Vaquero noisy front brakes

[tchill62]

Recently I noticed after riding my Vaquero, I would hear a noise when I applied the front brakes. (When coming to stop at a light, stop sign, etc.) This doesn't happen when I first start out, but after I have ridden for a bit. The sound is not necessarily a high pitch squeak, but a lower pitch humming sound. I took the bike to the dealer and they visually inspected it and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The service manager then took the bike out for a bit on a ride to see if he could hear the sound I described. When he returned he indicated that he did, in which he blew off excessive brake dust with compressed air and cleaned the rotor. The service manager told me these brakes can be noisy at times, being they have metallic material in the pads. He told me if I continued to have a problem, bring it back and they would investigate further. I rode the bike around town for a little bit, making stops, but no sound. I did hear the sound again however, when I got home; I applied the brakes gently before going around the corner of my house to get to the detached garage around back. My wife said she even heard the noise from inside the house. Has anyone experienced this? Any words of advice? Perhaps a small glitch, all in all this bike has been awesome!

[cnc]

Never had an issue with my Nomad, but my v- star was terrible for front break noise, so this may be of interest for you. Took it back several times when it was new, but the dealer did about the same as yours. His line was some do it, some don't, depending on the amount of metallic in the pads, he seemed to believe that this varied in the OEM ones.
Three cures that guys were using on the forum were, change to non metallic pads, chamfer the holes in the rotor to eliminate the sharp edge, or change to S/S brake lines to reduce minute pulsing, which you can not feel, but exists with a rubber line.
On mine I chamfered the holes, which helped a lot, but I believe the best results for that bike was the change to S/S lines.

[Old Bear]

I've been hearing it as well, but haven't looked into it yet. Nothing useful to contribute.

[ray2]

for squesky brakes we used to scrible with a lead pencil on the rotor. had to do it a few times before the squeak went away for good.

[BC RED VAQ]

Had the same problem with my vaquero went to a dealer and Kawasaki knows all about is offered to replace the front pads said it the way we stop. I said than it will do it again in no time he said yes I told him to call the rep and I would buy the right pads to correct the problem just have the mechanics install them under warranty. The rep said no it was not factor parts going back on the bike so if you want them to keep replaceing your pads untill the warranty runs out it up to you. Im going to go with ceramic pads when it gets out of the shop and the money starts comming back in from w/c. That was at R&R suzuki kawasaki in Effingham IL.

[Old Bear]

Originally Posted by BC RED VAQ

Had the same problem with my vaquero went to a dealer and Kawasaki knows all about is offered to replace the front pads said it the way we stop...

As in, we stop by USING THE BRAKES instead of dragging our feet?

[cnc]

Originally Posted by BC RED VAQ

No they said we are stopping to soft and glazing over the pads they said take the pads and ruff them up with sand paper. Heck just change pads.

Actually what he is saying is contrary to what you normally do when you break in new pads on a car, you brake lightly for the first while so you don't glaze them and you get the proper material transfer to the rotor. Also if the pad has been replaced or roughed up, the rotor should be cleaned to remove the previous material transfer, or the pad may never really seat properly. I use fine emery paper.
Ceramic may be the way to go. I was talking with a guy I know who has a tire / suspension shop a while back and he told me then that he was trying to install ceramic pads exclusively when he did brake jobs, as they had far less come backs for noisy brakes with them.

[jestephens]

Mine will make that noise in the same scenarios. When it does, I brake a little harder next time, it stays quiet for a while after that. I've heard aftermarket pads will fix it, and maybe I would be worth the swap.

[Mr Clean]

I put on Double H Cintered pads end of problem

[mnbk]

Originally Posted by BC RED VAQ

Had the same problem with my vaquero went to a dealer and Kawasaki knows all about is offered to replace the front pads said it the way we stop. I said than it will do it again in no time he said yes I told him to call the rep and I would buy the right pads to correct the problem just have the mechanics install them under warranty. The rep said no it was not factor parts going back on the bike so if you want them to keep replaceing your pads untill the warranty runs out it up to you. Im going to go with ceramic pads when it gets out of the shop and the money starts comming back in from w/c. That was at R&R suzuki kawasaki in Effingham IL.

I went to my dealer with the same problem. After checking the brakes they called Kawasaki and told them it was not the pads. Kawasaki said on some of the bikes (Mines a 2011 Voyager) there is a ever so slight gap between the pads and the mounts. They have a washer that fits in that space. Kawasaki sent it and I have not had any noise since it was put in a year ago. It is covered under warranty.

[Red Rider]

My '11 Vaquero front brakes are making some noise also.
Reminds me of the sound my cheeks make on the bottom of the bathtub...guess there is too much surface area in contact!! Previous owner account if the issue as repetitive is supported by service records indicating cleaning of the front rotor. Why don't the rear brakes do it? Will probably change to the pads recommended earlier in this thread when serviced next. Meanwhile, curious about the science behind scribing rotor with a pencil? Creates surface texture on the rotor to breakup surface tension between rotor and pad? Would application of graphite from my DIY locksmith kit do the same or will too much "grease" the rotor as in removing all the surface tension? Huh! Wonder if that would work on cheeks in the bathtub...wait...there are other lubricants for that!

[mnbk]

My dealer did all theabove mentioned things to my pads but to no avail. The only thing thzt worked for me wasthe washer fix. Now no more hattering or noise.

Dave....

[tchill62]

Originally Posted by Red Rider

My '11 Vaquero front brakes are making some noise also.
Reminds me of the sound my cheeks make on the bottom of the bathtub...guess there is too much surface area in contact!! Previous owner account if the issue as repetitive is supported by service records indicating cleaning of the front rotor. Why don't the rear brakes do it? Will probably change to the pads recommended earlier in this thread when serviced next. Meanwhile, curious about the science behind scribing rotor with a pencil? Creates surface texture on the rotor to breakup surface tension between rotor and pad? Would application of graphite from my DIY locksmith kit do the same or will too much "grease" the rotor as in removing all the surface tension? Huh! Wonder if that would work on cheeks in the bathtub...wait...there are other lubricants for that!

Red Rider, that the sound, LOL.....

[tchill62]

Thanks for all the replies, I do believe the best fix if this noise continues could be to switch to ceramic pads and chamfer the holes. The use of the lead pencil sounds interesting, I might try that a simple method and see what happens. All a process, the love of motorcycle maintenance! Dammit, I can't get that sound of ass cheeks on the bottom of the bathtub outta my head.....

[tchill62]

To update, I took a 100+ mile ride earlier in the week and the brakes didn't squeak even once. I was travelling on the highway for the most part and not breaking as much. Perhaps the more frequent braking in town causes that.