Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer 
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| Tech ALL bikes: "Generic" tech questions and answers. Maintenance, general discussions etc. |
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#1
10 Aug 2010
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Maintenance products
Hey y'All!
So this weekend I went to my nearest Bike Mart and got stocked up with a "starter kit" of products to get me going on basic maintenance of my motorcycle. Obviously new to all this, I got chain cleaner, chain lube, degreaser, cleaner/polish, some 10W50 oil, a chain cleaner brush and a tyre pressure gauge. The helpful sales assistant said that would cover pretty much everything for basic weekly/monthly maintenance. So I get home with all my goods, $200 later, and the next thing that happens is the front brake on my bike is squeaking. I'm looking at all the different canisters and things... and I've got nothing to cure squeaky brakes! So what am I missing?? And are any of these products multi-purpose, as this is going to cost me a fortune if I have to buy a new product for every single part of the bike!!  Jeanie 
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#2
10 Aug 2010
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Squeaky Brakes.
What kind of bike are you riding? I am going to presume that you have Disk brakes on the front. You should check the brake pads to ensure that you have sufficient lining left on them. If you are rubbing metal on metal, that would account for the squeak. Take a good look at them, and remove the brake pads from their housing. Spray a bit of that chain cleaner in the housing (after removing the pads) and watch the road grime and brake pad dust ooze out. After the cleaning agent dries, put the brake pads back in (provided the brake pads are in good condition) and go for a test ride.
--Alex
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#3
10 Aug 2010
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Quote:
 Are the brake disks rusty at all?
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#4
10 Aug 2010
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Squeaky brakes are just annoying if there's plenty of brake pad left. Mine squeak too. It's just what disc brakes do sometimes.
The standard remedy on a car, and I see no reason a bike shouldn't be the same, is to take out the pads, clean everything really well (keep the friction material as dry as you reasonably can), and put a thin coat of grease on the metal backside of the pads. The pads "float" in the calipers, and can jiggle around in there a bit and squeak against the piston in their normal operation. You can get special brake pad lube for this, it comes in foil tear-off packets for like a dollar in the US, one does several pads, I expect it's similar in OZ. You can also use wheel bearing grease or white lithium. Bear in mind I've just been letting mine squeak as there's plenty of pad left, so I haven't tried this on a bike yet. Like this- Your Parts Search Returned 1 Part(s)
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#5
11 Aug 2010
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Thanks for the advice guys, time to check the brake pads and act accordingly...
Hopefully it's as bigalsmith101 says and I just need to give the pads a bit of a "spruce up" with the chain cleaner I've already got... Jeanie
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#6
11 Aug 2010
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Doesn't sound like you got much for your $200. Maybe I'm missing something...or maybe you bought a vast supply of oil. Or something.
Just in case it's not clear....don't get ANY lube, cleaner, grease, oil or whatnot on the braking surface of your pads or on the disk itself (although this can be easily cleaned before applying the brakes). Contaminate your brake pads and they become almost useless. This is worth keeping in mind when lubing your chain, too. Overspray can end up on your rear disk, which is bad. Note also that, depending on various factors some people don't use lube on their chains. I'm one, and I seem to get the same chain life as everyone else. I clean, then ignore. As it happens, I also ignore the common advice to change sprockets whenever changing a chain, and with identical results. YMMV. Welcome to the world of endless debates which will never, ever achieve any sort of resolution. Mark
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#7
11 Aug 2010
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Quote:
I am quickly discovering that in the motorcycling world, there is never just one answer to ANY question, it's all a matter of preference and opinion, hahaha!  Jeanie
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#8
12 Aug 2010
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Very good advice from everyone. Sometimes just getting out and USING the brakes a bit hard can eliminate the squeaking. But as mentioned, cleaning the Disc and pads is also good. (Use Brake Clean ... a clear spirt ... this is not a lube and won't hurt pads or disc. DO NOT get in your eyes! Wear eye protection)
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