Ok, so this is gonna be a little bit of a long winded post, but I gotta vent and then let you guys help me.

I bought this 08 Dyna Low Rider a month or so ago. I rode it home and noticed that as speeds between 5-15 mph the front brakes were making a 'singing' noise. I can only describe it as something similar to dipping your finger in water and running it around the rim of a wine glass until you hear it 'sing'. Sounded like "eeeeeeeee"... I took it to the place I bought it and the chief mechanic took it for a little ride and said it was normal.

So... This is what he told me. He said that the early 08 Dyna trannys have straight cut gears for 1st and 5th gears that make a whining noise. That, coupled with some "known" noise on the Brembo brakes is what I was hearing..... RIGHT.

I put 500 miles on it and the noise was still there. (I was a little put off by the fact that he told me I was hearing transmission noise and thought it was brakes, I think I know the difference). I was going about 20 miles an hour, shifted into neutral, shut the engine off and coasted and ..... there it was... eeeeeeeee...

So, I decided to fix it myself.

I bought some EBC Double-H Sintered pads.

How hard could it be to remove the caliper and pop in some new pads?

Guess it was more than I planned. Seems that I needed to remove the caliper and then the banjo fitting for the brake line... The split the caliper so I could remove the old pads and install the new ones. I did that. (Not without some anguish that I now had brake fluid everywhere and needed to clean everything and reinstall and then bleed the brakes)

I took it for a ride and they seem to work well and I think they will break in for more aggressive braking, but I am wondering if there was an easier way??

The brake lever is firm, but doesn't start to apply the brakes as soon as it did before I did the work. Do I need to adjust the play in the brake lever, and if so, how???

The brake rotor is in great shape, no scoring, wear or glazing and the noise is now gone....

Any comments/suggestions? (If you are still awake after reading my huge post)

 

there is no 'adjustment' on the brake lever. The master cylinder is designed to fill up with fluid as needed to take up the 'slack' in the lever, but not enough to actually apply pressure to the brakes. Ride it normally for a few hours and see if it improves. It may have been effed before you fixed it... possibly a sticky piston. I know some of the '04 up Sportsters had a TSB with the front brakes where they did not bleed themselves properly and would build pressure with potentially disastrous results. The fact that your rotor was singing points to a brake problem... good call on your part, same reason I won't let a mechanic touch any of my vehicles.

Proper procedure for brake maintenance is best found in the FSM... get one, use it and your bike will reward you for it!

 

Hi John,
I added fluid as I bled the brakes and the reservoir is full. I fully intend on purchasing the FSM. I own them for all my vehicles, just haven't gotten one for the bikes yet. I don't normally let anyone work on my vehicles, and don't intend to in the future... Appreciate your comments! I'll keep you posted on how the brakes perform in the next few rides.

Doug

 

Sounds like you did the right thing, just make sure you put in the right fluid...NEVER mix DOT5 and DOT4, put in the stuff that's marked on the reservoir cover. Seems HD flip flops on the fluid spec every few years... I'm sure their only justification is to keep down production cost.

 

You can firm up the lever's operation if you leave it overnight with the lever pulled in with some big rubber bands, string, a bungy strap or whatever.

Sounds odd I know but it does work.

 

I haven't been into my brakes but splitting the caliper and uncorking a brake line seems like a lot just to change pads.
Thanks for the info.

 

get a 1/4" 12 point socket, remove the pad pins and the pads fall out. No need to split the caliper or disconnect the line from MC. Removing the caliper is optional.

 

lf you split the calliper to replace the pads, along with your adjustment questions, l seriously doubt your ability to pick where any noise is coming from...

 

Looks like you're near me . .i'm in Alexandria.

Anywho, yup you did it wrong by splitting the caliper. Not the way to go. You remove the caliper from the fork leg, then the pad pin bolt, and the pads are free to come out with some persuasion. There's little clips in each piston that latch onto the pads so I usually tap the pad from the top with a mallet and a flat headed screwdriver til they fall out.

I just had the same singing noise on mine after PC'ing my wheels. Wasn't real evident only if I had the bike on the lift at one specific spot. I fixed mine by cleaning the pistons with Brakleen and scrubbing them with a nylon brush to remove residue. Then I took the pads and scuffed them down and the leading edges with emory cloth. I lubed the pad pin bolt with GE Versilube as well as the plunger that comes out of the MC since it was squeaking when I pulled the lever in. Finally cleaned the rotors. Prior to all this the wheel didn't want to turn more than 1/4-1/2 on the lift if i gave it a good spin. Now I get a full revolution or so. I have dual calipers though so double the friction.

Matt

 

Hi John, I used DOT4 fluid because I read that is what it came with. Hope it didn't have DOT5 in it. The reservoir cover is an aftermarket chrome cover with no markings on it, so I did my best to figure out what it should have had. Is there a way to tell? If I mixed the DOT4 with DOT5 does the fluid get cloudy or are there any other indications I can check for?

Hope I didn't mess up...

Thanks for the help!
Doug