1987 R80 Dual Disk Front Brakes Question

[XPLRN]

Just got back from a fun 40-45 mile evening ride around the back roads here in southern Michigan. My question is; what is the typical front brake noise level for the dual disk R80 front brake setup???

This bike is MEGA squeaky and is prone to 'diving' of the front end when you do grab a handful of brake to stop the squealing. Normal?? Or is there something I can do to lessen or eliminate the squealing/sqeaking of the front brakes???

Thanks!

Happy 'XPLRN' :bliss :bliss

[lkchris]

All disc brakes on all vehicles require periodic maintenance.

That maintenance is restoration of the vibration absorbing material applied to the back side of the pads.

It's usually a form of grease/antiseize and is available at auto parts stores.

Put in on the backs of the pads where the pistons make contact and on the edges of the pad backing plate where that contacts the caliper.

Squeaking is the result of pad vibration.

[jgr451]

Hello XPLRN,glad you are enjoying getting to know your bike and the Forum Folk.
My friend who had an R80 that he couldn't afford to fux had probs with his braking system and would have had to buy a lot of very expensive new parts.His budget did not stretch to that.Other than that I think his bike was fine.Older than yours.

It would be a good idea to change the brake fluid and fork oil.You may find that new fork springs are necessary also,to firm it up and reduce dive under braking.

[flash412]

Use 10wt fork oil when you change it.

[jgr451]

...whatever that might be...he could not afford to FIX his bike!!

:confused:

[The_Veg]

I hate it when the brakes get all fuxed up. :D

[jgr451]

:) :) :p

[XPLRN]

I squeaked my way across North West/Central Ohio today with some nice terrain to veiw and 2-lane roads to ride.

Thanks, 'jgr451' and 'flash412' for the ideas/advice on changing the fork oil and brake fluid. I might do the front fork oil change first as it sure seems like the simple/quick way to effect a change. What weight is "standard" BMW fork oil ?? How much of a change would the fork oil make vs. re-springing the front suspension since I don't even know(yet) what the bike has for adjust-ability?

I need to sit down and read the owner's manual and the Clymers I got with the bike to learn what adjustments the front forks have for dampening or re-bound. I come from the off-road bike world where there is plenty of adjustment(20 position clickers for rebound and dampening on a set of RM250 forks) on front forks.

Regarding 'lkchris's response on disk brake squeaking; I hear what your saying about the vibration absorbing material and have used it on automotive applications in the past. I've heard that the vibration/sqeaking/squealing was a result of inproper seating(engagement/clamping) of the disc brake pad to the rotor. Possibly a glazing of either or both?? Just curious if others have the same or simular noise issues with the R80 dual disk front brakes?? OR are my brakes just all 'fuxed' up? :-) I hope not!!

Happy 'XPLRN' :bliss :bliss

[jgr451]

Hahaha!!
Enough fuxin around!!
I think the standard weight is 7.5 for the fork oil.It would not hurt a bit to go to 10 as Flash suggested,same quantity as in the manual.You may benefit from that alone or you may need to go to new springs,Progressive makes them for BMW.It will give you a different and altogether satisfying front end feel...but it is certainly not as micro adjustable as you seem to be used to..

Hope that helps.;)

[R80RTJohnny]

Hello,

Squeaky brakes on an R80 I understand. People used to get their change ready 'cause they they thought a bus was coming along LOL. Try using SBS brake pads. They really make a difference. I changed quite a few years ago and until I read your post I did not think of that problem.

As for the dive you may wish to try a slightly heavier oil. I've found that with a heavier oil and a change to Michelin tires that the handling on the bike has greatly improved.

Good luck and keep asking questions we may be able to help as many of us have tried it all...

Jean

[hetkind]

I have been riding an 1987 R80 with dual front brakes since new...EBC pads, one EBC rotor and stainless steel lines have been the ONLY front brake maintenance required. I would take a can of brake cleaner and CLEAN the caliper assemblies and go to a better brake pad. EBC FA18 come to mind:-)

I am commuting on this bike daily (50 mile a day round trip) in Dallas, Texas without difficulty. Bike started off life as a R80RT but took off the RT fairing and put a very lightweight Parabellum Scount fairing on.

Howard

[XPLRN]

Thanks again for the continued responses with what's worked for you!

It's interesting from a newbie(to BMW motorcycles) perspective to hear about different brake pad preferences! SBS.....EBC....I don't have clue as to which is better or why OR what the cost difference could be!!???? Is the common consensus that the after-market pads are better than the factory pads?? I know that in certain off-road bikes(Honda CRF250/400's) that the stock Honda pad is the preferred pad of most hard-core users!!

I guess since the bike has less than 8K miles on it I'm just going to squeak/squeal my way back to AZ and deal with it then! :-)

I'll be shoving off tomorrow and heading West, should be quite a fun time and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some decent weather as we had about 3.5-4 inches of rain here in North Central Ohio in about 4 days the end of last week!!

Happy 'XPLRN' !!! :bliss :bliss

[hetkind]

An late 80's RT with only 8k miles? time to change brakes pads and polish the rotors with scotchbright. Those pads are either glazed or full of junk. Not only that, you braking action will go WAY up. My habit on ANY used vehicle I own is to put on new brake friction material.

Howard

[Rbike]

I've used several different pads and never seen any noticable difference...they'll all squeak and stop about the same.

Adjustable forks...you left those behind on your modern dirt bikes. On these you can only chnge the fluid weight to either stiffen or soften the damping, no seperate control over rebound and compression. Otherwise you have your choice of standard of progressive rate spings with most people including myself prefering to replace the stock springs with the progressive styles.

I feel your fork pains...I want to put a set of modern inverted adjustables on the bike.

[kbasa]

Can't you put the RaceTech emulators in the R80?