Kawasaki Concours Forum
Mish mash => Open Forum => Topic started by: Tree on August 07, 2018, 11:06:21 PM
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Actually no. I didn't find it and that was a problem. Yesterday I started hearing an abnormal noise coming from the front end. I also felt something through the bars. It didn't feel or sound good and started getting worse. I poked around and couldn't see anything blatant like a piece of plastic flapping around. Then I hit the front brakes while riding home from work, normal stop, nothing crazy and I heard this God awful screech and felt the vibration in my hand. "OK, I think I have a brake problem."
I took yet another look, pushing/pulling & kicking. I couldn't find the clanker. I suspected the right side as the cause for some dumb reason. I had my hands all over the right side caliper and didn't notice anything as a result of that cursory examination. I decided to replace the pads and managed to find a set. I did the right side first. Everything looked fine and normal wear on the old pads. That kinda pissed me off since I was convinced that it was the right side.
I moved over to the left and started loosening the 2 bolts that hold the caliper. When I put the hex key on the top bolt I immediately could tell it was very loose. I shook the caliper and could see it move too. I unscrewed it the rest of the way out by hand and there weren't many threads.
Here's the part that sent a chill through me. The bottom bolt was gone.
You can provide yourself with the probable outcome if I had continued to ride without catching this. I am the only person that wrenches on this bike so I can't pass the buck to a mechanic. I forgot to tighten them last Sunday. Do me yourself a favor, find the time to check your fasteners for tightness more often. Yep, I'm kinda freaked out.
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Lesson learned and fortunately no harm done
Maybe using a witness marker pen in future to mark all fastenings when you have secured and double checked them :thumbs:
A bit like the old adage when cutting wood ' measure re twice and cut once '
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A couple of years back several of us went to NM and AZ. We left Springerville AZ in the rain and when we got to Silver City NM our guy riding a ZX14 pulled over, the right caliper was hanging by the hose. BOTH bolts gone and 1200 miles from home.
Just last week I left work and noticed that the cover on the right side wind screen was loose, rotating around the top screw and blowing up sideways at speed. :o Got home and checked things and the right cover was broken where the bottom screw is, and both right side screws were loose. On the left side the top screw was gone and the bottom one was loose. :nuts:
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Do me yourself a favor, find the time to check your fasteners for tightness more often. Yep, I'm kinda freaked out.
Absolutely spot on...last month I changed my tires, and found out that the two bolts of the right leg of the fork were completely loose!!!! ???
I can only imagine what could happen...
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I am actually amazed disasters don't happen more often.
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Not a bad idea to go over every nut and bolt you can get to at least once a year.