Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Rear brake problem

I'm having to pump my speedy's rear brake pedal a few times before I get it to bite. I fitted new pads a few weeks ago and thoroughly bled the brakes at the same time and have bled them again since to no avail.
Any suggestions?

Bleed it again?

Good answer, means I'm not that dumb as it's the only one I could think of too

Unless it's squirting fluid out on every pump, it means you've got air in the system. Bleed it again.

Hey Ron. While bleeding that rear brake line be sure to unbolt the caliper and let it hang from the line. This is necessary to get all the air out.

Now there's a good answer! That's one I never thought of, cheers.

Make sure you stick something between the brake pads to prevent the pistons from coming out of the caliper.

Are you bleeding from the front or rear or both? I'm having the same problem and when I asked my dealer to took a look at it, he said I needed a MC rebuild kit. Hard to figure on a 3 year old bike.

There is air trapped in the system somewhere. Because our master cylinders move such a small volumn at a time, you sometimes have to help by raising/lowering the back of the bike or caliper or both to get the bubble moving. Don't forget that air bubbles will move up so if your bleeder isn't at the highest position, air could get trapped.

I doubt your mc needs an overhaul Don.

Thanks for the advice Greg. The mc kit came in this morning, so got it and installed the pieces this afternoon. No real big improvement, so was probably a waste of money. My riding buddy really knows his stuff when it comes to brakes. He helped me bleed the rear lines from the front to the back and back to front. Just a few air bubbles appeared, so I'm pretty sure all the air is out of the system. The one change I did make was add new brake pads.....DP Sintered ones. Really not much pad on those things. They just don't seem to grab the way I'm used to with the stock pads, so I'm going to see if I can get a set of stock Triumph pads tomorrow. Any suggestions as to the replacement pads you use? Don

Don,

The replacement ones I got were lousy at first until they seated against the rotor. I've only replaced my rear ones. I got them from NewSpeedmaster I'm not entirely satisfied with the performnace of the rear pad I installed (even after several 1000kms) and think they could be better. I can still lock up the rear wheel but it seems like I need more effort than before. I picked up these pads because I thought they would be a good compromise between the softer pads and ones that eat your rotors.

If you go with OEM, let us know if the feel is the same after they are broken in.

Greg....what a difference a day makes! Gord Inglis from Inglis Cycle here in London, took a pair of Triumph OEM rear pads off a new Speedmaster and gave them to me to compare with the DP Sintered pads I purchased. With the rear DP pads, my Speedy keep on rolling even with heavy pedal pressure and there was away too much travel in the rear brake pedal. Kept thinking it was air in the lines. Bled and re bled. Installed a new Master Cylinder kit to no avail. Saw the Triumph OEM pads and was astounded! There's an 1/8" of more pad on each one compared to the after market DP pads. Installed them and went for a ride......first time I hit the rear brake....locked her up. No more rolling stops. Limited brake pedal travel and positive stops. After a few heat cycles, will be back in full braking mode. Here's a photo showing the DP pads [Copper color] and the Triumph OEM pads [Black]. Note the grooves cut into the Triumph pad for heat and dust elimination.



Triumph OEM Pads.



Photo showing the pad thickness of each. DP pad on top [Copper] and Triumph OEM on bottom [Black].



I'm not sure of the price difference between the different brands...Triumph will obviously be more costly....but I'll never buy after market brake pads again.
Hope this info will help you and maybe others here on this great Forum. Don

Thanks Don for that info. I guess it's OEM for now unless someone has found a set of aftermarket pads that work as good as original.

Hey ya Greg... I just installed EBC pads on the rear and notice no difference over OEM. The pedal travel feels the same and braking power is superb. And all this at a much better price over OEM! Why pay more, right?

Keith,

I agree with paying less if the performance is the same.

I bought the Carbone Lorraine pads from NewSpeedmaster a couple of years ago. Good price. Have yet to install the fronts but was never impressed with the amount of pressure I needed over stock to stop the bike with the rears. Could still lock up the wheel but the feel wasn't as good.