Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: corrosiv on July 25, 2012, 07:13:00 PM
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I've got a 2011 C14 with just under 13k miles. I recently noticed that there are some pretty deep grooves in the front rotors. Running a fingernail across them, you can definitely tell that they are pretty well scored / scarred. Still have stock pads on the bike and after pulling the calipers I can confirm that none of the pads have reached the limit to where they need to be replaced - I can still see the wear indicator on all pads.
The rear rotor is fine... sure you can feel some subtle grooves, but the wear is more in line with what I would expect....
Plan to run by the dealer tomorrow and get their thoughts (as well as some ideas re: cam chain or valve noise from the right side), figured I'd solicit some input to see if anyone else noticed the grooves.....
pics below = front right, front left and rear
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Good luck with that and let us know how it comes out. The rotor appears to have been scored by debris trapped by the pads. I'd rather doubt they would warranty a part over that kind of 'wear'. If you are hearing a startup rattle, it's the cam chain tightener...completely normal.
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Yup, grit gets caught between the pad and rotor and sometimes gets embedded in the pad.
It's worse if ya ride on gravel roads regularly.
If the rattle is just on startup and it goes away after a few seconds then it's just the tensioner being slow to react.
Usually it's because the oil is old or too thin so it leaks out of the tensioner.
Once the oil pressure is up the camchain should go quiet.
If it is still rattling after 10 seconds then the tensioner may have crapped out completely.
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Stopped by the dealership yesterday. The tech more or less said the scoring is normal depending upon riding style and how hard you use the brakes. As long as the thickness of the rotor remains within spec and there are no visual signs of cracking or other damage, it's nothing to worry about. I tend to ride at a spirited pace, but am generally not too hard on brakes; I've only had the ABS kick in once or twice in 13k miles. I found a well-written post on another motorcycle board which made the same points...
As for the noise - the tech also said it sounded normal to him. I'm not sure what it is... I've seen a post on one of the Concours forums where someone had noticed the same noise. You can definitely hear it 'ticking' from the right side of the engine at a couple of different rpm levels across the range. Without earplugs I can hear it while riding. Goes away if I'm on the throttle pretty hard. Tech more or less said to ride it another 2k and then investigate it once it's time for the valve adjustment...
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You might want to make sure the exhaust to head nuts are tight. Sometimes ticking noises can be cured by tightening them up.
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I agree with Jim. Sounds like your header nuts need tightening. Mine did the same thing. I checked my header nuts and almost all of them were loose.
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Yep, you don't want yer nuts loose. If they fall off it could cause all kinds of havoc.
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Yep, you don't want yer nuts loose. If they fall off it could cause all kinds of havoc.
Says the man in chainmail pants. :o
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;D
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Stopped by the dealership yesterday. The tech more or less said the scoring is normal depending upon riding style and how hard you use the brakes. As long as the thickness of the rotor remains within spec and there are no visual signs of cracking or other damage, it's nothing to worry about. I tend to ride at a spirited pace, but am generally not too hard on brakes; I've only had the ABS kick in once or twice in 13k miles. I found a well-written post on another motorcycle board which made the same points...
As for the noise - the tech also said it sounded normal to him. I'm not sure what it is... I've seen a post on one of the Concours forums where someone had noticed the same noise. You can definitely hear it 'ticking' from the right side of the engine at a couple of different rpm levels across the range. Without earplugs I can hear it while riding. Goes away if I'm on the throttle pretty hard. Tech more or less said to ride it another 2k and then investigate it once it's time for the valve adjustment...
I need to find out what that spec is. Mine are uniformly worn, starting to look like weird saw blades or such the pads have worn into the rotors so far where they touch, yet the very outside of the rotors appear thick. Its weird for me to keep a bike for so many miles there is wear such as this on the rotors, but at 59,000 miles and some hot braking of a HUMUNGOUS bike, I should've seen it coming. Might be an excuse for new EBC sintered pads with the proper matching rotors such as my track bikes get (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/bigthumb.gif)
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Them pics look OK to me, mine lasted some 40k+ miles, then did a good thing, new EBCs, rotors and pads. Still lovin em at 53k+. Non ABS '08. BDF will confirm just how nasty they were.
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I torque'd the header nuts not long after buying the bike. I can check them again - but if that were the cause, I would expect the noise to be consistent rather than come and go through the rev range. Like I said - I'll wait and dig into it closer to the 15k valve adjustment.
stevewfl:
According to my service manual (2010+) the spec for the discs are:
Standard thickness:
Front = 4.8 - 5.2mm
Rear = 5.3 - 5.7mm
Service Limit:
Front = 4.5mm
Rear = 5.0mm
Standard for run-out is 0.15mm; Service limit is 0.3mm.