OzSTOC
Honda ST1300 Section => Suspension ST1300 => Topic started by: DougieNZ on January 08, 2016, 07:04:05 AM
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Hi All,
Last year I mysteriously lost (and never recovered) a pannier off my bike - which has done just under 100,000km. The pannier was locked on and mysteriously the latch securing the pannier (holding it down) was bent up, allowing the pannier to exit the bike. I put it down to the pannier not being secured properly and/or perhaps the upward pressure from me checking the pannier was secured bent the latch. I replaced the pannier. How wrong was I???
On a recent trip to the South Island I heard a funny noise coming from the rear of the bike. The bike was fully loaded including a top box. Preload was set to full. I stopped a couple of times to check it and couldn't see anything. It was only when I got my wife to bounce the bike while I was looking underneath that I discovered the issue. The rear suspension was allowing the bike to travel so far down (without "bottoming out") that the rear brake calliper was hitting underneath the pannier. Where it was striking was right where the hose enters the calliper (including the bolt securing the hose to the calliper).
My old pannier was constructed of stern stuff. So in that case the latch was bent and the pannier exited the bike. My new one was of less stern stuff, so the calliper actually punched a hole in the bottom of the pannier, and that was the noise I was hearing. Worst case scenario I could have lost my brakes due to damage to the hose. I could also have lost another pannier.
I thought I was really important I posted this on here to warn other owners to keep an eye out for this issue.
UPDATE: READ BELOW THE SOLUTION. THIS WAS AN ISSUE WITH REAR BRAKE CALLIPER FITTING!!
Out of interest - any suggestions for repair/replacement?
Regards to all and Happy New Year
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Wow. :eek That sounds like a failure of a major suspension component. I'd drop it into a dealer just for a quote, and let them investigate and find the problem for you.
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Yes - I am getting similar feedback from the STOC.com site. They think design should mean the spring bottoms out before the calliper hits the pannier. Makes sense to me too.
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Very odd that no one else has ever experienced it, especially when it appears to be new to the highly experienced US site contributors.
Perhaps yours has a defective spring- one that wasn't heat-treated properly during manufacture.
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Mine used to bottom out with a full load, and it never hit the pannier. Are your pannier mounts bent, allowing the caliper to hit it?
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Hey Dougie, I had similar sounding problem... i.e - the brake calliper blowing a hole in the left pannier.
I discovered, embarrassingly, that I had fitted the rear brake calliper incorrectly. I had not put the front bolt, that secures the calliper to the swing-arm, through the calliper. The result of my error was that the rear brake calliper sat too far to the rear to avoid the inside corner of the pannier... i.e - big hole.
With the rear brake calliper located correctly, it will not hit pannier. The rear brake worked just fine, even though it was 'floating'.... & bashing a hole in my pannier. Cheers, John & Kate.
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John - you are a LEGEND! That was exactly the problem! I feel like a bit of a doofus now, but I'm rally glad this forum exists! 10 minutes later I am good to go... :-)
I was wondering how Honda could have designed a bike like that - the easy answer is they didn't!
Thanks so much everyone for your help and I have updated the thread just in case someone else has this happen! I will update STOwners.com also.
Regards
Adrian
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That's a good pickup by Scarlett Thunderbolt, a lesson for all of us to be vigilant, and a very expensive lesson for DougieNZ.
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Hey Dougie, I had similar sounding problem... i.e - the brake calliper blowing a hole in the left pannier.
I discovered, embarrassingly, that I had fitted the rear brake calliper incorrectly. I had not put the front bolt, that secures the calliper to the swing-arm, through the calliper. The result of my error was that the rear brake calliper sat too far to the rear to avoid the inside corner of the pannier... i.e - big hole.
With the rear brake calliper located correctly, it will not hit pannier. The rear brake worked just fine, even though it was 'floating'.... & bashing a hole in my pannier. Cheers, John & Kate.
If you left that location bolt out (it's a pain on the 1100 to undo/do up) wouldn't the calliper move forward with the disc as the pads grip when braking? Though I haven't checked mine for clearance but I suspect the calliper to be stopped by the swing arm so it won't rotate around the axle.
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Hi Alan,
Certainly if I had left it out it would have done less damage than getting it wrong like I did. The calliper may have rested on the swing arm. I think the best way is definitely to use the bolt as designed (so that the calliper is secured in position correctly and cannot move in either direction) and get it right. It is a wee bit fiddly on the ST1300, but easy enough with a ring /open ender spanner. I just put a couple of drops of blue loctite on when replacing it.
Adrian
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Glad to help solve the mystery Dougie... kudos to JC for pointing me the right direction. Cheers John.
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Very interesting guys on a recent FarRide I also had the left pannier part company with the bike, unlike DougieNZ I didn't loose it but it did receive a fair scratching. Will be checking the caliper tomorrow.