Front brake feels odd!!

[courior]

Hi all. I wonder if anyone has the same issue as me ....

When i hit the front brakes hard, its fine, slows me down smoothly to a stop, but if i use them lightly at slower speeds to just shave off a few kph it feels as though i have a warped disc. The braking is not smooth, its hard to explain. its like the brake is gripping harder at a certain point then letting go and gripping again when it gets to this point again... the lever feels smooth with no pulsing though ruling out a warped disc!

I had another issue with the front wheel balance and the dealer replaced the front wheel/tyre/disc assembly with a new one which solved the wheel balance issue and even the brakes for a couple of 100 km's, but now its slowly returning! im used to it and the dealer told me its normal on these bikes (maybe cause of the wavy disc?) ... Anyone have this?

Cheers!!!

[lankeeyankee]

How many miles on the rotors?
Do you ride in rain?
Do the rotors have any glazing on them?

Sounds to me either, glazed pads and rotors, or warped rotors.

[courior]

Hi.. its got 700km on them from brand new. this happened before it ever saw the rain, and rain doesnt seem to make it any better/worse. i dont think its a warped rotor cause the brake lever is smooth and not pulsing as you would feel on a warped rotor. i guess its a characteristic of these bikes :S

[lankeeyankee]

Without riding the bike I am going to guess its either the front tire is bad or a rotor.
Increase/decrease the tire pressure and see if there is a difference and troubleshoot
from there.

[wordslinger]

..is it possible that you have a bent axle??

[courior]

Thanks for the help all.. I think i will start with tyre pressures, although i dont think this is the cause, it might help to soften the effect.

Im pretty sure its not a bent axle, during normal riding the bike is smooth as silk. even on hard front braking its pretty smooth, its when im just touching the brake a little bit.. im kinda used to it now, but i will continue to check odd things here and there, plus if anyone has any other ideas.

thanks!

[Rianna]

Bearings??

[lankeeyankee]

Tire or rotor. Betting on the tire.

No bearings, nor axles will cause the symptoms he is having.

Bent axle= doesnt cause pulsating on a non drive axle.
Bearings= will cause pulsation at high speeds, brakes or no brakes applied, depending on how bad of condition the bearing is.
Bad front wheel bearing will mostly cause a shimmy once rotating due to the centrifugal force .
First sign of a bearing going bad is noise.

[lankeeyankee]

Have you fixed the problem?

[Agent Bob]

The December 2010 issue of Rider magazine in the U.S. addressed the same issue in it's Tech Q&A section. The expert said it's caused by the light braking in itself. He said hard spots can develop from frequent light braking. The rotor heats well enough, but doesn't cool evenly due to the light braking, causing high spots that become permanent. Sounds unusual, I know, but that's what he said. He said during hard braking it's not noticeable.

[courior]

Hi all,

Sorry i didnt reply earlier.. I checked pressures and they were fine. I sort of got used to it now, and i think Agent Bob is describing EXACTLY what i got. Im happy that he mentioned this cause i know im not the only one and its a common thing that i shouldnt worry about. I think with better quality pads it would be better as i think the rotor is pretty good (wavy and drilled).

Im gonna leave it as is and put it down as a part of this bikes character

Thanks for all the followups everyone!

Courior