A Little Help

[Mike2411]

I need a little help from someone that can go out to their bike, grab the rear brake assembly, and try to move that assembly back-and-forth (toward the wheel and away from the wheel) and tell me if there is ANY play in that assembly. When you grab it with your hand and move it does it make a slight "clicking" noise as it moves in and out (toward and away from the wheel) as if it's making "metal-to-metal" contact? The movement is very small, at least what I'm seeing, so I want to know if it's that way on all of our Trophies?

I just got off the phone with the shop and they told me there's supposed to be some play in that assembly and that Triumph confirmed that the rear brake assembly is "free floating". I was basing my original assessment of the rear brake assembly with my Concours, which has a brake assembly that is mounted solidly to the bike (no movement at all). I was mad at first because I felt the assembly was put on wrong. According to the shop, I was wrong in thinking it was mounted incorrectly (they were nice about it) and I have no problem admitting to the shop that I over-reacted to the "brake mounting" issue if I was wrong. Problem is, I don't know if I'm wrong because I have nothing to compare it to. I'll happily eat "humble pie " if I am wrong because at least I know the brake assembly was mounted correctly!

The poor mounting of my front fender and the fact that a screw is gone, one is ready to fall out and the 2 that are tight aren't doing anything...that still bothers me!

If someone could do that (should take only a moment) I would really appreciate it !

Thank you,
Mike

[Tenequip]

Mike
Went out & moved the rear brake caliper in & out from the wheel on my 2015 Trophy. At first there was no movement or noise, after I tried a couple of tries it did move & clicked a little. What I think is happening, is the pushing & pulling on the caliper is moving the brake pads away from the rotor ( retracting the caliper cylinders). Thus, allowing the movement of the caliper & brake pads against the rotor & the clicking noise. I think, this would be normal for a floating brake system.

[Mike2411]

Thanks Tenequip! I'm afraid I may have jumped to conclusions on that issue and feel bad for it . I will be sending my 2nd apology email to the service guys tomorrow!

I hate when I make assumptions and find out what I thought was, wasn't! I feel bad but I think the issue was compounded by the fact that the shop has failed to install my plastic correctly TWICE now! Because of that, and the fact that I've never experienced a rear brake assembly with play in it, I assumed they did something wrong...but I ended up being wrong .

Oh, well, I'll say my sorry's and hopefully move past these issues, or non-issues, depending on how you look at it.

[Coconut]

See below image of the Rear Caliper.

The Mounting Bracket is Fixed to the Trophy, and the Caliper -
which only has pistons on one side of it,
moves on those Sliding Pins to keep the brake pads centralised on the disc.

As explained by Tenequip, by physically moving the caliper
this will push the pistons back into their bores slightly
and you will then be able to feel movement of the parts.

Cheers 

[Mike2411]

Thanks, Coconut! So, If I'm hearing you correctly, the "block" that holds the pads, mounts to the pins on the bracket and that block is allowed to move a very small distance? That is what they refer to as "floating"? When I move mine there is a definite clicking sound that is made, sounds like metal-to-metal. The movement is VERY small but it is there.

[Coconut]

The Caliper Mounting Bracket ( Part 2 in the Image within my previous Post) should not move.

The 2 bolts securing it should be tightened to 40 Nm.

The Pad retaining Pins should be tightened to 18 Nm.

The Caliper - i.e. the large casting which has the brake pipe connected to it,
contains two Pistons which push against the sides of the brake pad on the outer side of the Disc.
The Caliper is allowed to slide on those "Sliding Pins" of the Mounting bracket,
so that when the brake pedal is applied and the pistons are pushed onto the outer pad,
the caliper slides or "floats" a small amount and the inner pad is drawn into the disc,
providing equal braking pressure on both sides of the disc.

( This is quite a common design of caliper, on motorcycles AND most cars ! )

With the Brake APPLIED you should not be able to detect any movement in the rear brake mechanism.

When the brake is NOT applied, and you try to move the caliper, you may push the pistons back slightly
into their bores, which will then allow the caliper and / or pads to move slightly if you try to do so.

This video gives an idea of how a Floating Brake Caliper works :

[Mike2411]

Hey Coconut, I got that part of it and know how that works. The question I have is regarding the "casting" itself. With everything mounted, I can grab the cast body of the brake assembly with my hand and if I try to "wiggle" or move it "in" toward the wheel and then "out" away from the wheel with "some" force, I can get the casting to move enough to make a "clicking" noise as it reaches it's limits. I'll post a video if someone can tell me how to load one to this post.

[Mike2411]

LOL...should have waited for the video to play first! So, the casting actually moves a little as the brakes are applied??? So, I'm assuming that's what I am experiencing when I try to move the housing by hand?? Like I said earlier, floating brake assemblies are new to me...every bike I've owned (5 to this point) have all been mounted securely.