Chirping coming from my brakes??

So, I replaced my front brake pads last night because my brakes were terribly squeaky. Everything went smoothly, caliper came off without a hitch, piston retracted (with careful use of a c-clamp) and everything went back in perfectly. Took her for a test drive after adding some fluid and I noticed a new chirping noise. I thought that I would try to see if I could identify (roughly) where the noise was coming from, so first I coasted on the bike and killed the motor. While I was coasting down the road with the motor off and the bike in neutral, the noise continued. I pulled over, put the bike up on the center stand and fired her up, no noise. I put her in gear while on the center stand and let the rear wheel turn...again, no noise. So, my question is, do new pads ever tend to be noisy at first? Is this a sign that I need to turn my rotors? Is it possible that the speedometer cable is the culprit?

-thanks in advance for your help

 

If the rotors have any texture, it will take a few hard stops to groove the pads to fit the rotors again. This could be making the noise, but it sounds like it's only making noise when the front wheel is spinning??
It never hurts to lubricate the cable (that's an every season sort of thing). Remove the cable and spin it with a drill while slowly dripping some engine oil down the line until the oil runs clean out the other end (50ml or so).
I don't know if you can turn the rotors on these bikes. It's been suggested to me that the stainless rotors are too hard to turn. If someone lets me know that I'm wrong, I'd rather pay some money to turn a surface than purchase new ones.

 

Thanks Wrencher, I'll give it a try tonight and see if lubricating the cable helps.

 

Could be front wheel bearings as well, if the noise is present when not braking.

 

Sounds like I should take the time to pop the wheel off and go through it, better safe than sorry.

 

If you didn't rebuild the caliper(s) and master cylinder start there. Plus replace the lines if original.

There's more to refurbishing 30-year old brakes than changing pads. And no, these rotors cannot be "turned" in the conventional sense of the term. They need to be Blanchard-ground simultaneously on both sides.

 

Thanks Fitz, I've got new wheel bearings coming for the front and back, I'll go through the caliper and master cylinder at the same time. Not one of those things you want to cut corners on, so better done sooner than later.

 

Read this too then go look: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=41400.html

 

Hm this is on my list too
Rebuilt the calipers but the pistons are slightly pitted
Have new brake lines in my list, new stainless and new rubber lines are about the same price. Think Im going to stick stock
I'm hoping that the brake squeak will stop once the pads wear down past the pitted pistons
Good luck!
Keep us updated!

 

We had to change my wife's brake pads on the road and all we could find were the sinistered pads. I think they might have metal in them, but they certainly "chirped". I replaced them with regular pads and all is well.

 

Not sure how likely it is, but first thing that came to my mind was a warped rotor ... pads chirping as it rubs against the high spots during rotation.

 

Are stock Yamaha Pads metal pads? Thats something I was wondering the other day

 

Nope.

 

Update:

I played around with it last night just to see if I could definitively identify the source of the noise. I took the caliper back off and added some lube to the sliding surfaces, then I sprayed some brake quiet on the rotor and sure enough the noise is gone. On a side note, the pads do have small bits of metal in them (sintered?) so I'm betting that this is the root of the problem.

On the to do list for this weekend.....brake caliper and master cylinder rebuild! wish me luck