Uneven Rear Brake pad wear - sticky caliper

[BikerJake]

I've seen a number of people report uneven rear brake pad wear. I bought my '05 RSV used and it passed state inspection only 2500 miles ago, so I wasn't expecting any brake issues for a while. I was dismayed when I started hearing grinding in the rear brakes. When I checked the pads, the inner was down to metal and the outer had 3/8" left. It seems that the caliper is sticking. Has anyone got Yamaha to cover the caliper and/or rotor under warranty? The bike has about 17k miles on it.

 

The rotor is only slightly scratched, should I replace it?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Jake

[Royal05Steve]

I've seen a number of people report uneven rear brake pad wear. I bought my '05 RSV used and it passed state inspection only 2500 miles ago, so I wasn't expecting any brake issues for a while. I was dismayed when I started hearing grinding in the rear brakes. When I checked the pads, the inner was down to metal and the outer had 3/8" left. It seems that the caliper is sticking. Has anyone got Yamaha to cover the caliper and/or rotor under warranty? The bike has about 17k miles on it.

 

The rotor is only slightly scratched, should I replace it?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Jake

 

Yes mine went at 14K rotor/caliper/ the inner pad wore down to nothing and the pistons were almost gone. Yamaha did replace them, but it took a lot of back and forth of the dealer and a few Yamaha reps. Keep after them. The inner will always wear first and you need to flip the pads every 8k or so. It is a non floating caliper, so this is an issue. Someone mentioned something about a spacer maybe fixing it, not sure.

[Orrin]

Jake, I had the same problem. One pad completely gone and the other like new. They have a problem with the rear caliper sticking. My dealer says that he tried to get it covered but they would not go for it. My mechanic got everything loosened up and so far no problems, but I have not pulled it apart to check to see if it is still sticking or operating OK. Does not appear to decrease the effectiveness of the rear brake. I can attest to that.

 

Becareful trying to get the pistons working, you definitely do not want those pistons to come out of the cylinders.

[1BigDog]

The rear pads usually have a 12-14k life span. When I change my pads I clean around the pistons then I spray some cable lube around the piston diameter before I compress it for the new pads. Works great and my pad wear is fairly even. I use EBC HH pads. Much of the rear pad wear is due to the weight of the RSV. Also most tend to stop on the rear brake only. I try and use both brakes together.