front caliper locked up

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ritalz
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front caliper locked up

#1

Post by ritalz »

Couple days ago my right front caliper locked up causing the bike to go down. Been trying to figure out why only one side would do this. The spoog hole in the master has to be clear or I would be having trouble with both sides. Last week I removed and polished all four pistons and the seemed to move freely. All fresh fluid and no bubbles led me to think everything was ok. I'm unable to dig into this at the moment but would like to have a starting point. The system worked fine for a few miles before the problem started.
Al

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Re: front caliper locked up

#2

Post by pidjones »

Check your lines. An internal failure or chunk can act as a check valve.
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Re: front caliper locked up

#3

Post by scootsx2 »

Al,

I would disassemble and examine the affected caliper. One of the piston seals may be binding, there may be some debris or corrosion present or you may have reassembled the caliper incorrectly. Earlier this year I had a similar issue with one of the front calipers on my GL1800 and the problem was incorrect reassembly.
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ritalz
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Re: front caliper locked up

#4

Post by ritalz »

Hey Scoots, I guess that follows the golden rule to look at the area you just worked on. Not sure when I can dive in since I am out of commission at the moment.
Al

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1975 Goldwing 'Max'
1984 Goldwing New Bagger Project
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1985 Goldwing Interstate 'NCC-1985' sold
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Re: front caliper locked up

#5

Post by williwm »

A quick check would be to open the bleeder on the locked caliper. If the caliper frees up the line has a problem, if it doesn’t, the caliper has a problem.
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Re: front caliper locked up

#6

Post by Oldewing »

Hope you did not get beat up too bad Al, at our age, normal repair takes a LOT longer....
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Re: front caliper locked up

#7

Post by Liam »

Check your front wheel bearings.
I had a wheel bearing seize up a few years ago which caused the axle to rotate which caused the sleeve nut at the RHS
to unscrew and push the bottom of the Right fork leg outwards jamming on the brake on that side.
There was nothing wrong with the caliper or the braking system.
I was lucky in that I had pulled out on the road and had only gone 100 yards and only doing about 20MPH and came to a sudden halt.

I have since always preached to whoever unfortunate enough to listen about replacing wheel bearings, especially on a bike that has been resting for several years.
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Re: front caliper locked up

#8

Post by ritalz »

Greg, I got a little banged up but I heal pretty good. More details in my project thread.

Liam, didn't consider the wheel bearings since everything freed up soon as I knocked the caliper off the disc. I'll be investigating the cause soon as I am able. I've done very little over the last few days.
Al

2003 Goldwing Daily Rider
1975 Goldwing 'Max'
1984 Goldwing New Bagger Project
1976 Goldwing 'Grocery Getter' Sold
1985 Goldwing Interstate 'NCC-1985' sold
1981 Silverwing Sold
1982 Goldeing Project Sold
1981 Goldwing Parted Out
1983 Goldwing Project Sold
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Re: front caliper locked up

#9

Post by flyday58 »

My brake master cylinder was causing the right caliper on my 76 Standard to keep pressure on the disk. When I got the master apart it had a goodly amount of spooge and crud around the piston and at the exit to the upper brake hose. Working fine since the rebuild, and the bike is much easier to roll arounf the garage.
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Re: front caliper locked up

#10

Post by UncleBoogie »

What year is your bike? !983 and up had the integrated system and the front master only controls one caliper.
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ritalz
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Re: front caliper locked up

#11

Post by ritalz »

82, no linked brakes.
Al

2003 Goldwing Daily Rider
1975 Goldwing 'Max'
1984 Goldwing New Bagger Project
1976 Goldwing 'Grocery Getter' Sold
1985 Goldwing Interstate 'NCC-1985' sold
1981 Silverwing Sold
1982 Goldeing Project Sold
1981 Goldwing Parted Out
1983 Goldwing Project Sold
1973 CB500F Long Gone
1966 CL77 First Street Bike
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Re: front caliper locked up

#12

Post by JamesPal »

Another thing to look at is the caliper mounting pins.The calipers must float on those pins. They can bind up and cause the pads to bind. New hoses are expensive, but this is a reason to buy them. a 10 YO brake hose is an old hose on any moto-auto installations.
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Re: front caliper locked up

#13

Post by Track T 2411 »

If it turns out to be a brake hose issue, http://m.siriusconinc.com/ has NOS style hoses relatively cheap. (I'm assuming you're going to sell the bike...)
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