Motorcycle Repair: honda cb650 front brakes, honda cb650, ring groove

Question
My front brakes over heat and sieze when I have ridden for a short distance. I have rebuilt the caliper. the pads look OK. The front wheel drags a little. What can I do to fix this problem?

Answer
Jim, you didn't give the year/model of the 650, so I have to do some guessing here. When you rebuilt the caliper, I hope that you thoroughly cleaned the seal ring groove in the caliper body. If not, do it again. If you used new parts, then that should be okay. Sometimes people reuse the old seal and sometimes it works and sometimes not, depending on the distortion of the seal.

Make sure that any caliper mounts that are movable, are lubricated and can move if necessary.

Check the rotor to see if it is warped...

The other thing that keeps hydraulic pressure in the line is the small bleed port in the floor of the master cylinder, closed to the outlet end. It MUST be open and is easily clogged with gunk and dirt. Clean out the master cylinder reservoir so you can determine if the hole is clear or not.

Bill Silver