New Front Brakes are Tight

[NEWHD74FAN]

Thank you LeeOtis for the followup post, and yes sticky pistons will cause that "drag" symptom, or worse the "moaning" sound when moving your bike (with the engine off).

You should only hear a light "swish" sound when moving the bike, as the "single action" braking system relies on the rotor "runout" to push the pads back, to retract the piston into the caliper body when in motion.

 

[BUBBIE]

The brake problem is now solved.

Last night I used each suggestion in this thread while making the repairs. In all, I'd say the biggest problem was one of the right side caliper pistons was trying to stick. After changing out the brake fluid and a good shoe string cleaning, I installed the OEM pads. Working the pads [a zillion times] open after pumping them closed finally loosened up whatever was sticky. It helped that I had a spare rotor on hand to put into the calipers while they were removed [from the forks] was a big help. Sort of an indication of how the pads were gonna fit when back on the bike and if they were releasing correctly.

The jury is still out on the aftermarket pads but I can't go wrong with the OEM pads now installed.

A big thanks to all contributors in this post. Your knowledge and experience directed me to make the repairs. And in doing so I gained a little bit of knowledge that will help me next time, or maybe help one of my fellow riders.

And as an added bonus: Just in time for the long weekend ahead.

Ride safe my friends,
LeeOtis

A simple Caliper measuring device should be all that is needed to compare the thickness of the Stock OEM and the aftermarket ones..

signed....BUBBIE

 

[LeeOtis]

I measured the pad thickness on the OEM pads with my digital caliper and wrote down the numbers. I intend on doing the same with the aftermarket pads, when work allows.

I'll post the results in this thread. It's something I wondered about.

 

[LeeOtis]

I measured the [4] brake pads and averaged the measurements as follows:

Harley OEM: 0.3173"

Aftermarket: 0.2955"

Interestingly, the aftermarket pads were not as thick as the OEM so that rules-out my question of the aftermarket pads possibly being thick enough to cause tight brakes.