I bought an '02 B12 last autumn and complained here that I had almost no rear brakes. I checked everything -- good solid hydraulics, plenty of pad left, rotor looks OK, and still, if I stood on the pedal, it would barely slow the bike down. I didn't have nearly enough braking to lock the rear, for example.
I checked that both pistons could travel freely, thinking that maybe one or the other was stuck somehow. Nope -- they're fine.
No way to balance the braking without any rears! Not the greatest feeling, safety-wise. Any kind of loose gravel or wet pavement would give me extra creeps.
I didn't know what else could possibly be wrong. I removed and sanded the pads, which were original Tokico 'FF'. That helped just a bit, so I thought I'd try some new 'HH' EBC, and that did the trick. The rear brakes now feel like they should. (They squeal, but they work fine.)
WTF? The original pads looked dark, and my guess is that they got soaked with some type of chain lube, maybe, but even that's kind of far-fetched.
Anyhow, if everything else is OK, the only remaining possibility is lack of friction between the pads & the rotor. It's a new one on me, but a fairly inexpensive fix. <shrug>
Topic: Rear brake problem solved. (Read 2085 times)