|
 Motorcycle brakes vibrate if the brake
rotors are warped or there's an excessive build-up of brake pad material on the
face of the rotor. During bed-in,
bikers can expect the transfer of some material from brake
pads to rotor faces. If the bedding-in process leaves a thin, uniform layer
of brake material, the motorcycle will provide smooth, cleaning braking. If the
build-up is excessive or has high spots, the motorbike will vibrate because the
disc pads don't match the geometry of the brake rotors.
Brake
Problems: Brake Rotors or Brake Pads?
When troubleshooting brake problems,
mechanics may swap-out or true their motorcycle
brake rotors and still experience front-end vibrations. Such was the case
with Southbound Pachyderm of Speedzilla
Message Boards, an on-line forum for street and track, supermoto, and dirt
and off-road bikers. While rebuilding his Honda VFR800 Interceptor, Southbound
installed the front-end from a smooth-braking Honda RC51. Unexpectedly, the
rebuilt Interceptor then experienced front-end vibrations.
Flexible Honing for Motorcycle Maintenance
Southbound installed both new and used
brake rotors and even checked the calipers and forks. When his brake problems continued,
he received some sound advice from Trace, another Speedzilla member whose Honda
motorcycle once suffered "the grabby shakes on perfectly true rotors". Trace's
solution started with a phone call to Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM), where
the Honda owner received some "expert advice" about using flexible honing
for "cleaning up a rotor".
Choosing
the Right Abrasive Grit for Flexible Honing
As Southbound learned, the flex-hone tool
is available in a variety of abrasive
grits for brake rotors. "The 60 and 125 grits are for heavily grooved or
damaged cast iron rotors
on cars," Trace explained, "not for sportbike rotors." For a bike like the Honda
RC51, however, "the 240 grit is ideal for cleaning up a brake rotor, removing
pad material, and giving it a nice surface".
The goal, added a third Speedzilla member, is to remove what is
"unscientifically" known as "brake pad gunk buildup".
Flexible Honing for Rotors with an Electric Drill
"Put the rotors on a brake lathe and
set the RPM to about 150", Trace then instructed. By chucking the flex-hone for rotors
into a 500-RPM drill, Southbound could "work from outside to inside for about
15 seconds". After allowing the flexible hone and brake rotor to cool, the
biker was advised to "hit it again for a final clean-up for 10-15 seconds", but
without "overdoing it". The final step involved cleaning
the "crud" out of the cooling holes and wiping the surfaces with brake
cleaner.
This article originally appeared in the Flex-Hone Blog.
| 
Re: Flexible Honing for Motorcycle Brake Rotors
