Stuck Front Brake

[W00TsP0P]

A couple of months ago my friends CR threw him over the handle bars with a stuck front brake. He was able to back out the adjusting screw and continue riding. Two weeks ago another friends KX front brake started grabbing full time. He was ablbe to back out the adjusting screw also. Then Sunday my CRF's front brake no longer had any play and grabbed hard with just the slightest touch.
These things are too much of a coincidence.
Is the adjusting screw moving or is something else going on.

 

[FruDaddy]

3 different bikes from 2 manufacturers. What else do these bikes have in common? Perhaps you and your friends share a common ex whose new mate knows bike maintenance.

 

[W00TsP0P]

Great idea, but the only ex we share is MX

 

[biglou]

Too much fluid in them? Not enough room to expand, getting hot and seizing the front brakes? Did someone service all three of them at once? Just a guess...

 

[Papakeith]

I've had this happen to me. Turns out that an air bubble in the line will allow the brakes to act just fine. . . until the bubble works it's way out of the line, then whappo! stuck brakes.
Bleed the lines, get all the air out, and you should be good to go.

 

[W00TsP0P]

I only can speak for my bike. and the front brake has not been serviced yet. nothing was done to it and when I rode Sunday I noticed that there was no longer any freeplay in the lever and the front wheel was not spining freely. also the freeplay adjusting screw was all the way in against the jam nut on the lever. as for getting hot all my friends told me that too but the caliper was cold and anyway I noticed a difference right away. i would think that the expanding theory would be more likely in a racing situation where you might be on the brakes hard and often but thats not my type of riding.

 

[Papakeith]

If you were on the brakes too hard then the brake fluid would boil causing a spongy feel wouldn't it?
My daughters ttr125 did the front brake lock on her first real ride. Once again, we surmised that air in the line was part of the problem. The other culprit was probably a cheap-assed brake hose.

 

[i_955]

Wet sand!! That stuff gets everywhere. Take your system apart and clean.

My 2 cents. :cool:

 

[W00TsP0P]

before I try to bleed the brakes, ponder this.
my bike a 04 crf I bought new from the dealer last August has seen a ride twice a month since then. Brakes worked perfect up until last Sunday when I first got on it to start it I noticed the lever had no play. the ride a week earlier was no different than normal (no trees came out and helped me brake nor do i ride in sand). and the brakes have not been touched. all as supplied from the dealer including brake hose, fluid and lever. I can understand the fact that an air bubble may have been in the system for a year and finally worked its way out. but if by chance i rode my front brake all the way down Mauna Kea from top to bottom. I would have surely caused my brake to fade and i would have experienced some spongy feeling but this was not the case. the brake felt fine on the last ride and was crappy the next. so far the only thing I have done to remedy this is back off on the lever adjusting screw.