sooo close to dying tonight

[damz]

last week while working on the back brake i let in air into the brake line and my attempts to fix it ddnt work. so earlier tonight i had planned to go round to a friends to sort it out as he is a mechanical wizard.

well i had work first then went round to his afterwards, had to ride the bike the day before and the way to work and was fine with the exception of the back brake.

well on my way to a petrol station before heading to my friends i could hear a clunking sound whenever i pressed the front brake, wasnt sure what it was, then as i slowed down to pull into the station i suddenly had no pressure on the lever, went all the way back to the handlebar! thankfully i was only doin around 5mph and pulled into the station and managed to slow it done flintstone style.

got off the bike to see wtf had happend to cause my front brake to fail so suddenly after being fine for the last 5 months (last time i took the wheel off for new tyres) and the screws on the calliper were gone and the calliper was dangling by the brake hose .

the distance between my work and the petrol station is roughly 75m metres and consists of a right turn so i have no idea how the hell both screws had come off. Im kinda paranoid with all the neds (scottish chavs) that hang around the back of the shop where i keep my bike and they do dislike me greatly. however i doubt they could be capable of anything like that.... i hope.

still a bit of a mystery as to how exactly it happend but im glad i went for petrol first as my friend lives just off a road that is nsl so stopping from those speeds would had caused a few problems.

got new screws in the callipers and put in more lockite(sp) and got the back brake working again so all is well, just a bit weireded out about how fucked i would had been if i ddnt stop for petrol first.
____________________
Current Bikes RVF400 - 94
Cars: RX7 FD, Eunos Roadster
Former Bikes: FZR 250R 89, ZX7R 98

[Ben.]

my biggest fear is loseing brakes, i know a few people that have had brake lines cut (only on cars mind), and it never ended well for the guy that cut the brakes.
____________________
follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[prawny1]

If your paranoid about people loosening your bolts, dab a bit of paint underneath each bolt and its mount so that you can check if they are still inline at a glance.

Either that or you could drill holes though the heads and wire them together ala race bike style, ensuring they can't turn all the way out even if they become loose.

I had a bike come into the shop i used to work in, that had both front calipers loose the guy had just had new brake pads fitted before driving down the motorway from wolverhampton to birmingham for it's m.o.t. and asked me to look at them because they had been klonking, needless to say he borrowed our phone and unloaded a good old mouthful on the guy that fitted the pads, with several threats of physical violence.

[damz]

my friend suggested placing razor blades around the bolt to cut peoples fingers, however i am likely to forget about them and cut myself.

i was lucky nobody was coming towards me as i pulled into the station, i could had gone straight on but then it goes downhill and has lights at the bottem which could have been veeeery scary.
____________________
Current Bikes RVF400 - 94
Cars: RX7 FD, Eunos Roadster
Former Bikes: FZR 250R 89, ZX7R 98

[prawny1]

It just goes to show why you need two brakes, i have had kids tell me in the past, "nah it's alright ive got the front/back brake" when found something up with there brakes and asking if they want it fixing.

Only a few have listened to reason and had the work done, the rest are probably splatted somewhere after loosing the other brake.

[DeeMaxx]

You're very lucky..glad you're ok just give your breaks a good check over before you ride..if you're worried someone might be tampering with your brakes keep your bike in a more public place.

[iooi]

Kill switch has many uses......

You just found one today. just don't pull the clutch in when you hit it and you will stop.
____________________
Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[priestessuk20...]

[Psychonaut]

I always use locktite on my caliper bolts, just a minute or so with a wire brush to remove and re locktite the bolts after a pad change, peace of mind all year round.
____________________
Prev CBR600RR (06) Orange/Black
CBR1000RR (09) Repsol
Now Ducati 1199 Panigale

[NSR Mick]

[stinkwheel]

Loss of brakes is usually user error though.

Last time I lost mine was because I hadn't nipped up the lever clamp properly.

I even felt the back part of the clamp hit me on the knee as it fell off and thought "That was something that fell off the bike, if it had been off the road it would have hurt a lot more." just couldn't see what it was. I sure as hell found out when I got to the top of the motorway sliproad and straightlined the roundabout!

So, top tip, after a protracted motorway stint, try your brakes BEFORE you get near the top of the sliproad, if only to make sure the pistons haven't rattled back into the callipers.

Kawasakis of a certain age are also rather prone to spitting the 'free' pad out of their rear calliper once they have a bit of wear on them. If you have one of the ones with a nasty and pretty ineffective single pot calliper on the rear, make sure you replace the pads as soon as they hit the wear marker.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[stinkwheel]

I should also mention that in the case of those undone bolts. There is no way calliper bolts should be able to undo themselves.

This would suggest either a) Outside interference. b) Incorrect tightening torque at the time of fitting. c) Incorrect grade of bolts.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[damz]