To lay the groundwork for the rest of this post, I ride a '10 FXDC, on with the post. At the end of my ride yesterday I found it difficult to walk the bike with the clutch disengaged or in neutral. I've experianced the problem once before, but couldn't figure out what its cause was. This time though, I pinpointed the issue: The rear brake won't fully disengage the rotor after I step off the pedal. I'm at a bit of a loss on how to fix this problem. I want to check the master cylinder, but ran out of time yesterday and that is a tight fit, any tool recommendations for that? Additionally, I have no idea how many miles I've put on with the rear brake not fully disengaged from the rotor, so I'll be putting on new pads; how in depth is that change out?

 

Changing pads is not a big deal. Some indicate it can be easily done without removing the rear wheel. I never could. I always remove the wheel, which makes it more of a PIA, but doable.

But the issue may be that the pistons are gunked up & not properly retracting into the calipers. I usually take a shoestring & wrap it around each piston & buff/clean them off real good at pad change using an alcohol-based spray cleaner (again, with wheel removed). That helps about 1 or maybe 2 pad changes only. To really fix the prob, I usually have to remove caliper & rebuild it. That's not a huge job, but isn't a 10-min job either. You need a manual, if you don't already have one. The one thing I've found that makes the job easier than anything else is SpeedBleeders. Really takes the PIA out of bleeding the brakes as final step.

 

Don't forget to check the pedal itself. They've been known to have a stick bushing where it rotates on the shaft. Did you ever change the pedal for powder coat? You can sand the ID of the bushing and lube the shaft.

Also, just be careful. If the pads rub, they expand when hot and can lock up at speed.

 

I agree with M&P340. The rear pistons most likely are gunked up and not retracting. Remove the rear caliper and clean the area around the pistons before you change out the pads. I use brakeclean and a small brush.

This is a pretty good link for pad changes:
http://www.lyndallbrakes.com/service-tech/

 

It's a chronic problem with these rear calipers. Unlike a car, there is no boot protecting the pistons and bore from dirt. Dirt builds up there and needs to be cleaned for the pistons to move easily.

 

Duplicate post............. deleted

 

Thanks guys. I'll take a look at those pistons tomorrow when I get out of work. I have no plans on riding until those pads are replaced and I get good action in the rear brake again. Just not worth the risk.

Any recommendations on some good brake pads so I can avoid the stealership?

 

Lyndall pads. You can get them from forum sponsor HogPro Wheels at a great price, almost the same as OEM IIRC, and they arrived fast.

 

Whatever you do . .don't actuate the brake too much when the caliper is off. If those pistons come out of their bores in the caliper you'll be flushing the brake line as well.

When I work on the brakes I like to use a c-clamp to compress the pistons into the bores (with M/C cover off, foil around it to catch splurts), and use brake pedal to move them out. Doing this with brakleen shots and a soft bristle brush, working the pistons out and in a few times, will make them like new.

 

After market brake pads can and sometimes do have a down side . Better stopping yes maybe but you may wear the rotor too fast . It is a trade off Pads are cheap rotors are not .