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Brakes Sound

I would stay away from brake clean, that stuff is harsh and can damage the caliper seals if not used carefully, and its not really the solution you need. I 100% agree with @bobl that this is a pad/rotor surface issue and sanding the surfaces should fix it. I was walking the hot pit at MotoAmerica and a mechanic took the pads out and was rubbing the friction surface on the pit wall to scuff them up. I would try a quick rub on some sand paper and skip the new pads (unless they are close to needing replacement).
 
OK, carb clean can be harsh, especially on plastics. Brake cleaner is not that bad, even if you spray it in your eye you'll be fine in a minute, so don't panic. I still always clean the rubbers, all of it, and I use real silicone spray on rubbers afterword.
 
A little dish soap and water and a detail brush is all you need to clean calipers. It's how they do it in every professional race shop/paddock/garage.
 
GAJ said:
I'd just heavily use the rear brake for a while as the pads are likely from the factory and may simply have been underused.

I rarely use my rear brakes even though I know I should use both.
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I'm inclined to say this could be a factor. Service history+mileage won't tell me how the person rode.
 
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Also, based on what I've read, I think I'll start by doing what's easy--riding and using the pads a lot, and if that doesn't fix it through wearing them in, I'll look into removing the calipers (scary) and inspecting the brake pads. From there I'll either sand them down if I see glazing, or replace them if I see excessive wear.
 
You should be able to remove the brake pads without removing the calipers.
 
jbawden said:
A little dish soap and water and a detail brush is all you need to clean calipers. It's how they do it in every professional race shop/paddock/garage.
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This is correct.
 
Jared_ said:
Good shout, thanks. Do you ever fix them?
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I don’t I just ride and brake aggressively off and on pulsing them and it seems to help. That being said if you need a hand removing the calipers you can drop by me or I can bring my torque wrench and etc over it’s super simple to do on these bikes. I’m not sure that these calipers can remove the pads still on the bike I haven’t tried that.
 
@Jared_ you live in SF right? You're welcome to swing by my garage for some tinkering time this weekend or next if you like.
 
jbawden said:
A little dish soap and water and a detail brush is all you need to clean calipers. It's how they do it in every professional race shop/paddock/garage.
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All Professional race shops, you speak for? But they are so fuggin cool because their bikes seem to get serviced like every 10 minutes of use, and everyone is a honed purebred uber, oh, and the fuggin tools, top quality hi pro parts everywhere.

I'm sure every entity in the world experiences the use of regular detergent and scrubbing tools like a brush. And I am sure that many have noticed that regular detergent and an inert scrubbing device ain't going to clean everyday highway grime, tar, oils, grease, bug shit, and deer jizm off.

I want to read this statement posted from a real race shop, on their company letterhead, attesting to this claim, that they use dish soap and a brush, and nothing else, to clean brake components, as has been represented here by @jbawden and @Enchanter.


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I wasn't able to find any letterhead tonight. Hopefully these links are okay.

Random dude uses 'soap'.

This backwoods place calls for Simple Green. In my experience cleaning water fowl, Dawn isn't as harsh as Simple Green.

This po-dunk organization calls for soap too.

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www.zeckhausen.com

Then there's this place:

Servicing and Reconditioning | AP Racing

AP Racing, the Coventry, UK-based company is a key supplier and the leading manufacturer of performance brake and clutch systems for road and race cars.
apracing.com apracing.com
 
Interesting... I'll see if I can give it a go tomorrow then and see where that gets me
 
I would disassemble it and inspect it especially when it comes to brakes. May just be something simple like dirt, small pebbles and other road debris but could be more like warped rotors and such. Good luck and keep us updated!
 
We could at all day long see I don't even have to put motorcycle in the search and they're lined up but this isn't the way I use it

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Dawn is of course my favorite dish soap for it's grease cutting abilities, but Palmolive seems OK too. The bucket of water and brush usually happens whenever it feels right, and often right before I'm going to take things apart. Maybe I ride more miles on shittier roads in worse conditions and soap and water aint going to cut it.

Not like that first video, I hadn't seen the holding the brake when tightening the caliper but I'm not sure if it matters on my style.
 
visual inspection of rotors, calipers and pads is in order. This will require removal of the calipers which shouldn't be a big deal. Once you are assured that there is no unusaul wear on any componet then you can start chasing rabbits.
 
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