Brake pad not straight

Hoaxr
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Hoaxr
Edited Date/Time 1/28/2019 2:24pm
Hi,

Bike = Kawasaki kx450f 2017

My left rear breakpad is not straight as it should be, i already replaced them with new ones and put them in straight, but after riding the left one was turned again. How can i fix this? Is the caliper not aligned right or something?


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RyanLester761
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RyanLester761 1/24/2019 2:50pm
1/24/2019 2:50pm
My initial thought is the floating (inner) brake pad is hanging on the pin and or your rotor is too small in diameter. But, after a closer look, is the caliper itself bent where the pad sits??? That will surely cause a problem. That should be parallel to the piston.
Hoaxr
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Hoaxr 1/24/2019 2:56pm
1/24/2019 2:56pm
RyanLester761 wrote:
My initial thought is the floating (inner) brake pad is hanging on the pin and or your rotor is too small in diameter. But, after a...
My initial thought is the floating (inner) brake pad is hanging on the pin and or your rotor is too small in diameter. But, after a closer look, is the caliper itself bent where the pad sits??? That will surely cause a problem. That should be parallel to the piston.
Is that even possible? Maybe someone here can take the same picture so i can see if its normal or bent
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AJ565
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AJ565 1/24/2019 3:14pm
1/24/2019 3:14pm
Take the caliper off and turn it over and look. It sure looks bent in that picture.
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kb228
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kb228 1/24/2019 3:41pm
1/24/2019 3:41pm
Looks like the caliper is bent. The part the pad presses against looks crooked. Should be parallel with the rotor.

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barnett468
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barnett468 1/24/2019 5:21pm
1/24/2019 5:21pm Edited Date/Time 1/24/2019 5:22pm
you need better photos without a fish eye lens.

DynoDan22
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DynoDan22 1/24/2019 7:25pm
1/24/2019 7:25pm
Caliper got hot and bent open like a few people mention. I hate to say it but it's new caliper time.
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captmoto
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captmoto 1/24/2019 11:08pm
1/24/2019 11:08pm
Is the pin bent? It also looks like the piston is really extended there.
RussB
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RussB 1/25/2019 12:26am
1/25/2019 12:26am
Yep that's a bent caliper.
Surprised to see it on such a new bike.

Similar happened on my 2008 RM250 which I had like 250 hours on. But my pads went out of square from the caliper wearing away. So for it to bend seems odd.

Either way your only real fix is to get a replacement
dkurtd
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dkurtd 1/25/2019 7:14am
1/25/2019 7:14am Edited Date/Time 1/25/2019 7:38am
It's not really that uncommon, those Nissin calipers will do that if you get them too hot. I grew up on drum brakes so I am a real bad rear brake rider so mine get really hot and I've got two that are tweaked, just not as bad as yours.

I wish Kawasaki would put insulator plates like Yamaha have, it might help dissipate some of the heat. Either way I've seen this on all bikes to some extent that run Nissin calipers.

I've heard of guys bending them back in a vise but that seems a little sketchy to me. Looks like it is time to buy a new caliper.
RyanLester761
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RyanLester761 1/25/2019 7:53am
1/25/2019 7:53am
Hoaxr wrote:
Is that even possible? Maybe someone here can take the same picture so i can see if its normal or bent
I'm glad we all can agree. ? Yes, I've seen bent calipers before.
barnett468
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barnett468 1/25/2019 8:09am
1/25/2019 8:09am
DynoDan22 wrote:
Caliper got hot and bent open like a few people mention. I hate to say it but it's new caliper time.
highly unlikely and impossible to determine at this point.

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752dad
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752dad 1/27/2019 6:08pm
1/27/2019 6:08pm
Have seen it before on my kids YZ.
Bent caliper for sure.

KC
DynoDan22
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DynoDan22 1/27/2019 8:08pm
1/27/2019 8:08pm
Barnett, I've seen more than a few rear brake draggers and or people that don't set proper slack in the master cylinder pedal have this happen. I've seen some riders even do it to a front caliper even. That caliper is stretched wide open from either excessive heat or excessive force or a combination of the two.
dkurtd
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dkurtd 1/27/2019 8:47pm
1/27/2019 8:47pm
I will second what DynoDan said, I'm a terrible brake dragger. I blame it on growing up in the 70's with drum brakes. Below is the caliper that was on my KX250, it too bent from heat. Those Nissin calipers just aren't built for repeated heavy heat loads.
barnett468
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barnett468 1/28/2019 6:43am
1/28/2019 6:43am
DynoDan22 wrote:
Barnett, I've seen more than a few rear brake draggers and or people that don't set proper slack in the master cylinder pedal have this happen...
Barnett, I've seen more than a few rear brake draggers and or people that don't set proper slack in the master cylinder pedal have this happen. I've seen some riders even do it to a front caliper even. That caliper is stretched wide open from either excessive heat or excessive force or a combination of the two.
Wow, they sure don't make parts like they used to.
kb228
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kb228 1/28/2019 6:50am
1/28/2019 6:50am
If dragging brakes is a problem, you could get a billet caliper. Just guessing but id assume a new caliper from kawi is close to a ride eng billet one. Billet will hold up to heat better than the cast stuff.
dkurtd
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dkurtd 1/28/2019 7:25am
1/28/2019 7:25am
kb228 wrote:
If dragging brakes is a problem, you could get a billet caliper. Just guessing but id assume a new caliper from kawi is close to a...
If dragging brakes is a problem, you could get a billet caliper. Just guessing but id assume a new caliper from kawi is close to a ride eng billet one. Billet will hold up to heat better than the cast stuff.
As long as I can buy good used calipers off of Ebay for $40.00 and rebuild kits for $20.00 I'm not going to spend $400.00 on something that might not get destroyed by heat. I will just keep spending $60.00 as needed. Thanks.
YZed250
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YZed250 1/28/2019 2:24pm
1/28/2019 2:24pm
dkurtd wrote:
I will second what DynoDan said, I'm a terrible brake dragger. I blame it on growing up in the 70's with drum brakes. Below is the...
I will second what DynoDan said, I'm a terrible brake dragger. I blame it on growing up in the 70's with drum brakes. Below is the caliper that was on my KX250, it too bent from heat. Those Nissin calipers just aren't built for repeated heavy heat loads.
This is mainly a Suzuki and Kawi problem. I know they both spec a Nissin part, but I don's see this anywhere near as often on Yam/Hon.
Might have to do with the brake pad material or insulation.

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