stuart1507 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hi All, I need some advice please travelling home from work on Wednesday i was in a line of traffic when i realised the car in front of me had no break lights, so i backed off a little to give myself plenty of time. I saw blue flashing lights reflecting off some houses in the distance and realised that an emergency vehicle was coming towards me, was not sure from where at this point as the weather was cold and wet so visability was not great. i started to apply my breaks slighty getting ready to stop when i realised the car in front had come to a complete stop with no warning, so i had to break hard!!! now it is at this point i need the advice, with retro spect i think i ended up doing a bit of panic breaking however whilst breaking hard my handle bars waggled from side to side alot and i felt my rear lock up which i released immediatly, I can also remember thinking shit i am going down which fortunatly i did not, this is the first time this has happened to me in wet / damp conditions and i am a little concerned why my handle bars waggled like that. my first thoughts are that my brake disc's are warped, but there is no pulsing through my brake lever my second thoughts are that my front wheel locked up but surely i would have ended up on the floor and not have my handle bars waggle like that. so any opinions / advice on this would be greatly received as i have tried to search through the internet and can only find advice on braking which sort of covers everything what i did i just cannot find anything that explains what my handle bars did. oh and my bike has got michelin road pilot 2 tyres on which are in good condition. i came in to work today along the motorway and notice that slowing down from 70 there was a slight vibration through either the handle bars or brake lever ( i could not tell which), but when slowing down on the A45 for road works there was nothing. so not sure what it is, my first thoughts are that one of the front discs is actual warped but not sure what that would feel like. Cheers all Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Wheels Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hi All, I need some advice please travelling home from work on Wednesday i was in a line of traffic when i realised the car in front of me had no break lights, so i backed off a little to give myself plenty of time. I saw blue flashing lights reflecting off some houses in the distance and realised that an emergency vehicle was coming towards me, was not sure from where at this point as the weather was cold and wet so visability was not great. i started to apply my breaks slighty getting ready to stop when i realised the car in front had come to a complete stop with no warning, so i had to break hard!!! now it is at this point i need the advice, with retro spect i think i ended up doing a bit of panic breaking however whilst breaking hard my handle bars waggled from side to side alot and i felt my rear lock up which i released immediatly, I can also remember thinking shit i am going down which fortunatly i did not, this is the first time this has happened to me in wet / damp conditions and i am a little concerned why my handle bars waggled like that. my first thoughts are that my brake disc's are warped, but there is no pulsing through my brake lever my second thoughts are that my front wheel locked up but surely i would have ended up on the floor and not have my handle bars waggle like that. so any opinions / advice on this would be greatly received as i have tried to search through the internet and can only find advice on braking which sort of covers everything what i did i just cannot find anything that explains what my handle bars did. oh and my bike has got michelin road pilot 2 tyres on which are in good condition. i came in to work today along the motorway and notice that slowing down from 70 there was a slight vibration through either the handle bars or brake lever ( i could not tell which), but when slowing down on the A45 for road works there was nothing. so not sure what it is, my first thoughts are that one of the front discs is actual warped but not sure what that would feel like. Cheers all Stu Did you need new underwere after this happened Is there ABS on this bike ? It could be !! 1) need new brake fluid 2) front wheel out of ballance 3) front wheel bearings slightly worn 4) main bearings in top and bottom of forks are wearing 5) brake callapers not pulling evenly (make sure pistons are free and pull togeather) How many miles on bike ? I think most likely no.4 Let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted January 22, 2010 Moderator Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hi All, I need some advice please travelling home from work on Wednesday i was in a line of traffic when i realised the car in front of me had no break lights, so i backed off a little to give myself plenty of time. I saw blue flashing lights reflecting off some houses in the distance and realised that an emergency vehicle was coming towards me, was not sure from where at this point as the weather was cold and wet so visability was not great. i started to apply my breaks slighty getting ready to stop when i realised the car in front had come to a complete stop with no warning, so i had to break hard!!! now it is at this point i need the advice, with retro spect i think i ended up doing a bit of panic breaking however whilst breaking hard my handle bars waggled from side to side alot and i felt my rear lock up which i released immediatly, I can also remember thinking shit i am going down which fortunatly i did not, this is the first time this has happened to me in wet / damp conditions and i am a little concerned why my handle bars waggled like that. my first thoughts are that my brake disc's are warped, but there is no pulsing through my brake lever my second thoughts are that my front wheel locked up but surely i would have ended up on the floor and not have my handle bars waggle like that. so any opinions / advice on this would be greatly received as i have tried to search through the internet and can only find advice on braking which sort of covers everything what i did i just cannot find anything that explains what my handle bars did. oh and my bike has got michelin road pilot 2 tyres on which are in good condition. i came in to work today along the motorway and notice that slowing down from 70 there was a slight vibration through either the handle bars or brake lever ( i could not tell which), but when slowing down on the A45 for road works there was nothing. so not sure what it is, my first thoughts are that one of the front discs is actual warped but not sure what that would feel like. Cheers all Stu Yikes, when you brake that hard. Especially with those stonking blue/gold spot calipers what you actually experienced was the rear lifting, very slightly but enough for it to want to come and see whats going on at the front. What i think you were actually controling wasn't the bars wagging but the bike waging around the bars and all credit to you for staying shiny side up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted January 22, 2010 Moderator Share Posted January 22, 2010 Oh and warped discs on the front, it feels like the front wheel is shaped like a 50 pence piece and the more you brake the worse the vibration gets, to the point the wheel can lock/unlock as you are braking in severe cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 If its been laid up through the fine weather we've had of late (unless its garaged)it could just be rust patches on the brake discs, it seems from your post that its easing off a little ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Wheels Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 A Yes, I never thaught of the back lifting up and him balanceing on front tyre, or rust on the discs !! But I still want to know about the Underwere issue !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart1507 Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 cheers all, nope did not need new pants but it did come close, regarding the head stock bearing, i have tried to see if there is any play in these and cannot feel any, also tried to see if there was any play in the front wheel bearing but being new to this not sure how any play in either the head stock or wheel bearing would feel? regarding the discs warping would this not present it self entirly through the brake lever???????? oh the bike is used in all weathers the only time it has been layed up was when we had the snow couple of weeks ago! stu Sorry forgot to mention that it is an '02 FZS600 Fazer with around 19000 on the clock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted January 26, 2010 Moderator Share Posted January 26, 2010 cheers all, nope did not need new pants but it did come close, regarding the head stock bearing, i have tried to see if there is any play in these and cannot feel any, also tried to see if there was any play in the front wheel bearing but being new to this not sure how any play in either the head stock or wheel bearing would feel? regarding the discs warping would this not present it self entirly through the brake lever???????? oh the bike is used in all weathers the only time it has been layed up was when we had the snow couple of weeks ago! stu Sorry forgot to mention that it is an '02 FZS600 Fazer with around 19000 on the clock. Oh no, in my experience a warped disk is felt through the entire bike, but mainly at the bars. It is litterally like trying to hold on to a jackhammer on speed if its bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart1507 Posted January 27, 2010 Author Share Posted January 27, 2010 Oh no, in my experience a warped disk is felt through the entire bike, but mainly at the bars. It is litterally like trying to hold on to a jackhammer on speed if its bad. cheers, got to work today and have had colleague hold the back of the bike down so that the front wheel was off the floor and made sure the hadle bars could not move, this time i found a small amount of play in the front wheel bearings. so have ordered and guess i will be replacing them as soon as they arrive then i shall see how the brakes feel. Cheers all for your advice Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Wheels Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 cheers, got to work today and have had colleague hold the back of the bike down so that the front wheel was off the floor and made sure the hadle bars could not move, this time i found a small amount of play in the front wheel bearings. so have ordered and guess i will be replacing them as soon as they arrive then i shall see how the brakes feel. Cheers all for your advice Stu Ok then, if the front has a little play that means the back bearings probabbly wont be far behind. While the front of the bike was off the ground, did you grab the bottom of the forks and attempt to push / pull on them feeling for the same movement as you got in the wheel. 19,000 miles on her, maby you should change the brake fluid "in the front anyway". it tends to loose its umph after a while. (wont cost much) Pack the new bearings well with high resistant grease when putting them in. Hope this was the prob of the bars vibrating. Let us know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart1507 Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 Ok then, if the front has a little play that means the back bearings probabbly wont be far behind. While the front of the bike was off the ground, did you grab the bottom of the forks and attempt to push / pull on them feeling for the same movement as you got in the wheel. 19,000 miles on her, maby you should change the brake fluid "in the front anyway". it tends to loose its umph after a while. (wont cost much) Pack the new bearings well with high resistant grease when putting them in. Hope this was the prob of the bars vibrating. Let us know! Well fitted my replacement bearings today, took the bike out for a quick half hour ride and everything feels nice and smooth now no vibration when braking just feels very smooth so replacing the bearings seams to have cured my problem. Cheers everyone for all your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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