Rear brake adjustment help

[thedaydreamer]

HI all
I have an 01 v1400
I noticed on the rear brake pedal that there is a bit of play in it and when its depressed to engage the rear brake light, the brake light comes on, but the pedal does not seem to rebound back hard enough and the light will stay on, if you slightly nudge the pedal back the light will turn off, where is the adjustment to tighten up this pedal so that its engagning and disengaging a bit stiffer?

BTW why cant I add photos in here?

[sgtcall]

First the easy one. Follow the link below to see how to add pictures. It takes a little bit of work but one you learn it you will find it is easy.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13992

You may also want to look here for the service manual.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=14169

For the brake.
When was the last time you changed the brake fluid?

Here is the adjuster.

[hillsy v2]

What Sgt says ^^^^

Plus - also make sure the brake pedal pivot is lubed. They can bind in certain positions but still feel OK in operation.

[thedaydreamer]

Guys TY
OK on the rear #1 is the high adjuster, it looks like its on a rotating cam, how do you spin or rotate it, grab it with plyers? How does it move?

For #3 the light, it looks like a screw with a nut underneath, just loosen the nut and turn the screw?

I changed fluid about 300mi ago, got this bike slamming with all types of upgrades, just need to dial in a few things

[Designer]

HI all I have an 01 v1400
I noticed on the rear brake pedal that there is a bit of play in it and when its depressed to engage the rear brake light, the brake light comes on, but the pedal does not seem to rebound back hard enough and the light will stay on, if you slightly nudge the pedal back the light will turn off, where is the adjustment to tighten up this pedal so that its engagning and disengaging a bit stiffer?

A big part of the pedals return-to-normal position is the return Spring of the Pedal, along with the return spring within the Master Cylinder.

As SgtCall brings up, if the Fluid is old/dirty, that alone could be a major cause of your troubles. Please do check your Pedal's movement in relation to it's dedicated Return Spring. It is a rather small spring and has to lift the relatively heavy Pedal up.....and might have gotten stretched just a little. This happened to me once, so I replaced it .

[hillsy v2]

Guys TY
OK on the rear #1 is the high adjuster, it looks like its on a rotating cam, how do you spin or rotate it, grab it with plyers? How does it move?

This might help - adjustment for pedal height is done by rotating #17

[Designer]

Just to clarify,....when you mention that you noticed some play in the pedal and that when you nudge it, it rebounds,.....that's not likely to be something that adjusting the Pedal Height Adjuster will fix. The Pedal Height Adjuster is to set the height of the pedal's "pad" relative to how your foot/Riding Boot rests on the Peg.

Since you say there is "play", that indicates to me that the Pedal is not returning back to it's proper resting place in it's Travel.

[sgtcall]

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/suzuk ... rear-brake



If I remember correctly you can adjust by pushing down on #19 and twisting #17. You can adjust the brake light switch by loosening #14 and turning #13.

The return spring is #9.

[thedaydreamer]

Great stuff guys
Just to clarify
When I push the brake pedal the light engages and sometimes it goes off and sometimes it says on, if i put my hand on the pedal and SLIGHTLY push it back the light will turn of, almost like the pedal is not coming back far enough to disengage

I think I should start with adjusting 13, that may truly solve this issue, it just may be a sensitivity issue

[sgtcall]

First adjust #17 then you will need to adjust the brake switch. If that doesn't work you will need a new return spring. The pedal can have a little bit of play but should not bounce around.

[hillsy v2]

If it was me I'd pull the pedal and lube the pivot. Then check and adjust everything after that.

That way you know it's all good.

[sgtcall]

If it was me I'd pull the pedal and lube the pivot. Then check and adjust everything after that.

That way you know it's all good.

Good point.

[thedaydreamer]

Im hoping tomorrow Ill have some time with it and ill report back my findings

[Designer]

If it was me I'd pull the pedal and lube the pivot. Then check and adjust everything after that. That way you know it's all good.

Good point.

IIRC, pulling the Pedal off would require removing the Exhaust System . ..... If not dropping the Footpeg Bracket too.

I am quite confident that the use of a Penetrating Oil such as PB'laster or similar would beget a quite satisfactory result since the symptoms reported do not tell of a totally immovable Pedal, but merely a sticking one that frees up with just a nudge.......and using the Penetrating Oil would be a viable method of maintaining such lubrication as times goes by.

[Herb]

I used to have that issue but I used PB Blaster to free up the pivot, I started giving the pivot a squirt of PB Blaster everytime I change the oil and the problem hasn't come back...

[thedaydreamer]

HI guys
So popping the #18 cap and adjusting #17 with hex fixed the issue, thx for the info!

Another question, I am playing around with different headlights, everytime I take the headlight fixture off, I get the bike on the lift and disconnect the neg batt terminal,,PITA,,,,If im just pulling off the fixture and changing bulbs do I really need to disconnect the battery?
TY all

[Designer]

HI guys So popping the #18 cap and adjusting #17 with hex fixed the issue, thx for the info!

Glad you have it fixed and did not go through all the work to remove the Pedal

.........Another question, I am playing around with different headlights, everytime I take the headlight fixture off, I get the bike on the lift and disconnect the neg batt terminal,,PITA,,,,If im just pulling off the fixture and changing bulbs do I really need to disconnect the battery?
TY all

Well, you don't need to disconnect the battery to change the Headlight bulb. It can be done as a cautionary move, but is not required for safety as long as the Key is off and nothing is energized.

[Herb]

.........Another question, I am playing around with different headlights, everytime I take the headlight fixture off, I get the bike on the lift and disconnect the neg batt terminal,,PITA,,,,If im just pulling off the fixture and changing bulbs do I really need to disconnect the battery?
TY all

Well, you don't need to disconnect the battery to change the Headlight bulb. It can be done as a cautionary move, but is not required for safety as long as the Key is off and nothing is energized.

+1 for Designer. With the switch off there is no power to the headlight.

[thedaydreamer]

I guess im being extra cautious, In that 1400 there are a bundle of wires behind that casing, I didnt want to cause a short,,,but hell, Im may be a little shell shocked from a few months ago with this bike shorting out, but I think I have that all solved

ANother question regarding the headlight, a few months ago when I swapped the LED that was in there for a new one, when you started the bike the headlights were alwasy flickering/shuttering, they never stayed solid, today I pulled the LED out and put it a standard 55w halogen and no flicker,,,,I tested the rectifier but not the stator,,,,Im wondering if this consistent flicker was just something loose, I blew out all the connectors and secured the 3 prong female connector tighter to the back of light,,,,bike displays no other symptoms,,,,now it can feel more confident pulling the bulb out with trial and error till I find the bulb I like best

[navigator]

If your battery is low, the LED headlight may flicker at idle and be solid with elevated RPM.
Fully charge your battery. JMO.