I have a '22 14R with 15K miles on it. It replaced my '12 14R that had 86K miles. The 14R is superb and the only bike for me.

So, when riding at highway speeds, 70-90, when I brake moderately hard the front brakes chatter and the front end shakes. It did not do this early on. The strange thing is that if I do this 2 or 3 more times, it stops. But it returns a little while later. I don't see how a warped rotor is the issue because, as I said, it will stop with several aggressive front brake applications.

From day one I did not like the ABS brakes. They don't have the initial bite that my '12 had. Is it possible the ABS system is malfunctioning and rapidly releasing, grabbing, releasing, grabbing? I'm baffled, as is my shop. I'm thinking of pulling the ABS fuses to de-activate the system and see if it still happens.

Thoughts? Much appreciated.

on my 06 when I swapped the stock pads for EBC pads they rattled/chattered when I applied the brakes. Put the stock pads back in and rattling stopped. EBC pads specific for the '06 ZX14 went in the trash and there was zero stopping power difference between them

Hope this helps a bit

The front tire, how old is it? Cupped? A hi/lo edge on one side of the rain cutouts?

ABS has to be really hard to hear them go into action. A left turner took me out. My reaction was using one brake at the time. Anyway, the front was electronically making noise as I was still sitting straight upright into the vehicle.

If I had no ABS I'd probably be under the rear tire of the vehicle. I think I have a video riding and hitting the brakes hard and you can see it chatter. I was going from corner to corner and it was constant. No warped discs. That kind of chatter never bothered me.

I'm thinking new tire helped, but comes back when worn? Couple of weeks ago I was ready for a tire change. The fork leaked on the other bike so I used the 14 while I changed both fork seals. I change tires as a set, and this proved to me that both have their equal wear patterns.

The back being bald almost, the front was so sketchy, it took me awhile to be off it to notice how the front end felt. I didn't notice before I stopped riding it and swapped with the other bike with brand new tires on it.

And as crud mentioned, stay stock and pay that little extra, or pay twice.

Thanks for the posts, but I don't think they apply here because the problem is intermittent. The situations cited above would happen all the time.

On another note, I'm going to remove the ABS motor fuse and the ABS solenoid fuse and take the bike out for a ride to see if the problem still exists. Other than a CEL, what can I expect from the fuse pulls? I assume the brakes would still work normally?

Brakes should still work, yes.

Check the runout of the front rotors with a dial indicator. There should be less than .010” runout. As Hub mentioned, highly likely that the tire is the culprit here. I had similar problems with mine here recently that had me chasing my tail trying to figure out the problem. I’d experience 90+ mph vibrations that would greatly be exaggerated when applying front brake a few times and then all of a sudden front brake application wouldn’t affect it.

I rebuilt forks, did head bearings maintenance,and everything in between. Ended up replacing a front tire that visually was perfect and had been balanced 3 times in an effort to fix the problem. Once it was replaced the problem went away instantly.

Rode the bike with the ABS fuses pulled. No change and the brakes worked fine. ABS light went out as soon as I replaced the fuses.

I'm gonna check the runout of the front rotors, AND the wheel at the rotor mounting surface. I mention the wheel because I had a similar issue on my 2012 which had the same BST wheels which I transferred to the 2022, which I attributed to warped rotors. Also, on the 2012, the brakes ALWAYS chattered. Not quite the same as on the 2022. On the new bike, as I said before, if you grab the brakes hard a few times, after that the braking is smooth. But that only lasts a short time. That's the part I don't understand. The chatter should be the same all the time.

I'm considering replacing the pads with something better, but I can't see how that would help with chatter.

It's just so frustrating on such a stellar bike that I've put so much money and energy into to make it special.

Thanks for the help.

* Last updated by: zx9rmal on 1/19/2023 @ 7:35 AM *

Whatever it is, is affected by the increased heat generated from the repeated braking then repeats the cycle after it cools.

Good point Nasty. I'll mention that when I bring the bike to my shop.

Pad or rotor contamination?

I've had OE, SBS, and EBC branded pads. They all seem to behave a bit different. It seems, the aftermarkets tend to chatter early in a ride, maybe until they get a bit of use/warmed up a little. IMO, this is very much like experiencing it stops after 3 brake applications.

I think the OE pads have been my best experience, however, the OE pads also had new OE rotors too... so it's difficult to say it's entirely the pads.

I asked here before about trying to resurface the rotors with a hone or something, and that I recall, people (maybe even Hub) said don't bother.

I've had OE, SBS, and EBC branded pads. They all seem to behave a bit different. It seems, the aftermarkets tend to chatter early in a ride, maybe until they get a bit of use/warmed up a little. IMO, this is very much like experiencing it stops after 3 brake applications.

Definitely requires more parking lot testing.

Begin now, plz.

* Last updated by: hagrid on 3/30/2023 @ 5:25 AM *