Can you "turn" brake rotors?

[Scott]

If my car brakes pulse, I pull them off and go have them "turned" for a few bucks.

Can you do the same thing with bike brakes?  Do dealerships offer it?  BTW, I'm talking about a very slight pulse, nothing major.

[Zac]

A friend of mine has some brake hone thing that goes in a drill that he bought from BrakeTech.  Meant to dress the surface (as an alternative to bead blasting).

If there is enough damage/wear/warping/etc to require turning, I think the rotors are done.  I've never heard of anyone turning modern motorcycle rotors, which are so thin there is no material to remove.  They do turn some of the old, heavy, fixed rotors though.

-z.

[Jeff]

Pretty much what Zac said.  if they're warped, they're pretty much done.  You can resurface them with just about any abrasive if they get glazed (which can sometimes cause a pulsing feeling).

If they're bent from a crash, they can be straightened.  But warped from heat/use/age rotors should really be replaced.

[Super Dave]

Scott...

What year bike do you have?

Most current stuff has floating rotors.  You can't hold it in a fixed location, one, so you're not gonna clean it up.

Second, there isn't a lot of material there.  So, if you could turn the rotor, it would warp as soon as you used it because the heat would trash the material and warp it again.

I do some special treatments to my rotors before use.  CCS does allow you to replace your OEM rotors with aftermarket models of the same size.  Vesrah has some really, really nice rotors that are actually better than the OEM standard at a very reasonable price.  

Your call, though, on what you want to do.

[Steviebee]

Scott...


I do some special treatments to my rotors before use.  

Is it getting cold in here ?

[Scott]

My bike is an F4i, which does have floating rotors.  And I don't think they are "warped" but I do feel a vibration during the first second or so of braking at the end of the front straight at BHF.  Plus, my rotors are very dark.  

If I had them turned, it would only be enough to make them look new again.

Then again, if I knew about that "special treatment"...

p.s. Super Dave, it's ok to tell me, I'm just an amateur!

[Super Dave]

Doesn't have to do with being an amateur...it's business.  

I'll answer Steve's question above...I've worked with him.

Still, you really just can't turn the MC rotor.  Read what I have written again.  

The Black color can come from pad deposits...which might not be EBC's?  Didn't I lead you on a post before about that...but you didn't answer?  

[tzracer]

Probably not very easy to turn modern floating rotors. Some rotors can be removed from the carrier. These could be turned on a lathe. A better route would be to have the rotors ground (when I worke at Buell we had our rotors blanchard ground - spec flatness and parallelism). This might be more work than it is worth.

Is the brake lever itself pulsing or does the braking force pulse without the lever pulsing? Lever pulsing would be a warped rotor. Pulsing with no lever motion can be caused by the material itself. Due to heating, the rotor material can change, but not uniformly. The different forms of the metal making the rotor can have different coefficients of friction. This change in friction can cause pulsing. Changing brake pads without cleaning the rotors can cause a similar effect due to build up of different brake materials.

I clean my rotors with scotchbrite, clean until they look like new, take your time. Then I wipe the rotors with denatured alcohol or laquer thinner. Wipe until the rag stays clean. If the rotors are too thin or are beginning to groove, replace (or grind/resurface - if grooves not too deep) the rotors. Clean brake calipers before replacing pads (or pushing in the pistons). I push out the pistons far enough to see the line of dirt on the piston. Soap and water works fine for cleaning, a tooth brush comes in handy. After cleaning and drying, push in pistons and replace the pads. Bed the pads (if needed) as prescribed by the pad manufacturer.

[Jeff]

I'll answer Steve's question above...I've worked with him.

Dave, you sound like Max McAllister.  That scares me...  :-/

[Scott]

Super Dave:

Understand about the business part, I don't work for free either (close, but not quite)

Anyway, no pulsing at the lever only the vibration.

I'll try the scotchbrite and elbow grease and see how that works.

Thanks guys

[Scott]

Oh, also, had Carbone Lorraine last year and switched to Vesrah this year.

[Super Dave]

Dave, you sound like Max McAllister.  That scares me...  :-/

Whoa....

I giive you advise in a similar nature, because you've came to my school, as has Steve.  

Everyone is welcome do go the route I did.  I've raced every year competitively since 1987.  I was an AMA regular from 1989 through 1994.  At that time, I had offfers to ride other people's priceless vintage bikes.  That helped me and my family buy a house.  

Anyway, it's all of my adult life that has been invested in racing, and hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I am able to short cut things for riders.  I offer yes and no answers.  Some people can't necessarily be helped, some will never help themselves.  Some might find other ways.  Anyway, I offer a service.  It certainly ain't expensive either.