What is wrong with this picture?

[camos]

Before getting to my question, last weekend I tried to put the 89 on the centre stand but could not do it. My thought was "Holy smokes, am I ever getting weak. What's up with that?" Can't remember why I wanted to put it up on the stand but it was not really necessary. So Monday morning, on the way to work, hit some black ice and went down. It's sad to say my 89 Venture is no longer beautiful.

 

 

Apart from ice being slippery, the primary reason for going down was the right front brake had somewhat seized up so when contacting the ice enough traction was lost so down we went. Today I bled the brakes because I couldn't think of anything else to do. That was not the solution to the problem. Should say also that again I could not get the bike on the centre stand but this time I knew why. The front wheel would not roll back enough to raise the bike up.

 

Pulled the right front caliper off and was able to easily get it onto the centre stand.

 

Here is my question:

Look at the pic, the pads are unevenly worn but curiously, the pistons with the thinnest pad are also the farthest in. Seems backwards to me.

 

 

The pistons were cleaned about 6 months ago but I can't think of any other reason for such uneven wear. Lost the light today so I'll try cleaning them tomorrow. Just trying to make some sense of what they look like.

 

Any ideas?

 

Guess I should also say that I was not hurt at all. Was only going about 30 mph at the time so slid a few yards while watching sparks fly from the crash guards.

The damage is heartbreaking.

Looks like the 90 VR will be turned into a donor bike.

I suspect it could have been much worse though so perhaps there is a silver lining in my cloud of sorrow.

[Flyinfool]

Ouch, glad that YOU are OK.

 

First thought, when you did the brake work before did you have the front wheel off and maybe putt something back in the wrong place causing the front wheel to be off center?

Same question on the calipers.

push the pistons back in to see which side is actually frozen, one side should move easy and the other side not so much. Or you could VERY gently squeeze the brake to see which side moves first, the other side is the one hanging up.

 

At this point I would take the whole caliper apart and do a complete rebuild, then rebuild the other 2 as they are likely not far behind.

 

For the crash bar all that's left is to bolt on a different one, not much left to fix there unless you want to build it back up by welding and sand it round and then just have painted crash bars. I personally don't like chrome anyhow so I would just weld and paint.

 

There may be more than I can see in the pic but the fairing does not look to bad. I had a local paint shop mix me a small can of that color to repaint the top of one of my side bags, they started with a Toyota color that was close and then hand matched from there. Came out perfect. I just cleared the top of both lids so that the shine would match.

 

Good luck getting it back together.

[zagger]

Looks like the crash bar did its job. If the ground bar and scraped fairing are the only issues, then I'd say you came away from the accident with pretty minor damage. I'm sure that you can figure out why the caliper is dragging and get it working again.

zag

[Guest divey]

Sorry to see that Clive but glad no injuries to yourself. Doug

[Chaharly]

Before getting to my question, last weekend I tried to put the 89 on the centre stand but could not do it. My thought was "Holy smokes, am I ever getting weak. What's up with that?" Can't remember why I wanted to put it up on the stand but it was not really necessary. So Monday morning, on the way to work, hit some black ice and went down. It's sad to say my 89 Venture is no longer beautiful.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]102891[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]102892[/ATTACH]

 

Apart from ice being slippery, the primary reason for going down was the right front brake had somewhat seized up so when contacting the ice enough traction was lost so down we went. Today I bled the brakes because I couldn't think of anything else to do. That was not the solution to the problem. Should say also that again I could not get the bike on the centre stand but this time I knew why. The front wheel would not roll back enough to raise the bike up.

 

Pulled the right front caliper off and was able to easily get it onto the centre stand.

 

Here is my question:

Look at the pic, the pads are unevenly worn but curiously, the pistons with the thinnest pad are also the farthest in. Seems backwards to me.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]102890[/ATTACH]

 

The pistons were cleaned about 6 months ago but I can't think of any other reason for such uneven wear. Lost the light today so I'll try cleaning them tomorrow. Just trying to make some sense of what they look like.

 

Any ideas?

 

Guess I should also say that I was not hurt at all. Was only going about 30 mph at the time so slid a few yards while watching sparks fly from the crash guards.

The damage is heartbreaking.

Looks like the 90 VR will be turned into a donor bike.

I suspect it could have been much worse though so perhaps there is a silver lining in my cloud of sorrow.

 

My goodness! Glad you're Ok! Kind of a tough way to find out you had a dragging brake.

[Chaharly]

Before getting to my question, last weekend I tried to put the 89 on the centre stand but could not do it. My thought was "Holy smokes, am I ever getting weak. What's up with that?" Can't remember why I wanted to put it up on the stand but it was not really necessary. So Monday morning, on the way to work, hit some black ice and went down. It's sad to say my 89 Venture is no longer beautiful.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]102891[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]102892[/ATTACH]

 

Apart from ice being slippery, the primary reason for going down was the right front brake had somewhat seized up so when contacting the ice enough traction was lost so down we went. Today I bled the brakes because I couldn't think of anything else to do. That was not the solution to the problem. Should say also that again I could not get the bike on the centre stand but this time I knew why. The front wheel would not roll back enough to raise the bike up.

 

Pulled the right front caliper off and was able to easily get it onto the centre stand.

 

Here is my question:

Look at the pic, the pads are unevenly worn but curiously, the pistons with the thinnest pad are also the farthest in. Seems backwards to me.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]102890[/ATTACH]

 

The pistons were cleaned about 6 months ago but I can't think of any other reason for such uneven wear. Lost the light today so I'll try cleaning them tomorrow. Just trying to make some sense of what they look like.

 

Any ideas?

 

Guess I should also say that I was not hurt at all. Was only going about 30 mph at the time so slid a few yards while watching sparks fly from the crash guards.

The damage is heartbreaking.

Looks like the 90 VR will be turned into a donor bike.

I suspect it could have been much worse though so perhaps there is a silver lining in my cloud of sorrow.

 

If you decide to keep her we'll help you with the repairs the whole way!

[Marcarl]

Glad you are ok, doesn't take long to happen eh? dumped an 86 in a somewhat similar fashion, except it was the side stand that caused it and a skidoo suit that helped my slide. Your calipers look ancient, lots of salt by the look of things. I would suggest as well, take all the calipers off, rebuild them from scratch with new seals and rings and drain the total system. You just can't spare anything when it come to the stoppers,,, they need to work right and well.

[camos]

A caliper alignment issue does seem to be indicated since the thick pad shows almost no wear with the pistons almost fully extended. Not sure how that could happen but will be checking it out shortly.

 

The plastic should not be too difficult to fix although it might be a bit harder if the fairing frame got torqued.

 

There is no question as to whether I will keep it. The MkII Venture is the only bike that does it all for me. Do I wish it was less top heavy, yes but otherwise, it's perfect for my needs. I feel like a king when riding in it.

[XV1100SE]

Glad you weren't hurt !

[cowpuc]

Glad you are ok, doesn't take long to happen eh? dumped an 86 in a somewhat similar fashion, except it was the side stand that caused it and a skidoo suit that helped my slide. Your calipers look ancient, lots of salt by the look of things. I would suggest as well, take all the calipers off, rebuild them from scratch with new seals and rings and drain the total system. You just can't spare anything when it come to the stoppers,,, they need to work right and well.

 

Sorry about your scoot Camos BUT VERY glad your ok!! Sure looks totally repairable to me too!

 

I was kinda thinking similar to @Marcarl here only I thought the Calipers appeared to have gotten really really HOT.. Wondering how much you had ridden with the brake caliper sticking.. I know this may sound crazy (you would be surprised how many times I have been told "Puc,, puc puc puc,, thats just crazy" but I have personally seen a sticky caliper causing brake pads to drag, the dragging pads actually got hot enough to cause the brakes to start seizing on the rotor and I happen to notice it all cause my buddies bike that it happened on ended up with a cherry red hot rotor that literally was glowing red before he came to screeching halt (it was his rear brake - front brake and it could easily have had the results you experienced @camos!!

I point that all out because the pics do show some strange looking caliper - like it got really hot.. If that is the case I would be checking the rotor and the brake lines too very carefully.. Sort of like damages I would look for in a fire restore.. Just not wanting you to hit the road thinking all is well and discover you have other issues that needed to be dealt with to have it be safe..

 

All the best in the rebuild my friend!!

Puc

[syscrusher]

It's too bad you're in Canada since shipping would probably be super expensive. You could buy R1 calipers off of Ebay for just the price of a rebuild kit and save the time of working on yours. They'll bolt right up to your 1990 and you can buy Double HH pads for use with them.

 

I have a set of crash bars, not pretty but much prettier than yours, but I still have need for them only to determine how to make my own brackets to hold the chin fairing on with my footboards. I was thinking that if you send me your damaged engine guard along with a prepaid label for me to send you mine back you can have mine.

 

LMK?

 

[cowpuc]

It's too bad you're in Canada since shipping would probably be super expensive. You could buy R1 calipers off of Ebay for just the price of a rebuild kit and save the time of working on yours. They'll bolt right up to your 1990 and you can buy Double HH pads for use with them.

 

I have a set of crash bars, not pretty but much prettier than yours, but I still have need for them only to determine how to make my own brackets to hold the chin fairing on with my footboards. I was thinking that if you send me your damaged engine guard along with a prepaid label for me to send you mine back you can have mine.

 

LMK?

 

 

Now we're cooking with hot hydraulic fluid - GOOD ON YA SYS!!!:clap2: And VERY good suggestion on the R1 Calipers too:thumbsup:

[camos]

There is no sign of overheating on the rotor or the rubber brake line. It is my belief the right brake was hanging up and with normal traction the wheel was turning well enough to overcome the drag. However, when the wheel hit the icy spot there was not enough traction to overcome the excessive drag.

 

Today I removed the caliper and pushed the pistons out far enough to clamp the two back to back brake pads then cleaned them really well. The pistons slid back in quite easily. Unfortunately, they still were binding after applying pressure. At that point I gave up and replaced the caliper with the one from the 90 VR. Have not taken the bike for a test spin yet but the front brake seems to be working properly now. Will give a test tomorrow.

 

Looks like the caliper might need a rebuild but does anyone know if the part that relieves the pressure after applying the brakes is in the caliper or in the master cylinder? It would be good to know what parts might need rebuilding.

@syscrusher:

Thanks for the offer of a trade, I'll consider it but I've been thinking there must be a better design for the crash bar that will provide enough clearance to also protect the upper corner of the fairing that always gets damaged in a tip over. The part of the guard that was scraped flat would not be necessary, just the part that bolts to the frame and supports the chin fairing mounts. Everything in the States costs too much for this Canadian these days, even shipping.

[videoarizona]

((but I've been thinking there must be a better design for the crash bar that will provide enough clearance to also protect the upper corner of the fairing that always gets damaged in a tip over. The part of the guard that was scraped flat would not be necessary, just the part that bolts to the frame and supports the chin fairing mounts.))

 

Clive...I'm with you on this. Would like a better crash bar design as well....

david

[Flyinfool]

I looked at the crash bar design when my bike fell over on the side stand and landed on the faring.

From what I could determine, to get a crash bar that would stop the bike from landing on the fairing but yet still work with all of the existing plastic, I think you would have to be willing to give up some lean angle in the twisties.

[Holly]

my training was that the o-ring pulls the piston back when released, nothing anywhere else to "release pressure"other than releasing brake lever.

[djh3]

A couple thoughts on the caliper. To me it does look as though corrosion has caused you issues. Dissimilar metals like to not play well together. Alum housing and steel pistons. Thats why high performance calipers will have either alum pistons or stainless steel. I had a caliper on a F-150 that hung up. Was that way a long time before I discovered it. It killed the pad against the piston (only movable pad) and didnt really show undo heat had been in rotor. Could be an alignment problem like we have go on @ the rear of the 2nd gen also.

The other thing could be what happens on some car flexible lines. The interior rubber deteriorates to the point it act like a "check valve". It allows the fluid to work under high pressure (brakes applied) but with just the return pressure available (static) the hose restricts to where fluid will not flow backwards.