Rear Braking Problem

[fin_676]

Just a thought on the brake bleeding as the part that seals the bleeder is the cone at the base of the bleeder when the bleeder is open there is no seal
if some sort of 1 man bleeding system is used that goes over the end of the bleeder then on the up stroke of the brake pedal air can be drawn in through the threads of the bleeder
I have tried a few different methods of brake bleeding over the years and got a few different kits in the shed that never get used all that i now use is some plastic hose and brake spanner
apply pressure to the brake pedal open bleeder let fluid go up hose close bleeder then take pressure off the brake pedal repeat the procedure till all air is expelled
works every time

Brian

 

[trike lady]

I may have some good news for the Tri-glide owners; I was talking to one of the HD Instructors today and explained to him what is happening with each trike and that everyone is having a different problem. For the owners with too much brake dust, change the pads to 'Semi-metallic' but don't use cheap ones.
Use a quality brake lubricant on the contact parts for the brake pad, pins and slides.
The instructor also told me that when the trikes were produced at the factory, the brakes may not have been bled fully and that they need to be redone at the dealership.
He also told me that because of the design of the master cylinder in relation to the calipers is causing the air to take longer to expell and that you must take your time in getting the air out of the system.

I have a part number for the brake pads from Lyndall, as they have brake pads for the Tri-glide. The part number is 7255, they are Gold Plus for $59.00. This is our Gold series pad, the highest quality pad on the market. Carbon/Kevlar compound.
From their website:
GOLD+ COMPOUND

The Gold Plus pads are a DuPont Carbon-Kevlar (Organic) compound and is our latest advancement in high performance friction materials. This racing formula offers extreme stopping power in both wet and dry conditions. This is as close as a full race pad as you can get without it actually being a race pad. We softened the compound to make it better for street riding while still providing premium stopping power. The Gold Plus pads are ideal for heavy touring and hard stopping. It produces no dust, no noise, and no rotor wear while providing 30% more stopping torque than the stock pads. The service life generally averages about 18,000 miles.
Lyndall Racing Brakes - The worlds best Brake Pads Composite Rotors --- Home ---
There you have it, good quality brake pads, brake caliper lubricant and bleed the system well.

 

[Hoople]

The worlds best Brake Pads There you have it, good quality brake pads,

Not saying the pads won't perform,,, not saying that at all but I have seen those words said, used & printed before.

The bottom line is in actually trying a set to see if what the engineering department built matches what the advertising department printed.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Not saying the pads won't perform,,, not saying that at all but I have seen those words said, used & printed before.

The bottom line is in actually trying a set to see if what the engineering department built matches what the advertising department printed.

If the friction material does not match the rotor surface, back to the engineers, IMO, The MOCO should issue a recall if these brakes do not work right. It is rare they dont get it right with there R D department, as I am sure they have track tested these, then again it could be as simple as bad master cylinders from there vendor, it can happen, as far as bleeding, they should all have been PDI before delivery, Capital Jack

 

[HDDon]

My wife rides and trike (not HD) and I have on occasion driven hers, and her rear brakes do not require extra force to stop her trike. It seems that most of the riders that are moving to trikes are doing it because their legs maybe aren't as strong as they used to be. For the MOCO to produce and sell a machine that requires the rider to exert extra force seems criminal. It would seem that when someone brings their trike back to the dealer for a rear brake issue the dealer should not release the trike untill the rear brakes work to the riders satisfaction. I would think that sooner or later this safety issue will end up in court.

 

[Jack Klarich]

My wife rides and trike (not HD) and I have on occasion driven hers, and her rear brakes do not require extra force to stop her trike. It seems that most of the riders that are moving to trikes are doing it because their legs maybe aren't as strong as they used to be. For the MOCO to produce and sell a machine that requires the rider to exert extra force seems criminal. It would seem that when someone brings their trike back to the dealer for a rear brake issue the dealer should not release the trike untill the rear brakes work to the riders satisfaction. I would think that sooner or later this safety issue will end up in court.

Very well said Don, maybe be forced to recall them

 

[Hoople]

and her rear brakes do not require extra force to stop her trike.

I really believe having good brakes goes beyond the amount of pressure required to stop a vehicle and this is my reasoning for saying that....

Trikes weigh in at ~1000-1100 lbs. If the rear rotor is only as large as the rotor on an 800 lb pre-converted bike, you will have problems. I don't care what you do to the caliper or pads. If the rotor can't absorb and dump that kenetic energy in the form of heat, your just not stopping.

That rolling kinetic energy can not be destroyed. It must be converted to some other form of energy which in our case is Heat. So adding larger or more caliper pistons or better pads only reduces the foot pressure required to stop the vehicle. You can have brake pads and calipers daisy chained all the way around the rotor and YES it will result in lower required foot pressure but that will only make you think you have better brakes. Your brakes will still fade early and you will not stop once the rotor has been heat saturated. The size and mass of the rotor, and it's ability to dump heat is much more important than the pads and number of pistons.

Isn't the rear rotor on a Trike bigger than a standard rear rotor that is on a pre-converted Road Glide-Street Glide?

 

[trike lady]

They have 11.5" diameter rotors on conversions, but then they're automotive grade. I wouldn't be surprised if a company like Wilwood doesn't make an upgrade for the Tri-glide.
That's why when auto customizers put larger rims on cars they increase the size of the rotors. I'm not sure why a 9" rotor (that's the size a Tri-glide owner told me his has) was used, it really doesn't make sense.

 

[fin_676]

Because i dont know about trikes at all i was wondering they do have a brake on each wheel dont they and as such will need a larger bore master cylinder than a stock bike or the brake pedal travel would be excessive

Brian

 

[trike lady]

Because i dont know about trikes at all i was wondering they do have a brake on each wheel dont they and as such will need a larger bore master cylinder than a stock bike or the brake pedal travel would be excessive

Brian

You are very correct. There are two disc or two drum brakes.