Oldschool
.040 Over
A few weeks ago I noticed a sound like the brake pads were wore out and rubbing against the rotor at slow speed, along with a slight grinding noise. It was time for a new rear tire anyway So I pulled the wheels off the bike, had a new set of tires mounted up, and I threw them back on the bike. I threw on a new set of brake pads as well. I rode the bike around for a bit and noticed the sound was still there in the rear, just quieter. I couldn't tell if it was on the right or left side, but it sounded like the rotor was rubbing the brake pad.
So I took the rear tire off, looked at everything, and it seemed ok. I put the wheel back on the bike, and left the brake caliper and bracket off. I spun the wheel on the axel (without it engaged to the splines, and noticed the rear brake rotor was moving in and out a fair amount, obviously I thought it was warped. However when I got to looking at the rest of the wheel I noticed that if I put my finger around the recessed area at the center of the wheel (where the rotor side wheel bearing goes) and the swing arm, the clearance between the two seems to increase/decrease. I didn't have time to pull the axel out before work to verify its straight, but the only way I could see that doing that is if A) the wheel isn't machined properly on that lip, B) the bearing is screwed up, or C) if the axel itself is bent. I know its not a misalignment with the axel thats causing it because the rotor moves in/out and doesn't just stay off in one direction while running true.
Tomorrow before work I am going to jack the bike up and put a dial indicator on the lip of the wheel when its mounted, and turn the wheel to see how much the outer part of the wheel is actually moving in/out (if at all). I did take the rotor off the wheel to clean the rim, but I marked it so it went back on the wheel in the same position. It didn't look warped when I eyeballed it before putting it on. Any ideas are helpful...
So I took the rear tire off, looked at everything, and it seemed ok. I put the wheel back on the bike, and left the brake caliper and bracket off. I spun the wheel on the axel (without it engaged to the splines, and noticed the rear brake rotor was moving in and out a fair amount, obviously I thought it was warped. However when I got to looking at the rest of the wheel I noticed that if I put my finger around the recessed area at the center of the wheel (where the rotor side wheel bearing goes) and the swing arm, the clearance between the two seems to increase/decrease. I didn't have time to pull the axel out before work to verify its straight, but the only way I could see that doing that is if A) the wheel isn't machined properly on that lip, B) the bearing is screwed up, or C) if the axel itself is bent. I know its not a misalignment with the axel thats causing it because the rotor moves in/out and doesn't just stay off in one direction while running true.
Tomorrow before work I am going to jack the bike up and put a dial indicator on the lip of the wheel when its mounted, and turn the wheel to see how much the outer part of the wheel is actually moving in/out (if at all). I did take the rotor off the wheel to clean the rim, but I marked it so it went back on the wheel in the same position. It didn't look warped when I eyeballed it before putting it on. Any ideas are helpful...