Rear brake issues/update

[ssevy]

Some of you may remember that during my cross country ride to LA in 2021 I cooked my rear disc and had no rear brakes when I came into LA on the last day(that was exciting).
I had assumed that riding in a prolonged tuck position may have caused my boot to depress the rear pedal just enough to engage the brake, but it may have been the flowback hole being clogged in the rear master cylinder.
In any case, I rebuilt the rear caliper in LA before riding home, but it was still sticking a bit.
Fast forward to this year's attempt, which got me only one day west before the rear brake began to really act up.
I did find a rebuild kit through Brakecrafters, which included new stainless steel pistons, and all new rubber bits. Unfortunately, the pistons were very tight, so I found a machine shop today, and the older machinist used a brake cylinder hone on a cordless drill with some spray WD40 for lubrication. He worked each side until the pistons moved freely but were not too loose. Anyone with a drill could get one of these hones at an auto parts store and be back in business quickly.
The bottom line is that the aluminum got hot enough to deform to the point where the pistons were sticking. I couldn't believe it could be that hot, but now I'm finally back on the road after the honing and rebuild. I also rebuilt the rear master cylinder, too. Yes, they have kits for all of the calipers and both master cylinders. A bargain compared to the $700 Triumph is currently asking for a new rear caliper!

[Lee337]

I had an Aprilia RSV1000R way back in 2000. Yes, I know a completely different beast to the Tiger, but that had rear brake issues. More than once n long trips, especially in the summer it would stick & like you, I thought I was resting my foot on the brake pedal.

As this was pretty much pre-interweb, there was not a lot o info around as to the cause, so I rebuilt the callipers, but it kept happening, oddly only on warm sunny days. A chance encounter with another RSVR owner resolved the issue. The rear brake reservoir was mounted almost touching the exhaust & while not hot enough to boil the fluid, was hot enough to make it expand just enough for the brake pads to touch the disc. Not enough to notice when riding, except on those rare hot UK days, but enough when the weather was cold for me to go through a set of pads every 2-3000 miles.

Moving the reservoir solved the issue & never had another problem after that.