[C5rider]

Okay, I've heard of some of the old-time performance brakes that needed to heat up before they were even suitable for street driving. That's NOT what I'm talking about here. :lol:

I've got a front caliper that gets the flu whenever it gets cold down here. We went to a bike night in central Florida and, believe it or not, it got kinda cold. Not 8-ft of snow cold, but relative to here, it were cold! When I left the event, the front brakes wouldn't release. It started to slow me down and I had to downshift to keep it moving. By the time I figured out what was going on, it released.

It hasn't done it again until we just had another cold snap here. It only does it when it's cold and when I first start riding. Being that we've got members all over the globe and in much more arctic climes, I was wondering if anyone else had that same experience with a warm-blooded caliper?

 

[Beezer]

I had a 79 Goldwing. One night I was working on the handlebars and had them upside down for a while while I did something else. I buttoned everything up and rode it to work the next morning. On the way I noticed the front brake dragging. I eventually had to cut the brake hose with my pocket knife in order to release the brake and get to work. The disk got so hot that it was ruined.
The problem turned out to be a tiny piece of flotsam in the piston bleed back hole. I had to use a tiny drill it was stuck so hard. Once I opened the hole it worked fine again. Whatever it was stuck in the hole must have been stirred up while it was upside down. Make sure yours has no debris in the system.

The problem with that rotor was that when it got so hot, something happened that made it SCREECH loudly when NOT applying brakes. Very annoying.

 

["Captain D"]

Cold tends to shrink things a tadd bit...
Clearances NEED to be checked, clean and lubricated...
Dirt, can cause the piston NOT to return to its "resting position"...
Whenever I work on brakes I lubricate moving parts, lack of lube could also cause the piston NOT to return quickly. also...
Corrosion is another factor,
D

 

[C5rider]

After it did it the first time, I pulled the pins and cleaned/lubed them. They had a bunch of caked grease on them. I thought that did the trick, but I might have to get into the pistons to really clean it out.

I had thought that the line, or master cylinder might be the problem as well, but the fact that it only does it when cold leads me to believe that it's in the caliper. That, and the fact that I thought it was fixed when I put new lube on the retainer pins, till it got cold again. :-x

Was wondering about pulling the caliper apart and cleaning it out and new seals. How hard are the pistons to get back in with new seals?

 

[smilie]

Very easy job if done carefully.

 

[Beezer]

Shop around for a caliper rebuild kit. Honda has factory kits but you could probably save a little money buying aftermarket. I've had some very old bikes with disk brakes but I've never had a caliper fail me...yet.

 

["Captain D"]

I do not use grease as a lube for this, graphite works better in this application...

You sure don`t want to overheat the pads or rotor...

Merry Christmas,
Ann & Dennis
D

 

[GB6049]

Never had any issues for the years in Orlando before coming to Germany by way of DC for a season. Same pads for the first couple years here that is had in Florida.

 

[John Hopkins]

anything mechanical needs regular maintenance, pad dust builds up, metal rusts, things stick, Hydrolic fluid thickens.. I don't think the cold is your problem you probably just need to catch up on the maintenance..

John.