Remedy for squeaky brakes??

Both front and rear brakes are squeaking badly on my '77 kz650. The pads on the front are still good but I went ahead and took the pads off, cleaned them and used copper permatex adhesive on the backs and they're still squeaking.

Anyone have any other ideas? It's driving me insane...thanks in advance!

There is some kind of caliper grease sold for the contact points for calipers on cars and such. Maybe that would work on a bike?

Did you buy the cheapest brake pads? No offense, i do it on my cars.. The cheaper pads are semi metallic, meaning they have little bits of metal in them, and well, they squeak..
Bad.. Get the more expensive pads, maybe the members here will tell you what there made of, asbestos i believe, but i dont recall.

Sometimes it helps to sand both the pads and the rotors to knock the glaze off both parts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Mercedes first encountered this and fixed it by taking the pads off and drilling small holes straight in the face and gluing in graphite rods. It works, I did it once on my brakes but it's a PITA to do. ear plugs work better.

violentvintagecycles wrote:

Did you buy the cheapest brake pads? No offense, i do it on my cars.. The cheaper pads are semi metallic, meaning they have little bits of metal in them, and well, they squeak..
Bad.. Get the more expensive pads, maybe the members here will tell you what there made of, asbestos i believe, but i dont recall.

I thought asbestos had been banned for a while now for use in pads. Now they just say "organic material"..... not sure what that means.

You need stock Kawasaki pads. Don't bother with EBC, Vesra, or any of the others. You can sand, drill ect all day on these aftermarket pads, put brake squeel crap on them, spend a week trying it all and in the end they will still squeel. The strange thing is sometimes aftermarket pads may work and be quiet as stock, then when worn out you can replace with the exact same brand and the new ones will squeel so bad pedestrians are running for cover every time the brakes are applied. Kawasaki pads are expensive, but once in a while they'le come up on ebay for a better price. Another advantage is they last much longer than aftermarket pads, so the higher cost is not all in vain. No squeel and longer life it's worth the difference.

RonKZ650 wrote:

You need stock Kawasaki pads. Don't bother with EBC, Vesra, or any of the others. You can sand, drill ect all day on these aftermarket pads, put brake squeel crap on them, spend a week trying it all and in the end they will still squeel. The strange thing is sometimes aftermarket pads may work and be quiet as stock, then when worn out you can replace with the exact same brand and the new ones will squeel so bad pedestrians are running for cover every time the brakes are applied. Kawasaki pads are expensive, but once in a while they'le come up on ebay for a better price. Another advantage is they last much longer than aftermarket pads, so the higher cost is not all in vain. No squeel and longer life it's worth the difference.

When my first set of pads on my '79 wore out back in maybe 1982, I went to the dealer. A kid was working in the parts department. I said I needed rear pads and he didn't even move from his stool. he says:

"Do you know what they cost?"

I said: "No, what?"

I recall they were something like $90 back in 1982, which would be like $400 today. We both laughed out loud, I started walking, and he never moved from the stool.

Front pads are "only" $115 at bikebandit for stock Kawasaki, so you either buy hi-tech earplugs or spring up the dough.:laugh:

I can't explain the physics but the squeel is basically a high speed vibration. At work I put a thin layer of high temp grease on the back of brake pads, this grease absorbs the vibration thus eliminating the squeel. Might work on bike brakes too?

I got the bike a few months ago so I'm not sure what brand of pads are on there. I tried the whole sanding thing too and it worked for a couple of blocks then went right back to sqeaking. I guess I'll have to break down and get some stock pads.

there's one thing you can try doing. Take a small piece of thin sheet metal and cut it to the size of the back of the brake pad with tabs that you'll bend to clamp the sheet metal to the pad (make sure the metal sits flush with the back of the pad. Use the anti-squeal grease in between the pad and metal piece and then put the brakes back together.