Lint Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 OK, 05 Viffer, about 29K on the clock. here are a couple of things I'd like to correct and I wanted input on my ideas, so please let me know your thoughts.1st: Brakes sticking. I thought I had corrected the sticking by adding the nylon washer to the lever perch. See: http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthrea...21-92-cent-fix! This definitely helped, but there is still some issue and now I am wondering if perhaps it is the Master Cylinder that may be causing it. It feels like the lever or perhaps the plunger on the MC is sticking and not causing a smooth pull. Could the MC plunger get gunked up and cause friction when the brake lever pushes on the plunger?2nd: Brakes, inconsistent feel. Randomly, when I stop, especially normal stopping, never hard braking, I feel like at times the stopping force varies. Say for example that it feels like the brakes just grab and slow the bike. Other times, it feels like there is more slip. I just replaced my old very worn pads with EBC HH pads front and rear and at the time, I did my best to clean all exposed parts of the pistons on each caliper, I also took a scouring pad to the rotors to clean them up a bit, as my trackday left a lot of the previous pads on the rotors. I also have spent some time in the canyons with a lot of braking/trails braking into turns, so I would assume the pads are bedded in, but I guess I could do the whole 60mph to 20 mph that EBC recommends ( http://ebcbrakes.com/articles/beddin...ds-and-rotors/ ) I feel the problem is most noticeable on light braking, such as coming up to a stop sign at low speed. At no time has it felt unsafe, as I can increase the brake pressure and easily stop, so I am wondering if the lack of braking pressure is due to the brake lever hanging up slightly, thereby increasing the required force to slow at slow speeds/light lever pressure. To me this sounds possible. What's your opinion?3rd: Bike out of balance feeling. My bike feels too light in the front especially when coming into a turn. I feel that I have to lean lower and more forward, otherwise the front wheel feels too light and that there is a chance of it not weighting properly and slipping, which has happened, though never enough to crash. I am running the stock suspension and the compression is at full front and rear, as my weight is 260 and I know that is more than the suspension is designed to carry, at least optimally. I know that I need to get both ends properly sprung and I intend to do so, but I have other responsibilities that require the $1000 that it will take to get the front/rear from DMr.Has anyone lowered the front end 10mm before as I have seen done somewhere on the forum and do you think this will help with balancing the bike until I can get the suspension bits? I know from my time on the track last month that my rear shock is too soft because I have a fender eliminator and once when I hot the curb and the rear end got loose, the shock over compressed and the rear tire hit the license plate and folded the whole assembly forward. I fixed this by putting a thick washer on the the muffler mount and that shimmed the pipe put just enough to increase the angle of the license plate bracket to keep it farther away from the tire. But, it is an indication that my shock is struggling to hold me up. I am hoping that this will help the bike turn in easier as well. I know that the VFR is a heavy girl at 530 lbs and that it's not a true sport bike, but I feel that it has more potential than it sits right now. Would dropping the front 10mm be a good bandaid until I get the proper fix of Jaimie's suspension installed? Thanks, Lint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted April 5, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 5, 2015 Get the M/C checked out, brake should be smooth & consistent at all times. Your weight will have an impact, but as max weight load is around 175Kg, circa 300+LBs then you are within the bikes limits, but when riding two up I experience some of the handling issues you state. I'd check which tyres you are running, as mine came with some Bridgestone sport touring rubber & the front used to washout all the time, was scary. HH pads are excellent, clean you rotors with some white spirt or similar degreaser, scoring pads are not much use. 10mm is about the max you can drop the front, so yes doable, but with the rear shock being soft for your weight it will improve things, but lose you ground clearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lint Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Tires are Pilot Road 4, about 2k Mike's, 80 off which was track, so I suspect they got overheated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12bravo Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Have you done a fluid flush, or basic caliper re-build, or even just a caliper cleaning? When you say "sticking" do you mean you are not getting the brake lever return you think you should, or are the brake pads sticking on at the rotors? Are these the pads you put in? http://ebcbrakes.com/product/double-h-superbike-pads/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lint Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 It feels like the brake lever is sticking, or hanging up. It's a lot better since I placed the nylon washers there. I have taken a small fine wire stainless steel wire brush to all of the pistons in all three calipers. There was some black residue on them and I got them as clean as I could without removing them. Everything I could see was clean, I even gave the pads one last blast of brake cleaner, just in case some grease transferred from my hands. The pin that the pads slide on I took out and went over that with the wire brush to remove any crud off of them. There is a slight bit of wear in the places were the pad connects. I also took the pins in the rubber boots out and cleaned the old grease off and put high temp synthetic brake caliper grease on them. I didn't clean out the old grease from the boots, I suppose I should have done so. I have not done any type of rebuild, as I don't have the knowledge to do a brake flush, and I have been quoted over $100 to have it done. I'd venture to say If I have the calipers and MC rebuilt by someone I am looking at over $300. I do have some residual grease between the lever perch and the nylon washer, so perhaps some grit got in there. I don't have any of these symptoms with the clutch, same lever, same washer. My brakes work, it's just that there is a little friction when pulling the lever, especially at slow speeds. I've never felt anything when I am normally riding, i.e. braking into a turn or even slowing on the freeway or a stop sign, unless I am already going slow. The brakes don't feel unsafe, it's just that they could feel better as described above.Could he plunger on the master cylinder get gunked up? I am thinking that is the culprit as I looked at it and it appears the rubber boot has slight cracking where the plunger pin goes in. Maybe I will have to have someone rebuild it. Ugh. 12bravo, those are the pads I installed. I suppose I could just order some Chinese levers and see if that solves all of this. The stock looking levers I have now were pretty inexpensive, but look in every way to be the same as Mother Honda's. Maybe I'll just so that before I delve any deeper into this. If nothing else, it would let me know if there is a lever issue or if I need to dig deeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ron_al Posted April 6, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 6, 2015 About once a year, at the start of the riding season, I like to remove the pivot bolt for the front brake lever (removing the lever temporarily), and clean it up. I remove the accumulated gunk and apply a very light coating of grease when reinstalling. After that, i generally notice MUCH better lever action. At least, that's my experience from doing so-but that wouldnt cure a problem elsewhere (master cylinder, caliper etc.). Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted April 6, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 6, 2015 Your bike is out of balance if you place your weight on to the barsinstead of focusing your weight at the tank dents... in a corner theextra weight you place on the bars will transfer just enoughweight to cause the front to want to tuck... adjust your technique tofocus your weight at the tank dents and gain back a balance feeling...Also during braking a rider should hold their weight from transferringforward by pinching the tank dents...Mr.RC45 is 407 pds dry and carries 52% of its weight up front which isfar lighter than your VFR..Once I was going down hill on a decreasing radius turn and I forget tofocus my weight at the tank dents... instead I placed my weight ontothe bars which transferred just enough weight to cause the front totuck... at first I thought it was something slippery on the surfacebut I went back and adjusted my technique and that alone cured thesliding...Mr.RC45 Front Weight 212Mr.RC45 Rear Weight 195-- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Duc2V4 Posted April 6, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 6, 2015 Hey Lint, you know that you can always come down to my place and we can rebuild your MC/Calipers. It'll be a long day but it won't cost you anything but your time and maybe lunch and dinner for me and you. See if you can bring Duccmann along. FYI, the parts to rebuild shouldn't be that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lint Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Duc2V4 That's excellent, thank you. I'll make some calls tomorrow and see what I can find for parts. Perhaps I can hit you or PacificMan up for help with changing my very old fork oil! I'll talk to Duccman. PM me your address again, will ya? BusyLittleShop, I'll remember that. I'm going riding tomorrow so I'll put your advice to use. I do remember that when I was on the track last month, I didn't experience that feeling and I don't when I am on longer sweeping turns, I really only notice it on the tight canyons here where I live, such as the tight sections of Mulholland, Latigo, etc. I know I have more to learn about body position and I should always remember to keep my body in the right spot. Between body position and keeping the correct line, it's a lot to work on when riding. I feel that I have been focusing too much on the line and not enough on my position. I have actually slowed down so I can focus on making sure I am hitting the apex and exits properly, trying to build up muscle memory, that and riding balls out on the street is suicide!!! Your bike is out of balance if you place your weight on to the barsinstead of focusing your weight at the tank dents... in a corner theextra weight you place on the bars will transfer just enoughweight to cause the front to want to tuck... adjust your technique tofocus your weight at the tank dents and gain back a balance feeling...Also during braking a rider should hold their weight from transferringforward by pinching the tank dents...Mr.RC45 is 407 pds dry and carries 52% of its weight up front which isfar lighter than your VFR..Once I was going down hill on a decreasing radius turn and I forget tofocus my weight at the tank dents... instead I placed my weight ontothe bars which transferred just enough weight to cause the front totuck... at first I thought it was something slippery on the surfacebut I went back and adjusted my technique and that alone cured thesliding...Mr.RC45 Front Weight 212Mr.RC45 Rear Weight 195-- That's actually where I felt the front slide, on Mulholland, downhill, tight reduced radius turn. I did go back a couple of days later and I didn't have the issue, so I'll definitely focus on where my body is. I really need to get some tank grips. My leathers are very slippery after putting leather conditioner on them and only having a tank bra right now to grab with my knees is causing me to slide around, a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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