Clunking sound from rear wheel after changing brake pads

Hi all,

Just changed the rear brake pads on my R1200GS. Nothing out of the ordinary. Refitted the caliper and pin with R-clip. Tightened all the nuts to correct torque. Put it on centre stand and stated up the bike and when I put the bike in gear there's a frequent ie every revolution or so, clunk sound. At first I thought perhaps the rotar was warped or the pad not fitted snuggly but in neutral the wheel spins without any noises and the brakes work fine.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Phil

Hello Phil and welcome.

Yes, once again its a fault I have had.

In my case I changed rear pads for Ferodo just before a trip to Lake Garda. Once there I heard a regular clunking from the rear and thought it was a failing driveshaft UJ. Turned out on closer inspection to be the large punched hole for the pad retaining pin allowing the pads to catch on a slightly warped rear disk each revolution and lift up slightly, knocking up into the caliper casting.

There is a spring plate that should sit above the rear pads inside the caliper housing to let them float up and down, my spring plate was corroded and broken, which coupled with the larger pin securing holes and disk warp, caused the knock.

Try rattling your rear pads vertically up and down, you might see or feel the same.

EDIT: If you are testing the pads by running the bike on the centre stand, don't:

When on the centre stand, if you run the bike in gear, the driveshaft angle inside the swingarm is at its limits and will cause the driveshaft UJ's to knock. Test ride the bike properly on-road at slow speed.

pjd1001 said:

. Put it on centre stand and stated up the bike and when I put the bike in gear there's a frequent ie every revolution or so, clunk sound. At first I thought perhaps the rotar was warped or the pad not fitted snuggly but in neutral the wheel spins without any noises and the brakes work fine.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Phil

Click to expand...

Don't run the bike in gear on the main stand unless absolutely necessary...... it makes a clunking noise... in fact just as you describe .

Also puts stress on the driveshaft as it's not under load and not good for the U/J's as they're at full articulation the whole time due to the bike being on the main stand and the swingarm hanging down.

Thanks guys! Now I see why rolling roads were invented! .... and stationary ones too!

All the best

Phil