alot of threads that really don't pertain to what you were searching for.It just matches one word.

Maybe there is a better way to use the search function that I don't know about.

When I retire,I think I'm going to take some computer classes.....

[skydoc_17]

This first part of my post is for Dan Schepp or any other person who has tried to use the search feature. I have had little to no luck with the search feature myself, I'm not saying it isn't a nifty feature but I don't seem to have much luck with it. Here is what I have done to solve that problem: I created a Doc file in My Docs called "First Gen. Tech. Links"

Then when I find a thread with useful info, I open MS Word, create a blank doc and type the name of the info I want to be able to find later. I go back to the VR site, copy the link from the address bar at the very top of the window, go back to MS word, paste the link onto the doc and then save it in the file "first gen. tech. links" in my docs. I then have the ability to search that data base much better.

 

This second part of this post is for Kevin Putney or anyone else who has a sticking front or rear caliper on their VR. When I first purchased my 87' VR in march of this year the left front caliper and rear caliper were sticking badly. I took them off removed the pistons cleaned them like new lubed them and when the left front froze up a second time about a week later, it fried my left front rotor! In my honest opinion, don't even kid yourself into thinking that cleaning these 21 plus year old calipers is going to be a long term solution for your breaking problems! If you don't do a complete rebuild on these 2 piece calipers you will be buying new rotors shortly there after. Not to mention when it freezes up you will be stuck where you stand! I could not get that caliper to release for love or money until I trailered the bike home. That being said, I chose to replace the 21 year old calipers on my 87' VR with calipers from a 2002 R1 on the front and a right front caliper from a 2001 R6 on the rear. I also chose to delink the breaks at this time due to the ENDLESS brake bleeding that you must do to get the air out of the brake lines. But I will add that you can upgrade the calipers to the R1-R6 calipers and still have the linked system. And you will still have all of the fun of the endless bleeding from the old system. I did find that my 21 year old master cyls. were not up to the task of powering the new calipers and I had to rebuild both of them. After that, with the addition of speed bleeders to the three new calipers, I bled all three calipers and their lines in 8 minutes. NO BS! The new breaks are WAY better than the stock system but I will leave it up to you to make the final decision, but by all means either rebuild the old or replace with more modern, but please don't "banaid" them. The total cost for all of the good used parts and the rebuild kits was $150.00 give or take a few bucks, and I sold my old stuff for around $50.00 Check my profile, I have pics and a description, and am happy to answer any questions about the VR to R1 brake swap!

Just My 2 Cents,

Ride Safe,

Brake Safe,

Earl

[Squeeze]

Thanks for the thread links guys.

Did you have them saved some where or did you search for them??????

I have tried to search for other things as well,and have not had much luck..

I find if you type in too many words,you end up with alot of threads that really don't pertain to what you were searching for.It just matches one word.

Maybe there is a better way to use the search function that I don't know about.

When I retire,I think I'm going to take some computer classes.....

 

I searched for them with R1 and Caliper as the Search Term. But the Result was an awful big List. Thanks that i remembered the Threads and it was a quick Answer. There are some more about the Issue, we been talking about that Conversion since two Years or so. Jimbob5 has done it, Skydoc_17 and some more i just don't remember now. If you look in my History you will find a Lot of Comments on the R1 Caliper Conversion. I'm afraid to say, but i believe it was me, who talked Skydoc into the Conversion he documented. But what he says is true, it doesn't make Sense to sink a Lot of Money and Working Hours into the old Calipers, the R1 will ever be the technically better Solution.

 

BUT ....

 

These Caliper will only fit Bolt on the MKII !!

 

The MKI has a different Mounting Bolt Distance(only 83mm) and they won't fit without a Bracket or MKII lower Fork Legs and Rotors.

[Condor]

The MKI has a different Mounting Bolt Distance(only 83mm) and they won't fit without a Bracket or MKII lower Fork Legs and Rotors.

 

Squeeze do you know what type..make bracket is used? Is it one that already exists or is it something that would have to be made up?? Doing the R1/R6 caliper mod on an '83 would be a big improvement.

[Squeeze]

Squeeze do you know what type..make bracket is used? Is it one that already exists or is it something that would have to be made up?? Doing the R1/R6 caliper mod on an '83 would be a big improvement.

 

Jack, i know there are Brackets on the Market for the early Vmax to make them fit the later(100mm) Bolt Pattern/Distance. The early Vmax used the same (267mm) Rotor Diameter as the MKI uses. So, i think this Brackets would fit a MKI too. But i don't know a existing (european) Vendor for such Brackets. The only Guy i know who has such Brackets is currently updating his entire front Fork to the later Vmax Fork. I could ask him if he could send me those Brackets after his Job is done. But he's from the Netherlands and this may take a while. I could open a Search on our local Vmax Board and probably there would come something up.

 

Maybe the typical US Vmax-Vendors have such Brackets in the Closet. John Furbur at Blue Ridge Mountain Motorsports, UFO Cycles, perhaps John Gayney from PCW Racing ?

[Condor]

Jack, i know there are Brackets on the Market for the early Vmax to make them fit the later(100mm) Bolt Pattern/Distance. The early Vmax used the same (267mm) Rotor Diameter as the MKI uses. So, i think this Brackets would fit a MKI too. But i don't know a existing (european) Vendor for such Brackets. The only Guy i know who has such Brackets is currently updating his entire front Fork to the later Vmax Fork. I could ask him if he could send me those Brackets after his Job is done. But he's from the Netherlands and this may take a while. I could open a Search on our local Vmax Board and probably there would come something up.

 

Maybe the typical US Vmax-Vendors have such Brackets in the Closet. John Furbur at Blue Ridge Mountain Motorsports, UFO Cycles, perhaps John Gayney from PCW Racing ?

 

Thanks once again Squeeze. You're a verible fountain of info. Keep tabs on your buddy with the brackets, I'd be interested in them if they ever become available. Meanwhile I'll start asking around here in the US. Thanks for the leads....