[Exhausted]

hey guys it seems my rear brake has been "stuck" engaged and rubbed the pad clean off, i need to replace the pad but dont want to simply replace the pad if the same thing is gonna happen again.

this all started when i gave my bike to a local shop for a new rear tire/pad/sprocket&chain

they returned the bike and the brakes felt like mush even tho they assured me it didnt need to be bled, the tech said there was some "play" where the rear brake lever bolts on to (rear set?) and i also noticed that after pressing hard on the brake to get it to engage sometimes it wouldnt return to place. I am the second owner and the 1st had dropped the bike on the right so i figured there was some dmg causing it. The tech said i could shim where the thing bolts on at to restrict some play (never did)

a month or two later i finally bled the brakes myself and got the pad to start engaing much better, but i noticed the brake pad still wasnt "returning" and some times had to actually put my foot underneath the lever to get it to release and let the wheel move freely.

the technicians, when replacing the brake pad+rotor the first time, said the caliper did engage/disengage freely after checking to see that it was still functional and confirming a new one was not necessary. i cannot confirm whether he actually tested it.

do i need to "re-test" or possibly "re-build" the caliper and get new pads in this scenario? i havent found a guide on a google search for a rebuild thread or tek

 

[RecoilRob]

Check to make sure your pedal isn't binding on its' shaft. Many have reported this happening. Might have to pull it off, clean and grease to fix it. The spring should lift the pedal right back up as you lift your foot off of it. If you can get your foot off and watch it come up...or have to lift it manually...it is sticking.

 

[bcj]

Brake fluid can also crystallize behind the piston seals in the caliper keeping it from returning the way it should.
They get tight and bind up. Caliper off and some careful cleaning of the piston, seals and seal grooves will make it right.

The brake lever would be the first place to look though.

 

[Exhausted]

Recoilrob, what is involved in taking off the whole pedal area? I've looked on ron ayers parts fiche and its kind of misleading to me do i need to take off the rear brake caliper assembly + everything its bolted onto (im riding an "N" but lets just call it the rear set)

 

[bcj]

It appears that the brake lever uses the right footrest to pivot around.
The rearset needs to come off with two bolts on the outside through the frame just ahead of the footrest.
Then a bolt from the back side holds the footrest and brake lever to the rearset.

Shouldn't need to undo any of the rest of the stuff to clean and lube the pivot.
Maybe the return spring and brakelight spring.

Putting it back together, use some blue Loctite on all three bolts.
You'll thank me later when they fail to fall off.
It's a good idea to do the same with left rearset bolts and the pivot bolt for the shifter.

 

[Exhausted]

what if i remove the lever and pivot from the foot rest and find that there is no spring there this bike only had 18k on it when i took it to the motorcycle shop for the brake/sproket/chain will i find that they were the ones who lost the return-spring? how hard is it to find a replacement return-spring? is it an actual spring im looking for?

 

[RecoilRob]

It is doubtful the shop would have had reason to mess with your return spring. Likely just the pivot is rusted and binding. http://www.bluepoof.com/motorcycles/howto/svs_woodcraft_brake/ shows pretty well what you are into. I think the V1 is similar to V2.

 

[bcj]

Should be a tension spring with hooks on the ends. Locate another SV for reference.
Troll parking lots or stop by a Suzuki dealer. GSXR brakes should be similar or thereabouts.
Ace or Lowes would have similar springs. Bike wrecking yard or a dealer.

If yours is missing that may have something to do with your problem too.

 

[onecartel]

When I had stock rearsets the only spring was used for the rear brake light sensor. The pedal should release on its own due to pressure in the brake lines.

 

[Exhausted]

can anyone back onecartel up? If so then if the pedal is not returning then i should assume the brake lines need to be bled (more)

 

[onecartel]

I did some looking into it and I just have a ****ty memory There is a return spring as well as a spring for the brake light. However, the pedal should still function without the return spring in a similar fashion to how the front brake lever or any aftermarket rearset brake pedal works.

Even a poorly bled brake pedal should return to a neutral location as a natural reaction to the line pressure. There's more than likely an issue with the pedal pivot action or the caliper piston movement.

Try disconnecting the rear master cylinder from the pedal and use your hands to add pressure (push the rod into the mc) and watch if it returns to it's original position. After, see if the pistons are sticking by trying to freewheel the rear.

 

[bcj]

The hydraulic fluid isn't the mechanism that returns the lever to neutral.
There's no return pressure. Could be plugged ports in the master or the lever is binding.
SV front brakes have the return spring incorporated into the master.

If the lever is returning to the top freely by itself, it's possible that the clearances between piston and calliper are too tight due to crud.

There should be a brake return spring on the lever. Bigger than the light actuator spring.
Go look for concrete examples out in the wild.

Here's a pic of my completely stock k3. Yours should be relatively similar.

 

[onecartel]

Here's a shot of my pedal w/o pedal-mounted return spring:

You're right, the front m/c has a built in return spring for the lever (and line pressure alone wouldn't return the lever to its neutral position). But we should keep in mind the rear m/c has an internal return spring too. The pedal-mounted spring is redundant (typically they're used for better 'feel' of the rear lever) and pedal return should work without it.

 

[Exhausted]

Thank you guys SO much for the pictures. I was aware of what the spring itself looked like, and the hi-quality details showing BOTH brake lever spring AND light-spring are VERY helpful but i've already got this issue resolved.

For SHAME on my local shop who prides itself as being the best independent shop in our area. They replaced a brake pad+rotor and the reciept said they bled the lines however they did NOT and returned a bike to me with a lever that would not return after being pressed. hence the piston not returning and rubbing the pad down til it wore completely out.

After this shoddy job caused the piston to rub the pad off, I replaced the pads, bled the brakes, cleaned and lubed the return spring (and surrounding parts only) and WALLA the brakes work MARVELLOUSLY... imagine that.

I've already given said shop TWO separate chances to earn my business, on TWO Separate bikes mind you, the first being my ninja 250, and they botched that one as well, and now this...a simple brake job and the reciept they gave me said the lines had been bled, now im not a stickler but hey! dont put it on the reciept if YOU DIDNT DO IT! plain and simple. It's called lazy folks [two-fold, one for not actually bleeding the brakes two b/c if your not going to do it dont put it on the g*d damn reciept]. And the dumbass tech who fixed my bike has the audacity to come outside and explain to me that the brake lever needs to be Shimmed against the foot-peg due to the fact that the PO had dropped it on that side, but leads me to the statement well My brakes were NOT acting that way prior to YOUR SVC'S...so.... just wanted to rant, and also bow down to how well wd-40 allowed the parts to move freely again. So in love with my brake job. :> :>

 

[Mobiuscorpus]

Glad you got it working. A word of caution, however: WD-40 is not actually a lubricant. It is, in fact, a very effective degreaser. You will need to put real lube of some kind on the moving parts.

 

[Exhausted]

what would be the best type of lube to put on the spring? silicon spray (is that even a lubricant?) anti-sieze compound (like what we smear on the axle as we re-insert it to the bike after changing a tire?) or plain old grease that you put out of a grease gun, or maybe just plain old lubricating oil?

 

[bcj]

On the spring?
Maybe some lithium or molybdenum grease where the hooks contact the frame and lever.
Same thing I use on axles and lever pivots.
Lube the clutch and cable button too.

Haven't done mine in a while. Think I'll go do it now 8)

Anti-Sieze isn't really qualified as a lubricant.
It's for prevention of direct metal galling and electolytic corrosion between permanently mounted bolts and metals of a different alloy.
Not for bushing wear reduction.