Hi 02, welcome to the forum. I ride the 950 so I can't answer your question, however we have several 1100 owners here and they'll be glad to help you I'm sure. Please share some pics of your ride and let us know what you find out.


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Thanks! I will post some once I get it back together fully.

 

Welcome from Canada. I'm taking my wheels off tonight to have new tires installed so please keep us updated in case I run into this issue too.

 

simple answer would be you do not have the wheel (axle) aligned straight with the frame.

Its also possible you might have hit the caliper with the rotor when you were putting the wheel back in and bent something, or knocked the brake pad loose.

The service manual normally recommends you take the calipers off when removing the wheel. Its easy to get the wheel off, but putting the wheel back on with the calipers in place its also easy to hit the pads with the rotor, unless you are really careful.

 

I had the caliper off when removing and installing the wheel. The rotor is resting against the caliper and the inside edge of the caliper where the piston is hitting the rotor. I have the shaft fully engaged in the trans as far as i know. Is it a possibility i bent the caliper bracket when removing the wheel?

 

the back end of the swing arm where you push the axle in is an open U shape (fork) on both sides.

its possible to push one side all the way in (the drive shaft side) and not have the other side centered. Look at the tire on both sides. Is it closer to one side than the other?

you may not have the wheel pushed in all the way on both sides, making it angled, which also makes the rotor crooked.

If this doesnt help take a photo of the caliper and rotor so we can see whats going on there.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/vstar1100kb/home/maintenance-repairs/driveshaft you may have installed it wrong.do you have a manual? https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-KrKk_YXL4TLXdoNmVmSm5qZ0k/edit

 

another really simple thought occurred to me: the brake caliper sorta floats on its attachment and self centers on the rotor when you use it a few times. Since you had it off, the pads could have seeped in a bit, and when you put it back on it will seem like the pad on one side is rubbing / dragging?

If the pads look like they are straight on the face of the rotor, maybe you just need to step on the rear brake several times to re-center the caliper?

 

Here is what we are looking at here guys.

 

Its hard to tell from the photo, but comparing the pads to the size of the other parts, it looks like your pads are worn down to the end of their useful life.

I could be mistaken on that, you would need to measure the pad thickness and see what the limit is.

Just to be clear, only the pads are touching the rotor (dragging a bit all the time), or is some other metal part touching the rotor (disk) now?

It is normal for the pads to skim the surface of the rotor, they do not retract like drum brakes, they are always just touching, and its the pressure squeezing them onto the rotor that makes the bike stop.

if you put the bike in neutral with the rear tire off the ground, does the wheel spin freely, or is it dragging to the point where its hard to turn.

and also, do the brakes work at all if you step on the pedal?

 

Double checked spacers and I had one switched with the caliper bracket on the right side of the bike. Now it spins freely! Thank you all for the input! Much appreciated!

 

https://sites.google.com/site/vstar1100kb/home/new-owner-must-do-list oh yes forgot to tell you about the WKB everything you need to know about the 1100. be sure to read the correct starting procedure.

 

Good to hear you got it sorted out. Figured it had to be something simple you overlooked. Just replaced the tires on mine (took the rims to a shop for the tire install) and I had no issues reinstalling everything afterward.