Crazy scary

[Rafterd]

Riding my RSV last week. Cruising along around 70mph. All of a sudden, the bike went to slowing down. I gave it more throttle, the bike responded, but started breaking even harder. By this time, the front end was in a dive, and I notice the front break smoking. Started heading for the shoulder. Barely got there, then the front wheel locked up. Don't know how, but got her stopped without crashing. Got off and looked at front rotors. Both are red hot, front wheel locked solid. Removed the caliper bolts, took a lot of prying, but got the right caliper off, then the left. Both calipers closed instantly locking the pads in place, but now the bike will roll. Tied both calipers up with wire ties to get home. Could not remove the pads, so I removed the hydraulic line from the master cylinder. Fluid sprayed everywhere under great pressure. Both calipers relaxed and was then able to remove the pads. Took the master cylinder off, took it apart and found the pressure relief hole clogged with something. What I don't know. The fluid was crystal clear. Couldn't blow it out with air compressor or nothing. Found a small wire on my wire brush, and gouged it out. I never saw it, don't know what it was. Flushed everything, installed new pads and fluid, bled the system. Works great. Rotors are not warped so I'm gonna leave them.

this was the wildest ride I've ever had, probably the scariest thing ever happened. I've ridden almost 60 years, been certified Honda Tech since 1976, and never even heard of anything like this. Just thought I would let everyone know.

 

Bill

[etcswjoe]

Glad you are ok and thanks for sharing.

[eagleeye]

Glad that worked out for you. Could've been real ugly, and I know I don't need to tell you that.

[Larry1963]

Glad you are ok, seems you handled the situation well.

I would probably wished I wore depends if that happened to me

[k9cottage]

i had a similar incident but with the clutch master cylinder it looked like a grain of sand blocking the bleed hole used the wire trick and the clutch stopped slipping straight away.

[Condor]

Yep, gotta keep an eye on that expansion hole.... It doesn't take much to plug it since it's so damn small. Happened to me while making a turn into the driveway. Needless to say it went down... slowly. It was the back brake on my VR this time. Moisture and DOT will form crystals when ignored, and they easily plug things up. That's why we should be bleeding every two years max. Yearly to be sure. It's also wise to carry an 8mm open end to crack the bleeder valve to relieve the pressure. It'll get you home without locking them up totally.

[SilvrT]

I wonder why so many say we should bleed the brake lines so often on a motorcycle yet it never seems to come up as a "thing to do" on a cage?

 

What's different?

[Condor]

I wonder why so many say we should bleed the brake lines so often on a motorcycle yet it never seems to come up as a "thing to do" on a cage?

 

What's different?

 

Just a WAS here, but perhaps the systems on a car are designed to pump a lot of junk. I know one thing the orifice on the Venture's are a lot smaller than those on a Honda?? I'd almost think that hogging them out a couple sizes wouldn't hurt, and keep things unplugged...

[cowpuc]

Riding my RSV last week. Cruising along around 70mph. All of a sudden, the bike went to slowing down. I gave it more throttle, the bike responded, but started breaking even harder. By this time, the front end was in a dive, and I notice the front break smoking. Started heading for the shoulder. Barely got there, then the front wheel locked up. Don't know how, but got her stopped without crashing. Got off and looked at front rotors. Both are red hot, front wheel locked solid. Removed the caliper bolts, took a lot of prying, but got the right caliper off, then the left. Both calipers closed instantly locking the pads in place, but now the bike will roll. Tied both calipers up with wire ties to get home. Could not remove the pads, so I removed the hydraulic line from the master cylinder. Fluid sprayed everywhere under great pressure. Both calipers relaxed and was then able to remove the pads. Took the master cylinder off, took it apart and found the pressure relief hole clogged with something. What I don't know. The fluid was crystal clear. Couldn't blow it out with air compressor or nothing. Found a small wire on my wire brush, and gouged it out. I never saw it, don't know what it was. Flushed everything, installed new pads and fluid, bled the system. Works great. Rotors are not warped so I'm gonna leave them.

this was the wildest ride I've ever had, probably the scariest thing ever happened. I've ridden almost 60 years, been certified Honda Tech since 1976, and never even heard of anything like this. Just thought I would let everyone know.

 

Bill

Hey Raft - glad you got that puppy ironed out and no one was hurt brother!! THAT situation can turn ugly really fast!!

 

Here is something from our Read Only Tech section you may find of interest...

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?12536-Stranded-with-brakes-sticking-and-heating-up-Read-this

 

All the best!

Puc

[Rafterd]

Thanks guys. Probably the most scared I've ever been while riding. My bleed hole is bigger now. Made sure of that.

 

Bill

[BlueSky]

If I remember correctly, DOT 4 brake fluid is more susceptible to building up water than DOT 3. Maybe use DOT 3 instead. Or flush more often.

[garyS-NJ]

I had a rear caliper seize up on my old cb750 and by the time I stopped, the caliper caught fire (plastic shield). Well I was right in front of a fireworks store and someone yelled fire. I was hitting it with my gloved hand when a guy ran up with a large soda. I grabbed the soda and doused it luckily before anything else lit up.

[videoarizona]

Hey Raft - glad you got that puppy ironed out and no one was hurt brother!! THAT situation can turn ugly really fast!!

 

Here is something from our Read Only Tech section you may find of interest...

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?12536-Stranded-with-brakes-sticking-and-heating-up-Read-this

 

All the best!

Puc

 

Like that thread write up! You can also use a steel guitar string or even a catgut(or whatever they are these days) "E" string for carbs and little teeny holes. I use the catgut string for scoots and outboard motors. Easier to carry as well....about $3 at a music store.

 

Interesting reading this thread as I'm 150 miles from home now and have lost some of my front braking power on 05 RSV. A hard squeeze on brake lever produces little braking power. Fluid is clear and full. Going to zip home tomorrow morning and then put her on stand and see what is going on. Will be paying attention to any indication that I'm losing speed and pull over immediately. So far rotors have stayed cool on test run last night....but....

[videoarizona]

Interesting reading this thread as I'm 150 miles from home now and have lost some of my front braking power on 05 RSV. A hard squeeze on brake lever produces little braking power. Fluid is clear and full. Going to zip home tomorrow morning and then put her on stand and see what is going on. Will be paying attention to any indication that I'm losing speed and pull over immediately. So far rotors have stayed cool on test run last night....but....

 

Went out and bled the brakes in front. In both cases, the fluid came out without any pressure on brake. So bled them more to get some of the fluid out of both sides. brakes seem better now. I think there is to much fluid in master so I'll do a full job when I get home tomorrow.

 

Still remembering the lesson from Bill's @Rafterd experience with his brakes....going to be extra careful going home...

[videoarizona]

Just got back in to green Valley from Phoenix. Windy but fast ride!

 

No issue with front brakes at all!

[Rafterd]

Well guys, in my life I've ridden close to a million miles on motorcycles. My Dad and I owned a Honda dealership for years, so I've ridden and worked on everything you can name, probably several you can't, I've never saw this happen, never heard of this happening. Just wanted folks to be aware.

I've cleaned thousands of carburetors and break master cylinders, never thought of a guitar string. Fantastic idea. Even us old dogs still learn new tricks.

 

Bill

[Condor]

I had a rear caliper seize up on my old cb750 and by the time I stopped, the caliper caught fire (plastic shield). Well I was right in front of a fireworks store and someone yelled fire. I was hitting it with my gloved hand when a guy ran up with a large soda. I grabbed the soda and doused it luckily before anything else lit up.

 

LOL... When I bought my first VR it came with a receipt for a new rear caliper. Upon checking I found the inside of the saddle badly burnt. And it locked up shortly after.... again... That's when I finally found the expansion valve clogged. Course I ended up rebuilding the whole brake system because no one could come up with a reasonable answer as two why it was happening. I finally came up with the cause when dealing with rebuilding a slipping clutch and a plugged valve that I found by DAL..... Pulled the plastic elbow off the rear master and there was the duplicate problem.

 

Like that thread write up! You can also use a steel guitar string or even a catgut(or whatever they are these days) "E" string for carbs and little teeny holes. I use the catgut string for scoots and outboard motors. Easier to carry as well....about $3 at a music store.

 

Interesting reading this thread as I'm 150 miles from home now and have lost some of my front braking power on 05 RSV. A hard squeeze on brake lever produces little braking power. Fluid is clear and full. Going to zip home tomorrow morning and then put her on stand and see what is going on. Will be paying attention to any indication that I'm losing speed and pull over immediately. So far rotors have stayed cool on test run last night....but....

 

You can also stop at your local grocery store and grab a few of those wire ties from the produce section and strip off the paper or plastic. They'll work too.... and they're free!!

 

Went out and bled the brakes in front. In both cases, the fluid came out without any pressure on brake. So bled them more to get some of the fluid out of both sides. brakes seem better now. I think there is to much fluid in master so I'll do a full job when I get home tomorrow.

 

Still remembering the lesson from Bill's @Rafterd experience with his brakes....going to be extra careful going home...

 

I will only fill the reserve up to the middle of the sight glass. Plenty of room for expansion...

 

Well guys, in my life I've ridden close to a million miles on motorcycles. My Dad and I owned a Honda dealership for years, so I've ridden and worked on everything you can name, probably several you can't, I've never saw this happen, never heard of this happening. Just wanted folks to be aware.

I've cleaned thousands of carburetors and break master cylinders, never thought of a guitar string. Fantastic idea. Even us old dogs still learn new tricks.

 

Bill

 

Produce wire wraps/ties are Free.

[garyS-NJ]

I worked in a small engine shop where we rebuilt a gazillion carbs and while we had a real carb cleaning kit with small gauge wires, the go to in everyone's box was the end of a clutch cable.about 2" long with the cable wires frayed.

[Flyinfool]

Like that thread write up! You can also use a steel guitar string or even a catgut(or whatever they are these days) "E" string for carbs and little teeny holes. I use the catgut string for scoots and outboard motors. Easier to carry as well....about $3 at a music store.

 

 

There are 2 "E" strings on a guitar. You need the High E string, which is the smaller diameter of the 2.

[BlueSky]

I use weld tip cleaning wires to poke out carb jets and stuff. You can buy a set for about $5.