Fell off yesterday...

[Ultramagnus]

So, when driving home from work I was going down a slanted curb out from the parking lot, out to the road, but since there was traffic on the lane I was going into I drove in snail speed and slowly applied the front brakes, but they went from nothing to locked without anything in between...

I had noticed before that the brakes seemed a bit twitchy, but in normal speed it's not as noticeable, probably because the mass in motion prevents that abrupt on/off locking to be noticeable.

The bike was OK, no scratches, but it was freaking heavy to get it back up!

This can't be normal!?

My old vx800 had a much more dynamic front brake.

Any idea what could be wrong?

[Dwain Dibley]

Glad you and the bike are OK, what type of pads do you have on there ? How old etc ?

D.D

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Glad youre ok. Sounds like perhaps one or more sticky pistons in the calipers.  Full rebuild and bleed should get it sorted.

Lots of info on here about rebuilding them, seal kits are readily available.

Bike is heavy-ish, glad I've never had to pick one up.

[grog]

Magnus, glad youre ok👍As above, rebuild calipers. How old are your tyres,if old, replace them.

[GSXKING]

They are indeed a heavy beast.
There are techniques to pick up heavy bikes. As long as you're calm and adrenaline has subsided. Not normally conducive with a freshly dropped motorcycle 🙄 unfortunately.
Glad you and the bike are OK.
Check those brake callipers as mentioned 🙏

[Ultramagnus]

Yeah, I walked away without a scratch.

I don't know what pads I've got on, I bought the bike about a month ago, there is a good amount left on them though. The tires have one season and are in good condition.

I've heard about issues with sticking pistons on the 14's, but didn't know how it would show.
Now I do! 

Full rebuild it is then.

Thank you all for helping me out!

[Tally]

A calipers strip is needed indeed , glad you and your bike are ok. Did my rebuild just recently due to sticking pistons. If it helps go to the section on brake and look up brakes by tally (me) , there's pictures and notes on what you'll need to strip and clean  .

[Ultramagnus]

A calipers strip is needed indeed , glad you and your bike are ok. Did my rebuild just recently due to sticking pistons. If it helps go to the section on brake and look up brakes by tally (me) , there's pictures and notes on what you'll need to strip and clean  .

Excellent, I will do that!

Thanx!

[Hooli]

That's not how I normally see sticky pistons display issues, but I agree it's where I'd start looking.

After the first dozen or so times these bikes get easier to pick up...

[Mick_J]

Glad you and the bike are okay.  Brake calliper strip is quite easy once you have the pistons out (they can be tricky to get out).  I did mine about two months ago and it seemed straight forward.

[grog]

Easy to get out, socket inside piston, turn with 3/8 extension. All written on here somewhere, easiest method, takes 5 minutes to remove 12 pistons.

[Hooli]

I always pull the pads and pump the pistons out to the disc before I remove the calipers too. They normally pop out with a bit of sideways finger pressure once the calipers are split then.

It's a job I've got to do again soon as having to double pump the front brakes if I've not used them for a few mins. Which is how sticky pistons always make my brakes go.

[VladTepes]

It's all in the technique, and as long as your shoes can get some traction on the ground it's pretty easy and you don't need to be strong to do it at all.

The FIRST method here.

N.B. While our bikes are fitted with a tilt switch, it often works only in theory.
If your bike is still running when it is tipped over, hit that kill switch asap.

[Hooli]

N.B. Our bikes will not automatically shut off so hit the kill switch when it falls over.

Although of course they should, hence the tip over switch fitted. But I agree, they never do unless they tip so far the wheels stay off the ground.

[VladTepes]

Thanks Hooli I have modified my post to clarify