Brake Fade

[alexanderfitu]

I had a fairly spirited ride into work this morning, and the biggest thing I noticed was brake fade.


After the first heavy application of front brakes, they where noticably squisdhy and mushy feeling. Over the next 2-3 miles this would slowly dissapear and then re-appear again.


I am thinking its more like brake glaze than brake fade as I dont think its temperature dependand.


What are other peoples experiences with the brakes?

[richfzs]

Never had that! How old is the fluid?

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[alexanderfitu]

No idea.

[noggythenog]

Dont listen seriously to my answer mate coz i'm new to all this but i'm just throwing my guess out there to test whether i'm getting anywhere yet.


Im gonna go with........a bulging brake hose.


& of course everyones gonna say get the fluid changed.


At least youve not got any juddering or other nastiness so prob something simple.


Look forward to hearing those in the knows answers now.

[alexanderfitu]

It could be bulging brake hose, but it wouldnt go back to normal, the first hard application of tha brakes is very good with no fade.

To be fair, it could just be old/crappy pads, I have no idea of the history of the brake system on my bike so everythings just a guess really

[packie]

I suppose you could start at the top and work your way down, Alex. I'd make sure the brake lever is smooth. Sometimes you can get a juddering sound when pulling in the lever, which can effect the response of the brakes. A blast of WD40 into were the piston is pressed by the lever does the trick.

Then I'd go for a brake bleed. You might have picked up a bit of air into the line over time or the fluid itself is losing its effectivness with age. Regardless if this doesn't do the trick and that the problem is further down the line, a brake bleed would do no harm anyway and keep your fluid topped up with fresh stuff.

If that don't do the job, then check you pads and more importantly, check your discs that they are within the minimum wear limit and for warpage. You get all the know how and specs to perform these tasks from the Haynes Manual. I think there is a downloadable here online or google it. But buying one is a great investment. I buy one with every bike and date and record all my work in the back of the the manual.

Hope things work out

[darrsi]

 
"....What are other peoples experiences with the brakes?...."
 
"Nightmare" springs to mind 
 

[stevierst]

Never had brake fade on any of my Fazers/R1/fz1. Had the usual sticky calipers, and a bit if lever travel due to sticking piston seals, bit that's it. Normally they're the dogs danglies!8)

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[darrsi]

 
From what you're saying i would suggest your brake caliper pistons need a bit of TLC.
One thing people can forget is to keep the caliper pad pin clean as well, i'd give them a clean with wire wool and a light copper greasing, and make sure they're not grooved or bent at all, so that the pads can move freely.
noggythenog suggested a bulging brake line.
I don't know what lines you have, whether they're standard or braided, but my problem ultimately ended up being a faulty braided line which caused an on/off juddering effect, almost like i was breaking on light cobblestones. I still wouldn't have said it was the lines because they were braided, but you live and learn.
If you have standard lines which were bulging i'd guess your braking would feel soft or weak, and may even pulse, it would feel very wrong anyway so i doubt it's that.
On previous bikes the gold coloured bush has worn on the brake lever which can cause a "crunchie" feeling, maybe worth taking the lever off, clean it up and grease it and see if that feels any better too.

[richfzs]

My money is still on the fluid being old and full of water.

If the brakes are good on first use, and degrade with repeated hard use, but then recover, I'm struggling to see how it's the lines. Possibly a pad issue, but I'd have thought that were that the case, the recovery wouldn't happen.

Bottle of dot 4 will only be a few quid - although if you're not completely comfortable doing it, find a friend who is (where are you?) - and replace the fluid completely. You'll be able to see when the new is coming through, it'll be a different colour...

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[darrsi]

My money is still on the fluid being old and full of water.

If the brakes are good on first use, and degrade with repeated hard use, but then recover, I'm struggling to see how it's the lines. Possibly a pad issue, but I'd have thought that were that the case, the recovery wouldn't happen.

Bottle of dot 4 will only be a few quid - although if you're not completely comfortable doing it, find a friend who is (where are you?) - and replace the fluid completely. You'll be able to see when the new is coming through, it'll be a different colour...

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A bleeding good bleeding is probably what's needed..... 

[richfzs]

It could be - but if there is air in there, then there's probably water, and as Alex doesn't know the history of the fluid that's there, to my mind, it's (almost) as easy to flush the fluid through as to bleed them, and at least he starts to know the history

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[alexanderfitu]

Yup, will give the fluid a change and take it from there. Many thanks.

I am confortable changing the fluid I have the calipers for my xj600 apart doing the MC and the seals.

[Gnasher]

Check the pad hasn't twisted/seized in the caliper body?