Brakes seized - advice wanted

[(RIP) Sugar Ray]

My brake pads often stick slightly when I haven't used the bike for a week or two. Normally this seems to clear as soon as I push the bike out of the garage. However, this morning they seemed worse than usual. Stupidly, I thought that if I rode the bike for a mile or two, they would clear (hindsight is usually 20/20!) I'd only gone 1.9 miles from home when the bike decelerated rapidly and then seconds later the brakes seized up & my GS slid down the road, closely followed by me. Engine bars do work, but there is quite a bit of damage to various bits.
Only damage to me was a dislocated thumb (Ouch!), and a few bruises to hip & shoulder.

Has this happened to anyone else, and did BMW accept any liability? I've already told my dealer what I think about it. The bike is a 2003 Adventure, non-ABS, with 14,000 miles on it. It was serviced by the supplying dealer at 12,600 miles, at the end of September. I used it twice over Xmas & cleaned it religiously after both rides.

I would be gratefull for any advice, other than not to use the bike over the winter

Regards,

Charles

 

[Mzokk]

See this thread. Clean your calipers regularly as per the instructions you'll have no more bother.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34790

 

[Spout]

I don't think you can stitch this on BMW or your dealer. You've already admitted that the brakes were faulty before you set off

Keeping the brakes clean (especially in winter with all the salt) should be normal maintenance for all bike owners.

I think you've been unfortunate that the binding was bad enough to cause the wheels to lock so suddenly though . Bummer.

 

[Mzokk]

I do mine regularly and while last week noticed the pad edges trying to weld themselves to the caliper body. I've put a light smear of copper grease on the inside of the body.....should do the trick...salt eh!

 

[(RIP) Sugar Ray]

Keeping the brakes clean (especially in winter with all the salt) should be normal maintenance for all bike owners.

Looks like I'll have to either stop using my bikes in winter, or learn how to strip the brakes down every few weeks. How come that my company Mondeo, with 65K on the clock, and serviced only every 12.5K doesn't seem to have these problems? Maybe it's because I don't use my bike enough in the winter?

Regards,

Charles

 

[mfredrik]

The same happened to me a few weeks ago, but i luckily stayed sunny side up. in my case, the local dealer replaced the brake pads and calipers free of charge as an act of goodwill.

I have not had this problem before in many years of nonBMW riding. Sticky calipers yes, but not the savage locking of a front wheel. I am curious, perhaps the Servo has something to do with it, but I don't know. One thing is for sure, though. You only have to look through the threads on this website to see this is a regular occurrence with BMW's.

Surely if we are paying for a full BMW service history on our expensive premium brand BMW products is reasonable to expect our motorcycles to NOT throw us down the road?

I don't know what I can realistically do to help you, but maybe through this forum we could organise a petition to do something about this. At the very least, BMW should issue us with some sort of technical bulletin about this and tell us what we can do to prevent it.

You would certainly be able to count on my signature.

 

[skywalker]

An all too common problem, especially with the "EVO" style caliper.
The pad clearances between the back of the pad & the caliper are extremely small.Due to the fact that the pad is bare metal and the caliper is aluminium you get a catalytic reaction between the two metals ie corrosion.
the more fastideous dealers remove the brake pads at pdi and coat them with an anti seize grease but this is no guarantee of problem free brakes given the highly corrosive salt we put on our roads every winter.A couple of years ago i remember servicing quite a few bikes where on cleaning the calipers the amount of salt in the air on cleaning them was actually burning my skin, so god knows what its doing to the calipers.
best advice is not to put the bike away wet but dry it off as best you can.If you lay the bike up for longish periods rotate the wheels occasionally.

 

[pragmatix]

best advice is not to put the bike away wet but dry it off as best you can..

A leaf blower makes a good bike dryer, gets all the nooks and crannys.

Pete A

 

[cookie]

A leaf blower makes a good bike dryer, gets all the nooks and crannys.

Pete A

that's an excellent idea. i like that

best not use this tip after a evening out on the bike if you have sensitive neighbors though

 

[JAY]

Mine seized last week! That's inspite of regular cleaning with a hose after rides. At least it's a quick job to take the calipers off and give it all a good clean. As far as I can tell, stripping and cleaning the brakes is not a scheduled service item!

 

[Timolgra]

A leaf blower makes a good bike dryer, gets all the nooks and crannys.

Pete A

What, first Den washing his bike with shampoo and now you blow drying them, it's sounds like a bit of a poodle parlour, am I likely to also be affected the longer I spend in Scotland

Seriously though a N Wales 'dealer' was presented with this same problem after a rider freed brakes off, rode away then crashed as the brakes locked on. Bmww wouldn't admit liability (surprise surprise).

The moral here is, if your brakes are seized on, don't just push them back and after a quick check ride off. They DO need sorting.

Tim

 

[pragmatix]

What, first Den washing his bike with shampoo and now you blow drying them, it's sounds like a bit of a poodle parlour, am I likely to also be affected the longer I spend in Scotland

Tim

You could also try hair gel to buff up your sidewalls.



Pete A