[REdmonton]

I noticed that I have a squeak coming from my front wheel. I checked it out and when I spun the wheel I found that the brake seems to be rubbing on the disc at one spot, causing the squeak.

Any suggestions on how to fix this issue?

[Desi Bike]

Disk brake cleanser... Don't get any on the paint or aloominnium (uk pronunciation). Our take the pads out and give a light sandin.g to remove glazing. Worked for mine. Did the spray one season, then the deglaze this year.

[wildbill]

good advise

[Bulletman]

Disk brake cleanser... Don't get any on the paint or aloominnium (uk pronunciation).

You mean:
Aloo gobi, ( Indo/paki pronunciation.)

[Blairio]

Sounds like you have a high spot on your disc. It might be worth getting it checked for run-out (warping) at your local dealer, or do it yourself.  The service manual should say what acceptable run-out is, before the disc becomes unserviceable (scrap).  Using brake cleaner will get you a nice clean disc, but if it is 'off the truth' then that's about it.

"Don't get any on the paint or aloominnium (uk pronunciation). "

That's not uk pronunciation:  "al-you-minium" is about right, compared with "al-oo-mi-num" stateside. It's the same stuff though!

[GSS]

Look carefully at the extreme outside edge of the disk. The last mm or so isn't machined and mine had a raised segment that would rub against the caliper and squeak during wetter weeks. A bit of sandpaper on the edge fixed it.

GSS

[Craig McClure]

Please get it checked out, I crashed & totaled my Kawasaki W650 last year, due to a surprise front brake lockup, going into a corner at speed. Took my shoulder months to heal.
  I actually prefer front twin leading shoe drum brakes to hydraulic discs. They are totally mechanical, & much more forgiving.
Gone but not forgotten....below.

[heloego]

Sweet one, Craig! Sorry to here it's gone. 

[squire]

If it's only rubbing in one place it may be a warped disk and could be replaced under warranty. Have it checked, I had one replaced for a similar issue.

[REdmonton]

Sounds like I need to call the local dealer. It is just rubbing in one place.

[Desi Bike]

Sorry about my misreading your original post. Mine was squeaking all along the rotation. My bad.   

[JVS]

The following is the issue I had, and it might help my fellow members who are still having the squeaking problem with their front brake.

After many many many miles/km of the front brake squeaking, numerous cleaning of the brake pads and the disc using brake cleaner + a lot of effort, the squeak always came back after say 5 or 10mi/km. I traced this back to -

Out of the two pistons in the brake caliper, one of them was not receding/retracting like the other piston. If I pushed it using my hands, one would go back, but the other required considerable effort. So that was the culprit. In the service manual, it shows how to get the pistons out using compressed air. That is what I did. Then cleaned both of the pistons using brake cleaner first, followed by applying brake fluid around the body of the pistons and the caliper and finally putting them back in the said caliper body.

They have been working great since then. No more squeaks. The pistons do not force the brake pad to slide with the disc anymore..so no squeaks. If there's a minor squeak, I just use the same old brake cleaner and that does the job. However, the main problem was the pistons as one of them would not go back in the body..resulting in almost half of the brake pad touching the disc all the time.

[Arizoni]

That would do it.

Another thing that's worth a look is the front brake system may be slightly pressurized which would keep a brake piston from being pushed back far enough to allow a pad to totally clear the rotating disk.

This could happen because of several different things but it's easy to fix if the problem does exist.

Take the rubber cap off of the disk brake cylinders bleed valve.
Loosen the valve about 1/2 turn.  If a little brake fluid seeps out (and it probably will), count to 5 and then retighten the bleed valve.
Replace the cap and take it for a test ride.  It might   be fixed.  If it isn't, doing this won't hurt anything and it's one more possible fault that can be eliminated.

PS: Don't allow any brake fluid to get on anything that is painted.  Brake fluid is an excellent paint remover and it starts attacking the paint immediately.

[REdmonton]

I was just thinking the front brake was kind of grabbing when it started. Whenever I pulled in the clutch it would start to slow down dramatically. When I did grab the front brake there was a lot of resistance like it was already squeezed. I was travelling really slow in a construction zone in heavy traffic. I got out of traffic and soon it seemed to free up.

The squeaking is minor but when I spin the front wheel it does stick in one spot. I'll try and bleed the fluid tomorrow before I see my daughter in the hospital.

[High On Octane]

Sounds like the pistons are hanging up in the caliper, OR possibly a collapsed brake line that isn't relieving the pressure the way it should.  Do as JVS instructed and pull your caliper apart and clean it up.  While you have the caliper off, take a "true" straight edge and hold it lightly against the rotor and slowly spin the wheel.  If you see any noticeable gaps of light between the straight edge and the rotor this indicates major warpage and the rotor should be replaced.  Slight variances of light are tolerable and generally won't cause an issue.  If the rotor is acceptable for continued use, you are going to need to "resurface" the rotor with fine emery cloth until the surface of the rotor is no longer shiny.  Also, do this lightly to your brake pads to remove the glossy shine as well.  If your brake was hanging up to the point where it is causing resistance in your forward motion, your brakes are most certainly going to be glazed over and need to be addressed.

Scottie