Front brakes howl when under hard braking.

[Raiden.]

When I brake hard coming to the stop the front brakes start howling. It is still braking good and plenty of meat left on the pads. The bike is still under warranty. Is this normal or something wrong with the brakes? The bike is 2011 GSXR 750. It has done about 7000km, oem Brambo mono block and oem brake pads. I am concerned with the noise. The front brakes only howl when I brake hard to the stop and only start howling when the bike is coming to the stop.

[agrid]

Probably nothing to worry about. Try some anti-squeal between the piston and the back of the the pad. Note the piston and the back of the pad, definitely not between the pad and the rotor like a lot of people expect.

[Mickwoo]

Are you sure you did not run over a wolf. Or maybe it's a squeak from a mouse.
Are the disc a blue colour, did they get hot at all. Any scoring on them? Do they look polished and feel smooth?

[filbert]

probably worth giving the rotors and pads a clean with some brake clean spray too

my front brakes sound like the wheel has fallen off and the forks are dragging on the ground but they still work so i haven't panicked yet.

[Desmo]

As [MENTION=11297]agrid[/MENTION] said, pull the pads and put the tiniest smear of coppaslip(tm) on the back of them where they meet the pistons.

[Phildo]

Get some CRC Disc Brake Quiet and put some of it on the backs of the pads - it will absorb the vibration that creates the noise.

KTM enduro bikes have been making brake squeal noises for years - irritating. I put some of this stuff on the backs of the pads on my KTM and now the only squealing is coming from above the handlebar area.

Something like this, but don't get carried away with it like I did:

[agrid]

Get some CRC Disc Brake Quiet and put some of it on the backs of the pads - it will absorb the vibration that creates the noise.

KTM enduro bikes have been making brake squeal noises for years - irritating. I put some of this stuff on the backs of the pads on my KTM and now the only squealing is coming from above the handlebar area.

Something like this, but don't get carried away with it like I did:

Ha! I was going to say your over-did it but you're onto it. I just put a rink around where the piston contacts. I had a KTM with spoked rear wheel and it sounded like an old MTT bus.

[Raiden.]

Thanks for all the replies. I took the bike out for a quick spin and the breaks don't make the sound when they're cold. Strange...

I'm going to disassemble the pads, give it a good clean and apply brake quiet stuff on them and see how it goes.

Is this quite normal on other bikes to make that sound. The thing is it doesn't make any noise the whole time until coming to a dead stop. Its hard to describe it. Web search is inconclusive. Got whole bunch of answers such as warp discs, pads could be glazed etc.

[thro]

It's a feature. It's like ABS, but less intrusive.

[Phildo]

Is this quite normal on other bikes to make that sound. The thing is it doesn't make any noise the whole time until coming to a dead stop. Its hard to describe it. Web search is inconclusive. Got whole bunch of answers such as warp discs, pads could be glazed etc.

Some brakes do it - nothing wrong, just one of those things.

When you apply the brakes, vibrations develop. Those vibrations develop into sound waves. The red goo on the backs of the pads absorbs those vibrations, so no sound develops. Very simple solution.

As mentioned before, KTM front brakes have been doing it for years. In an enduro, you know when there's a KTM behind you by the brake squealing at every corner. No other brand of bike does that, so it will be the Brembo calipers that KTM use.

I was also getting some brake squeal noises out of the Magura front caliper that I put on my Aprilia SXV550. Same thing - put some of the CRC Disc Brake Quiet goo on the backs of the front pads and there's been no noise since.

You can pull the pads out and clean them, but that will only be temporary - as soon as you've used the brakes a few times there will be more brake dust accumulated.

With the Brembo calipers that I use on my taxi, I use some Bendix stuff on the ends of the pads. I've tried the same stuff on motorbike pads, but gave up on it and went back to the CRC stuff - the Bendix goo doesn't harden and washes off the pads when I wash the bike. Which means that brake squeal returns pretty quickly.

The CRC stuff semi-hardens into a soft rubber. Once you've applied it then you won't need to do so again.

[Triple]

I tried the CRC stuff on Friday. Brakes didnt squeal when I went for a ride on Saturday, but went on the DGR ride on Sunday they were howling by the end of it!

[Shauno27]

When I brake hard coming to the stop the front brakes start howling. It is still braking good and plenty of meat left on the pads. The bike is still under warranty. Is this normal or something wrong with the brakes? The bike is 2011 GSXR 750. It has done about 7000km, oem Brambo mono block and oem brake pads. I am concerned with the noise. The front brakes only howl when I brake hard to the stop and only start howling when the bike is coming to the stop.

Sounds to me like your pads are glazed/burnt, can happen even with OEM pads.

Can you post a pic of them ?

When you pull them out give them a scuff up with some sandpaper on a FLAT surface to clean them up. This usually works.

[agrid]

Spoke tension on my KTM affected the noise.

[BusaSteve]

Its under warranty take it in for a look see...although knowing most dealers they will say... its your fault, its normal, they cant find anything wrong... then end up fucking something else up while looking

[out_in_front]

Just to be safe - also check that there isnt any rocks stuck in the calipers, check that all the pistons are clean and not stuck and that the disc is not warped (get the bike shop to do it if its under warranty). If it isnt any of these they should be fine and if you want the noise to go away use the products mentioned above.

Fwiw I had my pads on my 250 start squealing - they had been wearing very unevenly (due to one of the pistons sticking) and one of the edges had worn down to the metal :o