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Front brakes locked up.

Aphex

Aphex

2017-08-05 15:57:00 UTC

It seems when it rains it pours.

So I was supposed to go ride today so I zip tied my brake lever all the way to the bar.

I took off this morning, doing 80mph down an empty side road and I felt the front end starting to load up. I pulled the clutch in a bit and the front end really dove down, so I let the clutch back out and got on the gas hard the ass end started to lift up and I was able to over come the grip of the front tyre and push it down the road til I could safely and squiggly come to a stop.

I think this is just because the pads were tight against the rotor and when I took off they fused to it? My lever was rock hard and I had to wait about 15 minutes til the brakes let me move the bike.

The confusing thing is this isnt the first time I've zip tied the lever but this is the first time the brakes locked, I did nothing different.

Aphex

Aphex

2017-08-05 16:54:00 UTC

Ape Hex,
The only reason brakes lock up like that is that the master cylinder piston isn't fully retracting.
There's a variety of ways for that to happen, like aftermarket levers that don't have quite the correct geometry.
Or the piston itself might jammed in its bore. In any case, you should always be able to push fluid up into the reservoir by forcing the pads/pistons into the calipers. If you can't do that, then you need to figure out why the piston isn't retracting. Do not ride again until you figure that out or you'll likely be on yer head.

SpeedyR

SpeedyR

2017-08-06 03:29:00 UTC

Why did you zip tie the lever before riding? Does your bike make that awful front wheel groaning noise? I know some people have attributed that noise to pistons that aren't fully retracting.. Please let us know what you find out. Glad you were able to safely get the bike to a stop.

Aphex

Aphex

2017-08-06 06:13:00 UTC

Post missing.