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Thread: Front brake locking up, ZTL / Gafler / Nissan - PLEASE HELP!

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    Front brake locking up, ZTL / Gafler / Nissan - PLEASE HELP!

    Please excuse the typos contained in the above title. Of course it should read "Galfer" and "Nissin" (blame auto spell check).

    Been running the combination of ZTL front brake caliper and Nissin radial front brake master cylinder on my 2005 Buell XB12R Firebolt for some time with no issues. This combination for the front brakes worked great. All new parts were installed by a local independent motorcycle shop I trust and have dealt with for years, that has very regretably since gone out of business.

    Following the above mods back when, I purchased a new Galfer front brake rotor and new mounting hardware with the intention of completing the front brake upgrade, but just have not had the time to install it myself. Finally gave in and took it to my local Harley Davidson dealer service shop (gulp! - I knew better, that's why I haven't done so before now), to have them only perform the installation of the new Galfer rotor and new rotor mounting hardware that I provided to them, and that is when this nightmare started.

    They claimed they have one tech who they consider to be their "Buell specialist" (spoke to him once briefly after the trouble below started, says he has owned four Buells and wishes he still had his last one). He installed the Galfer rotor and said the front brake system was working fine on the shop stand. He took it out on their 1-mile test ride loop and says during the test ride the front brake locked up on him, and he had to get help to get the bike back to the shop.

    They called me in, explained what happened and said they suspected the Nissin radial front master cylinder was bad, causing the front brakes to lock up. They asked me if I still had the original parts that came off of the Buell, namely the master cylinder, which I told them I thought I retained in a box somewhere as I do not recall getting rid of it, and they were animate that the original master cylinder needed to be on the bike. WTF.

    Anyway, I couldn't find the original master cylinder, and even if I did, I was set on not taking what I considered to be a step backwards in my mods on the Buell. Following their diagnosis, I purchased a brand new Nissin radial master cylinder from Schnitz Racing and had it shipped overnight. They installed it, and same thing happened - front brake locked up. They were again animate about installing all the original brake components that came off the Buell.

    After I still couldn't find the original parts from the Buell, I suggested they check into the shim combination they were using on the Galfer rotor to be sure they had the offsets correct (I seemed to recall reading about that on the forum), but as a last resort I told them I am ready to concede and for them to just put the brakes like they were when I brought the Buell to them (with the original stock rotor). They did that, and say it is now STILL locking up. Now they say the ZTL caliper is bad.

    To me it seems obvious they do not know what they are doing. Now - get this - they want me to tow away the non-ridable motorcycle and pay them for the hours of labor they have put into it. In other words, I bring them a working motorcycle and they want me to tow away my now non-working motorcycle and pay them for the "favor".

    I am going to ask for a meeting with the dealership owner and let them know I dispute this entire fiasco.

    How I regret taking them my Buell.

    Of course this still leaves me with wanting to finish what I set out to do. Any thoughts or suggestions to address and fix the root cause of the brakes locking up is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
    Last edited by vtech007; 10-10-2018 at 10:58 PM.

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