[louieg]

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Going down the road about 70mph on my GL1500 it started slowing down as if I'd applied the brakes. By the time I had moved from the fast lane over to the shoulder the drag stopped. I felt rear wheel and rotor and it didn't seem hot. I returned home approx 15 miles and did not have the problem again. A week later the same thing happen while going about 65mph. Engine runs good with I pull in the clutch, but the drag remains, and then goes away before I stop. Brakes work good before and after the incident.
Today I checked rear caliper and shoes for something obvious, and turned both wheels by hand and they seem smooth. I then run it in 5th gear up on the stand for a couple of minutes. At one point a smelled and saw smoke coming from left side engine area. Smells like something burning similiar to brake shoes. I did not experience the drag at the time of the smoke.

Any ideas?

tks....louie

 

[siataukreg]

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Problem might be at the front see if the front brakes are sticking oh and check the diff for oil

 

[exavid]

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:waving::waving: Welcome to the World's Greatest Goldwing Site louieg! :waving::waving:

What you're describing sure sounds like the classic brake dragging syndrome. The calipers on these bikes are fairly small so once you stop it only takes a short time for them to cool down and release. The two most common causes of dragging brakes on a 'Wing is a frozen caliper and a plugged master cylinder port.

To check the caliper, remove it from the bracket and check the pads to see if they both are about the same thickness. If they are the caliper mountis probably free. If one pad is a lot thinner than the other, that's a good indication the caliper is frozen. Check to see if the sleeve that the smaller bolt passes through is free to move from side to side. If it doesn't it must be removed, cleaned and relubricated.

The other cause of dragging brakes is the small port in the master cylinder being plugged. If you take the master cylinder's reservoir line off you can see two holes that pass through from the reservoir to the cylinder bore. The port of hole furthest away from the hose end of the cylinder is a large one. The other port which is closer to the hose end looks like a partially drilled hole the same size that doesn't go all the way through. This is misleading because it does. There's a much smaller hole that goes from the bottom of the dead ended looking hole through to the master bore. If that gets plugged bleeding the brakes is very difficult and brakes that lock up are likely. I use a wire from a wire brush held in vise grips to poke the hole out. Don't enlarge it any or you'll loose most of the pumpingvolume from your cylinder.

 

[louieg]

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Here is what's fuzzing me. It happened when riding and I haven't touched the brakes. Both times the 'drag' stops while I'm still moving, but slowed to about 40mph. I try to re-create once I'm moving again and am unable.

tks for the brake info and I'll look more closely at that. I did look at the back and the caliper isn't frozen.

....louie

 

[WOODSMITH]

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Welcome louieg,
I wholeheartedly agree with exavid on this one especialy the clogged master cylinder return port. That little tiny hole can cause tons of trouble if even a tiny bit of debris gets jammed in it. I had a front brake problem about a year ago on my 1500. The symptoms were similiar to what you describe. The solution in my case probably does not apply to yours but is definately one for the books. At the same time I did a brake job (front and rear) I installed after market chrome handles which I had received for Christmas. Turned out the brake lever lobe which activates the master cylinder was about .060" longer than the OEM and was applying constant slight pressure to the front brake. As I would ride the slight contact of the pads on the rotor would cause the entire system to heat up and swell causing drag on the front wheel. I ended up replacing the front brake line, caliper assembly, new pads again,and master cylinder rebuild before I finally figured this out.

 

[jimsjinx]

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I had a sticking caliper pin, which would **** the pad unevenly on the rotor, and drag. I noticed the slanted wear on the leftmost pad, and that was the one with the corroded and sticking pin.No problems after replacing them, and lubing them with lube made for the application. jimsjinx