When I finally got the R1 running, the front brake was barely there when I rode it. Took it to the shop, and it’s fine now. Stuck calliper.
Speaking of ‘finally’, I took the XJ600 to the shop today. It hasn’t tun in years. Why is it so hard to push? Stuck calliper – only this time it was stuck closed, as opposed to stuck open like on the R1.
So I’m taking the trailer back to U-Haul. It’s a 5 x 9 ramp trailer. Not too heavy. Probably around 600-800 pounds. I started to notice that the Jeep is not accelerating as quickly as it should – even with a trailer – and that it has trouble maintaining speed. There’s a shimmy around 55 mph. I take the exit and head toward the street I need to get to U-Haul. At a stop light, there is smoke.
I hope I make it the couple of miles to U-Haul. Surely, though improbably, the trailer is putting a strain on the transmission, and the fluid is burning. Naturally, it’s uphill all the way and I’m hitting all the lights on red. I get to U-Haul and pop the hood. Nope. Smoke’s coming from the wheel. As I check the engine bay one more time, I hear a click. The hub cap had melted off its pins. It took a while for the U-Haul guy to come and relieve me of the trailer. I thought the problem might have sorted itself out upon cooling. Still, better to get to the dealer to have it looked at. Rotors and pads were just replaced 2-1/2 years ago.
I get about a block down the road, and it’s obvious I’m still not accelerating, there’s a slight pull to the left, and there’s a smell. I pull into a parking lot. Of course I didn’t have my mobile phone. I was just going to drop off the bike and return the trailer and come home. I went to a store to call AAA. Couldn’t get an outside line. Customers were lining up, so I thanked the cashier and went to a different store. Called AAA and the SO. AAA would take 90 minutes to get there.
The SO showed up and we got some fast food and ate it in the car while we waited for the tow truck. They suggested Les Schwab would be cheaper than the dealer, so we went there. (It’s also just a few blocks from where we were parked.) I’ll get the verdict from Les Schwab tomorrow.
Three vehicles all had brake issues within the past few weeks. (The Seca II has a lot of other issues, having been sitting; but the front brake is one of them.) I’m starting to get a little paranoid.