Brake Noise

[Altarider]

I really love my ZZR 1200 but the brakes squeal like crazy at anything less than full stopping power.  I have read that squeal is often cause by imperfections on the rotors which accumulate brake and road dust and that is what causes the noise.  This is consistent with my experience because any time I ride after a heavy rain or after I've washed the bike the squealing goes away for a while.

Some sources I've seen say that you can smooth the rotors with emory cloth or fine sandpaper and eliminate the problem that way.  Has anyone done this?  Does it work?  Do you have to remove the rotors to do it?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Y.B Slo]

There is a product called 'Brake Quite", I think it's made Permatex. It's like silocone and you spread it on the back of the pad before you install.You could also round off the edges of the pad with a file. That also helps eliminate noise.

[ctfz1]

Srub rotors, remove calipers clean sliding surfaces and pins. May use disc quiet on cylinder edges and neversieze silver on slide points sparingly.

[Thor]

Do not put "Brake Quiet" on your motorcycle brakes.  You have floating rotors and their is absolutely no reason for you to put that on your brake pads, other than to mask a problem.

To "clean" your rotors use garnet based, fine grit sand paper.  Silicon based sandpaper will create hard spots on your rotors.

Sometimes the the floating "buttons" on a motorcycle rotor get stuck and stop floating.  I take a rubber hammer and lightly pound on the pins around the carrier, not the rotor, to get things working and back in line.

Your forks could be slightly out of line due to improper wheel installation.  This will cant the calipers a little bit off.

Loosen your pinch bolts and push your front tire against a wall (don't use your front brake.)  Compress the front forks as hard as you can a number of times, then properly torque your pinch bolts.

Lastly, did you transfer the metal backing plates from your old brake pads to your new ones?  If you didn't do this, it could possibly cause this.

Squeal is caused by the loose pads vibrating at a very high frequency between the rotor and the caliper.  This is something that just should not happen on a motorcycle for many, many reasons, e.g., caliper design, master cylinder design, floating rotors, pad material....

Squealing on a car is a different story...

[RBEmerson]

+1 on no "anti-squeal goo".  Clean the rotors, clean the actuators.  Cleanliness matters here!  Put back all the shims that were there when you started.  Easy peasy.  And go easy on the brakes for 50-100 miles, until they bed in a bit.  Jam them on right after putting in new pads and expect to have glazed pads.  

[BlueRidgeKat]

Altarider, the squeal is a common problem on most all the ZZR12's. A number of ZZR owners have tried all the tricks without much success. Mine was quite annoying for the first 7,000 miles then went away. At 16k now, its time for new pads and I already have a set of EBC's ready to install. Hope new pads dont bring back the original squeal.

[Fourstring]

Altarider, the squeal is a common problem on most all the ZZR12's. A number of ZZR owners have tried all the tricks without much success. Mine was quite annoying for the first 7,000 miles then went away. At 16k now, its time for new pads and I already have a set of EBC's ready to install. Hope new pads dont bring back the original squeal.

You know, that's an interesting point you brought up, and I've never really heard an answer.  How long are brake pads supposed to last?  And how often (annually?) should you change them?

[rselin]

You know, that's an interesting point you brought up, and I've never really heard an answer.  How long are brake pads supposed to last?  And how often (annually?) should you change them?

You change them when they're worn out.  Your owner's manual should tell you the minimum thickness at which you should replace them.

[BlueRidgeKat]

You change them when they're worn out.  Your owner's manual should tell you the minimum thickness at which you should replace them.

Yep, just change them when they are worn out. How many miles you get out of a set of pads depends on the rider and the roads you ride. For example if you do a track day every weekend the pads arent going to last long. If you only cruise on a interstate highway then the pads could last for years.