I spent part of the day working on my wife's baby Ninja. Basically the issue is crud on the brake pistons keeping them from retracting freely. Has this been a normal service issue with VTR's or more of a concern than one might expect?? Any thoughts..how often do you service them??

Take Care
Dave

 

I've cleaned mine thrice in 40k miles - both times I've changed the pads and once this summer before I put the old girl back on the road. All I do is pull the pads and squeeze the lever until the pistons are out pretty far. I used some 1000 grit sandpaper strips and lots of brake cleaner. This last time I was having some piston retraction issues. No more after cleaning them. If the bike is really old then there could be gel/water/corrosion inside the caliper causing the retraction problem. I'd try the easy method first.

 

Thanks Greg..

I've flushed new fluid through both bikes..cleaned the Ninja's and replaced all the seals in the front..though only one was damaged. I'm going to yank the VTR's and just flush them with cleaner and air, unless the crud is heavy then I will do what you have done...Disc's look clean..bike only has about 5000 miles..even though it's a 2000... I'm going to do more than needed so that I have a "baseline" on the servicing..

Thanks again
Dave