xor_bot Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Hi All! Got my first bike last Sunday. 2014 MT-07. I took her out for a ride for the first time today for about 25 minutes. Parked her in the garage afterwards. About 4 hours later I wanted to reposition the bike and noticed a kind of scraping sound, and resistance when I tried to move her. Seems the front caliper is slightly engaged without me pressing on the brake lever. It wasn't like this before the ride. Also, a little bit of brake fluid was seeping out the lid of the reservoir on the handle bar. The dealership I bought it from apparently gave her a full service and QC before shipping to me. Any advice on diagnosing the issue? Is it even an issue? I don't feel comfortable riding her like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member cornerslider Posted July 17, 2020 Premium Member Share Posted July 17, 2020 It sounds like (maybe) the reservoir got over-filled? There is supposed to an "air gap" at the top of the reservoir, meaning it's not supposed to be completely full. Without that air gap, when the brake fluid gets warm/hot (sometimes even from being parked in direct sunlight), it expands. If it has no place to expand to, it finds the path of least resistance- the pistons in the brake calipers. This puts pressure on the pads & rotors, causing resistance. A quick way to check it is remove the 2 small screws on top of the reservoir, and remove the cap & rubber gasket. Keep a rag handy, as you may lose some brake fluid when you remove the cap. Brake fluid will eat through paint if not wiped up, so you don't want to contact painted surfaces (it won't happen quickly, just try to protect the painted surfaces/wipe it off if it does). You want the fluid level about 1/4" to 3/8 inch below the top of the reservoir (at its highest point). The only other thing I could think of is maybe one of the pads, or caliper is hanging up. If you're not comfortable checking that yourself, I'd take it back to the dealer. They should stand behind that if they did a full service & QC check. Hope that helps you out. Let us know what you find out. Good luck- 2 ""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossrider Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Cornerslider is spot on. Also there should never be any fluid leaking from under the reservoir cover. It sounds like it was way over full. This can easily happen if new pads are installed by simply pushing the pucks back and dropping in new pads w/o checking the fluid level in the reservoir. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member cornerslider Posted July 18, 2020 Premium Member Share Posted July 18, 2020 Good call @mossrider... I'd bet they just put new pads on a 2014, and called it "done".... ""W.O.T. until you see god, then brake" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xor_bot Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 Thanks @cornerslider and @mossrider. I opened the reservoir cap, and yes I think the issue was just that it was too full. Pushing out a little at the air gap on top when it heated up. I also removed the callipers to check for any strangeness. It looks like new(ish?) pads. I went for a cautious ride and nothing felt strange, and the pads/rotor didn't heat up abnormally. Then went for a longer ride. Seems fine. It's just when pushing it in the garage that I hear/feel the friction so I think it's fine. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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