brake trouble

[Fazer Jake]

Decided to give my calipers a good clean today, pushed the pistons out, cleaned and applied red grease on the pistons fitted old pads back on etc.

i noticed the front wheel is slightly stiffer than what it originally was and after riding the discs do get hot (not scolding hot but hot enough to make it uncomfortable after a while. (Read somewhere this is perfectly normal so the brakes work in the wet   )

So riding home i was plodding along at 60mph some focus coastering behind me for ages then he wizzes past me flashing his hazards?

i'm thinking when i refitted the pads i never put them in the old positions hence the extra friction?

[His Dudeness]

sounds like your pads are sticking too much. to test it put the bike on the centre stand and get some one to push down on the back of the bike and rotate the front wheel. it should rotate quite freely with only a small bit of resistance. if you have to put in a bit of effort to rotate the wheel then the pads are sticking

[red98]

yes.... as his dudeness has said the wheel should spin freely with light hand pressure,the pads shoild rub slightly but not enough to make the disca hot,sounds as if the pads are sticking in the caliper,if that was me i would take the pads out and make sure the caliper is clean where the pads are a snug fit ,ie top and bottom surfaces on the inside face of the caliper,a flat screwdriver is good for this only light presure is needed
  let us know how you get on   

[ade the blade]

quite right........need to sort that as constantly putting a lot of heat into those expensive discs will warp them fairly rapidly. any pulsing felt through lever when the front brakes are applied ?

[know your limitations]

I had a similar problem on a previous bike (not a Fazer).
After removing the caliper on the offending side, I found it to be the anti rattle spring causing the issue.
It's a thin, shallow v-shaped piece of metal which sits at the base of the caliper and the pads, in turn, sit on top of it.
As it is so thin, it's easy for it to be bent out of shape if removed/replaced shall we say, not gently enough.
If it has become deformed or if any of the lugs are raised, it could prevent your pads returning to their "rested" position in the caliper. This may only be millimetres if that, but that's enough for the pad to remain in contact with the disc and cause the friction.
You may need to remove the spring from the correctly working caliper in order to compare the shape of the springs. If there is a difference, you can use the correctly shaped spring as guide to coax the deformed one back to spec (ideally replace but it will do, short term)
It is a relatively low skill task but patience and GENTLE extraction is the order of the day. There's no point bending the perfectly good one as well by being ham-fisted 
I'd definitely check this as you will save yourself a whole heap of time, expense and possibly worse if you continue to use your brakes in their current state.
Whatever you've read about your brakes operating at high temperature to be efficient in the wet is well.....BS
They're not working correctly and my possible solution will cost you nothing, except an hour of your time.


I hope this helps you or someone in a similar position.


p.s
Re: Comparing. I've made the massive assumption that 600's have twin front discs. If they haven't, compare with your rear caliper spring instead (they DO at least have a disc at the rear, right?  )

[know your limitations]

Whatever you've read about your brakes operating at high temperature to be efficient in the wet is well.....BS

Actually, I think I've read this quote on another thread. Sorry for any confusion! 

[Fazer Jake]

i've sorted this  the pins were quite grubby so sanded them down and copper greased them i've also bled the brakes as i think there was too much fluid in the reservoir