I'm sure that this must have been discussed previously here so apologies if this is a repost. I have a problem with the brakes on my T120. The issue is that when I come to a stop, usually once the brakes are warm, I get the most horrendous grinding / squealing noise that genuinely sounds like a London bus. It's so bad that passers by actually stop and stare! I spoke to my dealer who told me that it was a Triumph issue. Spoke to a guy at Triumph who was very nice but couldn't have been less interested. Just wondered if anyone else had this problem & if there was any resolution?
Hi Mach1 Is the noise coming from both front and back brakes ? Have you recently put new pads in ? I would take out the pads and give the entire brake caliper and pistons a good clean (watch delboy on youtube) Prepare your stuff up front, toothbrush and bucket of water, brake cleaner, castrol red rubber grease, copper grease. I would actually fit a new pair of pads for what they cost and the EBC HH are great. Apply copper grease to any parts of the steel pad that make contact with any metals on the brake caliper and pistons. Clean any corrosion off your pistons and apply red rubber grease round the seals and piston outside diameter. Do not get any greases or your pad faces or disc, if you do wipe it straight off using brake cleaner. My bet is that the copper grease has the biggest effect in eliminating the squeaks, but the overhaul and cleaning will certainly not be wasted time.
The dealer demo T120 had a bit of a squeal going on so i was extra careful bedding them in on mine and they are 900 miles in so far and quiet as a mouse so i figure might be glazing or something like that. It will be fixable i am sure so dont worry. Try what the others have said. sound advice.
The demo T120 I tried did it. Mine did it when new but I got the dealer to blow the dust and crap out of the pads on the 500 mile service and its been ok ever since (now at 4000 miles). The dealer did say that Triumph were aware of the problem.
Hi Pasher, Keep an eye on your pad thickness, my OEM pads were down to the steel at 6k Fortunately no damage to the disc that I couldn't polish out.
Every nut and bolt and the brake callipers were as dry as snuff when I changed my pads. The assembly had never seen copper grease or any other lubricant when assembled from new. Thorough clean, full strip down and well lubricated on assembly, that's exactly why I like doing all my own maintenance.
Dead right DD, It is exactly what I am doing on the Bonnie, plus torquing everything up correctly on re-assembly. I once remember going out to the car one freezing winters morning to find I had a puncture on one of the rear tyres. Cracked open the tight dry wheel nuts, jacked up the motor, wheel nuts off, tried to remove the wheel...... Alloy wheel to steel stub stuck solid, I had to attack it with my copper mallet for close on 5 minutes before the F***er came off. Same problem, dry as snuff assembly from new. Come the weekend I took the other 3 wheels off with the help of my mallet and copper greased them all up.
This issue is a compatibility issue. Some brake pads produce too much dust too quickly. The dust gets into every nook and cranny and cause the brakes to become noisy, the noise is caused by the dust allowing parts to slip/move against each other, but its not a lubricant , so noise ensues ! This noise can increase in volume and effect ! It occurs on Any Vehicle which has rapidly wearing brake pads/shoes. Yes it happens with drum brake systems too ! Most people don't notice it on their cars because the stereo is louder than the brake noise. On bikes we are outside right next to the noises and no stereo ! Change pads , blow dust out , or lubricate these are all fixes ! Some work better than others. Cheers capt.
Had that problem, tried many ways, short of changing for floating rotors, to no avail. What did the trick was when I started to consciously apply both rear and front brakes even lightly and at low speed. And the squeal is gone.
What happens if you have to brake not so lightly ? Cleaning and copper grease has always solved squeaking issues for me.
Thanks for the replies. It went back to the dealer to have the brakes stripped & cleaned but that didn't help. I've also done it myself but it's come back again. It's a vibration that occurs from the front only under slow speed braking and then only for the past couple of yards. It doesn't seem to effect the braking efficiency but just feels very uncomfortable. For the moment I'm getting round it by realeasing the front brake as soon as I hear it and coming to a stop using the rear which is OK but doesn't feel right. Triumph have told me that they are aware of the issuer but are doing f*ck all about it as usual. I'm going to try changing the brake pads. Has anyone got any suggestions on which ones to try?
I fitted EBC-HH back and front and they are great. Bit concerning that you are having to consciously change your style of riding to avoid the braking issues, be careful there! I take it you have used copper grease on all the faces that should be greased ?
In another thread on here someone posted a letter/service note about noisy brakes on the T120 and basically they said "we know about it, we can't find a solution, dealers plaes stop reporting this problem because we can't do anything about it" In other words f**k off !!!!! Lovely, quality service from Triumph - manufacturer of quality bikes.
MickEng, I'm very lucky in that I run a transport business with its own workshop. The mechanic is in to bikes so we stripped, cleaned & greased everything to within an inch of it's life. Thanks for the tip on the pads, we'll try that next. Thebiglad, that basically sums up my experience. Great product, sh*t attitude .
Hi Mach1 That's a nice luxury to have, very similar to where I work with its own little toolroom. You and your mechanic are obviously doing everything right so it is confusing as to how a simple steel disc with hydraulically operated pistons onto simple pads can give so many ongoing problem. It is all pointing to the material types of disc and pads. Try the EBC-HH pads, they do make a different sound to the OEM pads but it is a proper braking sound and I personally like it. The biglad put me on to them.
Sorry to keep asking for help but do you know which EBC pads to use? So far I've seen 124, 214 & 294 all recommended for the T120.
Hi Mach1 I bought mine on eBay from Wemoto, great service. You need The HH grade but as biglad says different pads back and front. Wemoto website list all models and years, but if you are unsure give them a ring.
I've had the letter refered too in an earlier post. I've done 1200 miles on my T120 and still the squeal makes me cringe. According to the letter from triumph, the noise is due to a resonance set up in the front hub. They have gone through a range of non genuine parts and the noise keeps coming back !!!
