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[Richard230]

I've had periodic squeal issues on ICE bikes, and it is definitely not drowned out by engine noise. Generally the squeal goes away after a while. On the FX, it does not go away and people think I'm honking at them as I come up from behind.

Richard, have you tried dousing the calipers with water? I'm curious to get some corroboration.

I don't wash my Zero very often, but when I do I wash my bike and the discs and calipers with soapy water, clean them with a sponge, hose off the caliper with clear water, blow them and the rest of the bike dry with an electric blower and go for a ride to heat up the brakes and make sure that everything is completely dry.  Doing that will usually stop the squealing for at least several days, then it returns.  I once removed the front brake pads, cleaned everything thoroughly and sanded the pads to remove any possible glazing.  That made them quiet for about a week or two, then the squeal returned.  It is clear to me that J.Juan has selected the wrong brake pads and they are not comparable with their disc material or design, for some reason. 

[Curt]

I'm suggesting to forget all that and simply pour a glass of water over the calipers. That has been working for me.

[Doug S]

I'm wondering if maybe the water gets between the piston and the pad and dissipates just enough energy to keep audible oscillations from starting. It might take a few days to evaporate since things are fairly tight back there and there's not a lot of room for air to circulate.

If it's simply removing the worn brake particles that does the trick, a blast of air should do that too, and if that makes the squeal go away for a short while, it seems like it might be removing the wear particles....but if a shot of air doesn't work like the water does, it seems like the water itself is somehow causing the change.

[Curt]

I have a little more information. It appears that hitting the pads with water before riding doesn't work, whereas wetting them after a ride results in sweet silence for about 100 miles.

So I will theorize that the water causes a thin layer of oxidation to form on the pad material, and the squeal goes away until it wears off. The silence may or may not come with reduced brake effectiveness, I don't know.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Thanks for working on this hypothesis, everyone.

I recently started making separate pages for each kind of sound from the bike, and Brake Squeal is one of the first I separated.

I’ve added the water solution with a note and link to this thread:
https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Brake_Squeal

[Rule10b5]

There is definitely something strange about the front pads on my 2018 S.  They screech loudly and vibrate during the last three feet when stopping.  However they don't make any noise at any other time.  But they only do this when the pads are cold. When they get hot they do not make any noise when coming to a stop.     I am pretty sure that changing to a different set of brake pads will probably silence them, at least in my case.  I might add that the original pads of my 2014 S, with its Nissin front brake caliper, never made any noise.  They functioned just like you expect brakes to do. They stopped well and were quiet. 

It's the same on my 2017 FXS.  The last few feet of braking sounds almost like a howl unless the rotors and pads are hot. 

Kinda like this, but over a shorter duration for me. 

I just assume the pads are a little more aggressive and racey than on every other street bike I've owned. 

[Richard230]

There is definitely something strange about the front pads on my 2018 S.  They screech loudly and vibrate during the last three feet when stopping.  However they don't make any noise at any other time.  But they only do this when the pads are cold. When they get hot they do not make any noise when coming to a stop.     I am pretty sure that changing to a different set of brake pads will probably silence them, at least in my case.  I might add that the original pads of my 2014 S, with its Nissin front brake caliper, never made any noise.  They functioned just like you expect brakes to do. They stopped well and were quiet. 

It's the same on my 2017 FXS.  The last few feet of braking sounds almost like a howl unless the rotors and pads are hot. 

Kinda like this, but over a shorter duration for me. 

I just assume the pads are a little more aggressive and racey than on every other street bike I've owned.

That is exactly what the front brake of my bike sounds like, but (as you say) over a distance of about three feet before coming to a complete stop. And when hot, the brake is are quiet. There is something strange about that front pad material.