Warped rotors, correct?

[stopintime]

Stock S2R 320 Brembo - probably 10-15k miles.

A month ago after winter - no issues as far as I could tell.
Then I started to notice a judder (?) at soft and slow braking. It became worse after drill-bit-rotating + brake-spray cleaning the buttons. I also Scotch-brite-brakespray cleaned the rotors, but maybe not enough...
I haven't felt any overheating on any brake parts.
Lever operation is normal.

Today, for the first time, there was vibration/pulsing at hard braking.

How sure are you that my rotors need to be replaced?
I have a few thousand miles until BrakeTech's iron/stainless are back in stock and I'm worried how things will develop in the meantime.

[DaFoose]

what about having them honed, and new pads? Could fix it, and would be way cheaper. How sure are you that they are warped? Prop the front up and spin the wheel, can you visibly see that they are warped?

[Raux]

got a long ride ahead of you in june, better get them settled soon.

[stopintime]

what about having them honed, and new pads? Could fix it, and would be way cheaper. How sure are you that they are warped? Prop the front up and spin the wheel, can you visibly see that they are warped?

Not sure at all. Do you think a minor warpage will be visible to the eye?
I would have to pay my shop to do the wheel off/rotors off/honing and I'm afraid I'll be throwing away money.
I'm asking here, trying to find out how likely this issue is due to build up vs warpage...

got a long ride ahead of you in june, better get them settled soon.

Wouldn't want this to get really bad on my 1,500 miles Alps journey. Off course this had to happen with just a few weeks to fix it. I might have to settle for stock snowflakes.

[Raux]

Not sure at all. Do you think a minor warpage will be visible to the eye?
I would have to pay my shop to do the wheel off/rotors off/honing and I'm afraid I'll be throwing away money.
I'm asking here, trying to find out how likely this issue is due to build up vs warpage...

Wouldn't want this to get really bad on my 1,500 miles Alps journey. Off course this had to happen with just a few weeks to fix it. I might have to settle for stock snowflakes.

oh god forbid you have to go stock

[DaFoose]

Not sure at all. Do you think a minor warpage will be visible to the eye?
I would have to pay my shop to do the wheel off/rotors off/honing and I'm afraid I'll be throwing away money.
I'm asking here, trying to find out how likely this issue is due to build up vs warpage...

Wouldn't want this to get really bad on my 1,500 miles Alps journey. Off course this had to happen with just a few weeks to fix it. I might have to settle for stock snowflakes.

I am no mechanic so I could be wrong, but if you CAN see movement, you will know for certain it's warped. If you can't it is probably something else. I don't know how much free time you have, but I would think if you already have the front end propped up off the ground to spin the wheel you could take it off and remove the rotors in a half hour or so. But then again I never removed the front wheel on a bike myself.

Maybe someone has better ideas, but just the honing itself shouldn't be very expensive.

[Raux]

you recently took them off and put them back on.
any chance something isn't straight or lined up properly?

[stopintime]

you recently took them off and put them back on.
any chance something isn't straight or lined up properly?

They haven't been off since I got them last year. They worked perfectly then and have done so until just recently.

[He Man]

how do the pads look? warapge is not visable to the naked eye unless its really warped.

when you spin teh wheel, does it scrape in one specific area? if you can hear it you might be able to try and sand one side down a bit.

[Ddan]

I'd pull the pads and rotors, clean the rotors again, hit the pads with some coarse sand paper, (not enough to put any angle on them) and bevel the leading edge.  Re-bed the pads correctly and I'll bet you'll be like new.

[scott_araujo]

I'd pull the pads and rotors, clean the rotors again, hit the pads with some coarse sand paper, (not enough to put any angle on them) and bevel the leading edge.  Re-bed the pads correctly and I'll bet you'll be like new.

And make sure the buttons are clean and move freely.  This is all free and just takes a little time.  It solves many brake shudder problems.

Scott

[He Man]

are they supose to move? mine have never spun by finger force.

[ducpainter]

I'd float 'em...with a hammer and socket.

if it doesn't fix it buy new ones.

[ducatiz]

I'd pull the pads and rotors, clean the rotors again, hit the pads with some coarse sand paper, (not enough to put any angle on them) and bevel the leading edge.  Re-bed the pads correctly and I'll bet you'll be like new.

400 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander (about $15) for 2-3 seconds.

nothing more grit than 400. 

[scott_araujo]

are they supose to move? mine have never spun by finger force.

There are spring washers in there so they don't just twirl around but you should be able to move them.  Once they get all dusty and corroded they tend to stick.  With some brake cleaner and persuasion you can usually get them moving.  Or like DP said, you can use a hammer and socket to crush the spring washers and make them full floaters.  Lots of posts on that, do a search.

Scott