I'm no mechanic so hopefully I can explain this right. I have a 96 cbr900, all stock mechanically. While i was riding today my back brake was making a grinding noise. When i got off and checked it the bolts were tight but i could move the caliper around. So I removed the caliper. The two bolts that hold it on seemed to be fine and the threads were intact as well. As i looked closer at the lower bolt that actually bolts to the carrier i noticed that the "sleeve" on the caliper, that the bolt actually goes through, could move in and out. But it could also move around. This is why i could jiggle the caliper when it was still on. I know there are floating calipers that move around on the rotor but i dont think mine is supposed to move like that. I would appreciate advice please.

 

It should float left to right.

Are your brake pads worn past their limit???

If not, grinding noise can come from dirt/sand on the pads/rotors.

 

Thanx for the response. I put the pads on about 1500 ago so they're still good. The caliper does more than slide left right it kind of wobbles which is i think the bushing inside of it is just shot. i think i used the wrong word when i said grinding because it wasnt a constant sound. It definitely sounded like the caliper was hitting against the rotor.
Should i be able to move the caliper around when it bolted on?

 

That caliper should move around a little bit , in every direction. That's why they call it a floating caliper.

But anything more than a little is definitly excessive and something is wrong.

 

Thanx. I'm gonna take the caliper to the local shop and let them take a look at it. I'm also gonna check to make sure the rotor's not warped. But I don't think the problem would have started all of a sudden if it was the rotor. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

There are also 2 o-rings in the sliders. If one of these rings gets dislodged or split, the calapers will move around as well. As for the pads, they keep the calapers ligned up as well as stopping the wheel.

 

When I pushed the slider out there was no O-rings on it. Could they have dry rotted off or something?

 

they will not be on the sliders themselves, but in the holes you pulled them from.