front brake caliper misaligned?

[John407]

I noticed that the brake on my '03 YZ450 is not as solid as my '04 KXF250. I've bled the brakes with new dot 4, put new brake pads in (the old ones were worn unevenly) and still the brake is not as good as the kawi.

When i apply the YZ's front brake I can see the disc move sideways about 1/8 of an inch (when I do the same on the kawi the disc movement is not even noticeable). If I loosen the caliper mounting bolts and squeeze the brake, the disc movement is very little. The disc looks straight when I spin the wheel. Any ideas? Thanks

[grayracer513]

The caliper is supposed to center itself by sliding on its mounting pins as the fixed pad wears. Sometimes they get rusty/dirty/stuck. Push the piston side pad back away from the rotor with a screwdriver and then see if you can push the caliper toward the rotor by hand without significant difficulty. It should resist a little, but it shouldn't be really hard to move. If it seems too hard, pull the guide pins out and clean them up.

[John407]

I'll check. thanks

[John407]

I check everything out a couple more times. Still no luck, out of desperation I tried a caliper off of another bike (a 1995 KLX believe it or not) and it works great! The wheel spins freely (the pads are not hanging up) and the disc does not move sideways whern the brake is applied. HAPPY DAYS I hope.

OH Ya the 1995 KLX caliper bolted right on to my 2003 YZF front fork, and I was staarting to believe the hype about the brakes being improved evey year. I guess a Nissan brake is a Nissan brake no matter what bike it comes on. Weird isn't it!

So what's wrong with the YZ caliper? Haven't found anythig yet, I'll post it when I find out.