[Video] What's this front brake clicking sound?

[SA14]

Yesterday I went for a ride, shiny bits 'n all. But after a little while I was noticing a repeatable "clicking" sound coming from the front brakes on the first touch - and on every first touch. At first I wasn't sure I was hearing it but then one time I pulled the clutch in to let the engine quiet down and touched the brakes lightly repeatedly and sure enough it's a sound coming from the brakes. It sounds like the pads are loose/slack a bit. Brakes work fine.

When I pulled the calipers off of the wheel to do the forks they came off pretty easily and went back on without my needing to push the pistons apart. I was careful to not touch the lever while working on the forks.

Have I forgotten to do something? All feels solid and nothing's loose. I loctited and torqued everything up and checked it all several times because I was pretty paranoid of forgetting something.

It's not the brake light switch. That's a different sound. This is definitely coming from the caliper area and seems to come more from the left than the right though can't be sure.

I just went out to the shed to check for anything loose and nothing seems loose. I asked doggo but he wasn't sure.

What could it be?

[Hooli]

They all do that sir. Some makes of pad are worse than others for it, EBC seem to be one of the worst I've found.

It's the play top & bottom of the pad in the calliper, so when you put the brakes on they lift slightly with the rotation of the disk & click as it tap the top of the hole in the calliper. Then drop down again when released.

[SA14]

Awesome! Never noticed it before. Thanks!

[Hooli]

I'm sure some people have said they've reduced or fixed it by bending the shiny bits that fit over the pads on the calliper, I've never bothered to try that.

[northern]

They all do that sir. Some makes of pad are worse than others for it, EBC seem to be one of the worst I've found.

It's the play top & bottom of the pad in the calliper, so when you put the brakes on they lift slightly with the rotation of the disk & click as it tap the top of the hole in the calliper. Then drop down again when released.

For me, brake cleaner solve this low speed "clacking" for some time, but them it come's back.

ON 6-pot calipers, I manage to solve it using zip-tie like on picture - this way, cover plate force pads harder, and they are not moving up/down so freely.
ON my 4-pot's I do not know, how to get rid of it.

And yes, I use EBC HH pad's.

[Mrg]

Hi northern
Got to admit I've had this and always wounded what it was so now I know thank you and that's the next little job to be done cool 

[SA14]

For me, brake cleaner solve this low speed "clacking" for some time, but them it come's back.

ON 6-pot calipers, I manage to solve it using zip-tie like on picture - this way, cover plate force pads harder, and they are not moving up/down so freely.
ON my 4-pot's I do not know, how to get rid of it.

And yes, I use EBC HH pad's.

I've got SBS 686RS pads and come to think of it the only thing I "did" was spray some brake cleaner around the calipers to clean them up a bit but they've been recently cleaned when we put the pads on and the pistons were cleaned and freed but that was only a few hundred kms ago. Might try the zip tie trick though. Good onya Northen.

[SA14]

I posted your suggestions on my YouTube channel and pointed back to this thread (for a bit of org love) and got this reply...

That would be a sound theory if you were rotating your wheel while making the noise, but your clearly not.
The only items i can think that would make a similar noise would be a loose brake pad backing plate or maybe a loose brake disc rivet? I'm definitely intrigued to know the answer if you find it.

I did check the rivets and disc and both seem rock solid. Something's moving inside the caliper when I'm moving or stationary every time I tap the brakes (lightly) if that helps. I'm going to pull them off when I get back home later and see if there's anything obvious because I'm fairly sure it wasn't making that sound before I recently pulled them off for the fork polish.

[Hooli]

Shove a foldeed bit of paper under one end of the pads and notice the noise stop, it's the pads moving I promise you.

It gets worse as the bike gets older and the callipers wear too.

[SA14]

Roger.

I sent the video to the mechanic and he says "Sounds like metal on metal pull the left caliber back off and make sure the pads are seated correctly"

So I'll do that and see if it helps.

[Big Phil]

I took my front and rear callipers off the discs and cleaned them some weeks ago. Definitely not making that noise before or after replacing but no idea what pads are fitted on mine. Does sound metallic to me as well.

[SA14]

Tomorrow I investigate. I didn't actually clean the calipers properly. Just cleaned them a bit on the outside because they were pretty grimy and I felt odd putting them on my newly cleaned forks so I gave them a quick squirt and wipe but I just slid them back on and bolted them up. Wasn't sure if I had to make sure of anything inside. I wasn't expecting to need to spread the pads apart but was ready for it in case for some reason they didn't slide on as easy as they came off. I did notice they were rubbing a lot when I tried to spin the wheel after applying the brakes a few times before letting the bike down. Not sure if I was or wasn't suppose to do that. However I rode cautiously around the block and local streets for a few minutes to make sure everything was working properly.

Just playing things carefully by ear. Not even sure what properly seated pads should look, feel or sound like so I'll just inspect, jiggle stuff and see if I can see something odd. Gonna scan the manual to see if there's anything special I should be doing.

Hints and tips gladly accepted.

[DP1400]

SA14 - Dont worry about it, its just the combo of moving parts aligning and working together at the point of braking. You`ll probably find the `ticking` gets worse as the disc warms up. Some brake rotors & pad combinations are more prone to noise than others.

Floating discs are exactly that - they aren`t solid, they sit on the bobbins and there is a tolerance gap in order that the bobbins work correctly.

In fact, if you grip your front wheel with one hand to keep the front end solid, then grip the rotor with the other and sharply pull it from side-to-side, you will feel a fraction of movement and hear that `click` that you`re referring to as the bobbins re-seat themselves.

I first came across this brake noise years ago on another bike and wondered what the heck it was, then it dawned on me that i`d never owned a bike with floating discs before.....  

[SA14]

It did actually get a bit more noticeable after some downhill twisties but I've never noticed it before so it's pretty obvious I've disturbed something. I did grab the discs and check them for rattle but they seem very solid. Today I'll have a look and report back.

[SFC1000]

Here's a thought to play with your head.
You said your discs seem very solid. Your bobbins are probably stuck and your rotor isn't floating.
So if you free up the bobbins the brakes will probably click and clack more.