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So My Bike Lit On Fire Today...

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Jd4oor

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Went out for a ride with a buddy today, we were planning on commuting to a twisty road that's about an hour away. We get maybe 3-4 miles and he comes speeding up next to me on the highway waving me to the shoulder. We get over to the side of the road and he's screaming "You're bike is on fire!" through his helmet. I park the bike and hop off and sure enough the rear caliper is on fire.

I pressed the rear brake and it burns off a little more brake fluid and I'm thinking "F*ck, I'm about to sit here and watch my bike burn to the ground". Luckily, after about a minute the fire died out.

It looks like a piston seized up so I used the flat screwdriver from the toolkit to spread the pads out and I limped it back home.

After I got it home, this is what I found.

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I definitely need a rotor and all the seals and pistons but does anyone else think the caliper is still good? The cylinder isn't scored or otherwise damaged aside from the discoloration. :dunno

All things considered, I got lucky but this still sucks. :cursing
 
#3 ·
might be cheaper to just get a used caliper.from what can be seen the bore looks ok.looks like your pads had been jammed/seized prior to meltdown.
 
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#4 ·
Never saw that happen before! :eek:hmy
 
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#6 ·
Glad it didn't take the entire bike out with it. Did you recently install new pads, lines, bleed the system? Sometimes if you overfill the fluid in the reservoirs the fluid will then heat up and have nowhere to go so it pushes the pistons in and the brakes drag and get DAMN hot or lock up.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
I've never seen it either. :dunno I usually tap both brakes as I roll down the driveway but I don't recall if I checked the back today. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary prior to it either. We take a couple 35 mph roads to the highway and we got maybe 2 miles on the highway before he flagged me off.

He said it was shooting 2ft flames behind the tire and above my exhaust.

Ron Ayers lists the caliper assembly for like $260 which I'm trying to avoid. Would anyone else risk reusing the caliper?
 
#9 ·
I have had that happen before.. Mine didn't burst into flames though luckily.. and I rarely touch the rear brake..

My rotor was glowing red. My pistons had locked down on my rear caliper. Mine didn't turn out as bad as yours. As cheap as rear calipers are, I would just score a nice used one off ebay.. Still dunno what caused it.. I am thinking a slightly warped rotor was rubbing, heated up everything, made the fluid expand and locked it up.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
MotoMummy said:
Glad it didn't take the entire bike out with it.
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Amen to that. :cheers

Did you recently install new pads, lines, bleed the system? Sometimes if you overfill the fluid in the reservoirs the fluid will then heat up and have nowhere to go so it pushes the pistons in and the brakes drag and get DAMN hot or lock up.
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Nothing.

I bought the braided lines, CL SBK5 pads and banjo bolts (notice how discolored the banjo is) from you a couple years ago. I checked the pads when I did my spring maintenance and rebuilt the shock earlier this year and they looked practically brand new since I rarely use the rear brake. I'm thinking the inside piston seized but I don't know why.
 
#11 ·
This one is new to me too. Sorry to hear about that. Could have been much worse.

About 10 years ago my buddy's FZR600 caught on fire when I was out with him on the highway. He wasn't as lucky though because the fire came from the motor and the bike was destroyed. We had to abandon the thing.
 
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#15 ·
+1 on the outcome being much less than what it could have been :cheers



Jd4oor said:
...and I'm thinking "F*ck, I'm about to sit here and watch my bike burn to the ground". Luckily, after about a minute the fire died out.
Click to expand...
So you were just going to sit and watch it burn to the ground? You just stood there for a minute watching it!? PUT THE DAMN FIRE OUT. :facepalm
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
upplink32 said:
+1 on the outcome being much less than what it could have been :cheers





So you were just going to sit and watch it burn to the ground? You just stood there for a minute watching it!? PUT THE DAMN FIRE OUT. :facepalm
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With what? I was standing on the side of the highway. I'm not about to start touching boiling, burning brake fluid - better the bike than me.
 
#17 ·
Jd4oor said:
With what? I was standing on the side of the highway. I'm not about to start touching boiling, burning brake fluid - better the bike than me.
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Pee on it? :)

I keep a water bottle under my rear seat but I'm not sure if that would help or make a hydraulic fire worse/spread. I'm thinking I might want to start carrying one of those mini extinguishers for all of the bike fires I've heard about... Damn... At least the bike didn't burn to the ground man.
 
#19 ·
njyork42 said:
I have had that happen before.. Mine didn't burst into flames though luckily.. and I rarely touch the rear brake..

My rotor was glowing red. My pistons had locked down on my rear caliper. Mine didn't turn out as bad as yours. As cheap as rear calipers are, I would just score a nice used one off ebay.. Still dunno what caused it.. I am thinking a slightly warped rotor was rubbing, heated up everything, made the fluid expand and locked it up.
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I dont know what it is about the rear brakes. :dunno When pushing my bike once I noticed the rear rotor is warped. You can see the wobble in it when you push it slowly. Dont know how that is. And my rear brake doesnt get near the use the front brake does.
 
#20 ·
Had a Ford Probe Gt that the rear pistons would frequently freeze up on. Scorched a few rotors to hell. Lack of maintenance is usually the culprit. In my case, it was from not using the parking brake frequently enough. Or out of adjustment. And once in a blue moon when I felt it would be a good idea to use it. It would cause a rear piston to freeze. Never seen it on a bike though. People that rarley use their rear brakes on a bike. Understandably so, can have the same results from the emergency brake example I gave. If you rarely use them, all of the sudden do. It can cause the piston to freeze. If you don't clean the caliper and pistons. Causing them to freeze, once you finally use them.
 
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