Bought my sg the 1st of May (two months ago), on the way home the front brake had a bad squeal. Road it until the 1K service and told the dealer about the brake problem which had not gotten any better. They said they cleaned the calipers and rotors but could find nothing wrong. Again before I could get home (30 miles) the squeal returned, I waited another 200 mile and returned again to the dealer. This time they said they sanded the pads and again cleaned the rotors but I had the same loud squeal again with in the next 100 miles.
Well I decided I was wasting time with the dealer and after reading this forum and VTF I tried all the solutions that folks have suggested, sanding pads, squeal grease between the metal side of the pads and the pistons, beveled the pads, etc. I have had the pads on and off maybe 10 times in the past month but nothing including the dealer fixed the problem. SO again following suggestions from other on these two forums I ordered two sets of Lyndall Z-plus pads out of California. They arrive today and I have installed them. I have only ridden the bike about 50 miles with the new pads but so far not a squeak. I will do a follow-up to this post IF a squeal returns or if after a reasonable time (500 miles) it has not. Looking good so far. Lots cheaper than new rotors ($46 per set less 10%)

 

Interesting. Keep us posted denied.

mud

 

Common problem. I had it as well.

Floating rotors fixed it. Look cool too.

Some people have switched the stock rotors right to left & vice versa.

[sm=icon_guiness.gif]

 

that's good info. I'm having the same problem. It is really annoying.

 

I experienced the opposite from the Lyndalls. I heard not a peep from my stock pads. When they needed replacing, I put on the Lyndalls. Now I have a squeal. It's not bad, but it's annoying as hell.

 

My 06 Street Glide also Squeals. The factory fix is to inject expandable foam into the cavities of the wheel. Note this is a problem with nearly all Street Glides and Road King Customs as they have the same slotted mag wheel. It is caused by a harmonic in the wheel. (the brakes rotors and pads vibrate at a frequency the wheel magnifies). I have always riden and wrenched on old bikes and I can resolve noisy brakes but I put my $20k into a new bike so I would't have to constantly wrench on it. I was not pleased with the foam solution. It sounded like a band aid to **** poor R&D. (Did the factory not ride a mile or two on these wheels? Mine started to squeel on the day a bought it.) I did some research about the expandable foam Great Stuff made by Dow Chemicals. It is intended for use in buildings to fill in cracks and holes such as plumbing thru a floor. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR AUTOMOTIVE/MOTORCYCLE USE!!!. Before the foam has cured it is corrosive and the foam cannot cure unless exposed to oxygen. So the foam inside the wheel does not ever cure only the outermost inch and the rest is in there corroding the wheel. (you worry abut such things when working with parts 20-30 years old) The second issue is that the foam is not intended to be subjected to heat in excess of 200 degrees. (hey, have you ever touched a brake rotor after a ride, not a good idea, instant seered skin). If the cured foam is exposed to 240+ it will melt and the heat may force it out onto the rotor. Normal day to day riding most likely would not cause heat over 200 degrees at the hub, but when your coming down that mountain and the brakes are hot the last thing you need is some goo oozing out onto the rotors. This is where and annoyance becomes a safety issue. The tech I spoke with at Dow Chemicals was appauled that HD was using there product in this manor. When I spoke with the tech at my dealer he said it was the factories solution to the problem and referred me to HD customer Service. I called the factory and they insisted they have used this fix for years with no problem and will not authorize any other solution. I intend to hold my ground. I won't "suck it up" and spend more money for rotors, I think the 20k was enough for a motorcycle to operate properly. I would like the wheels replaced with the the spoke option but will settle for the floating rotors. I would have to assume they would insulate the vibration. If enough of us refuse the band aid solution perhapes the factory will offer a solution with sound engineering.

 

I'm with you!!! I have had the same problem since purchase. There needs to be precise corrective action and not band-aids.

 

I now have around 600 miles on the Z-pads without a sound, hopefully this has fixed the problem.

 

take the pads out and clean them. Bevel the lead edge of the pad, 45 degrees with some sand paper and block. Use a high temp silicon lube on the backing plate contact area with the caliper pistons. This should eliminate the squeal.

 

First off I would like to thank Paul Jr. at Lyndall Racing because it was due to his efforts that I was able to solve my problem. In fact, initially, Paul made suggestions that did not include products that he sold in an effort to resolve my problem.

There are two types of noises that people typically complain about when it comes to brakes.

1. Whoosh or scraping noise when brakes are not applied.

This noise is a result of the brake pad making incidental contact with the rotor while the wheel is rotating. Many times the customer may complain of a noise that sounds like the rotor is warped and only striking the pad intermittently.

This is a result of the metallic composite material of the brake pad and is most prevalent in HD OEM (Factory) brakes.

Aftermarket suppliers such as Lyndall and EBC have various pads that reduce and or eliminate this condition altogether. My recommendation is Lyndall “Gold” or “Z” type pads. The “Gold” pads have a burnishing procedure that transfers brake pad properties over to the rotor thus reducing noise from different metals.

2. Harmonic noise, squeak or squeal when brakes are applied.

The noise that I had on my application was more a howl then a squeal. The noise began under normal braking conditions at approximately 30 mph and continued until I came to a complete stop. It was only coming from the front end and I could not isolate it to one side or the other.

Here is something to consider when diagnosing brake noises:

o Remember all brakes create sound waves whether they are applied or not. It is the frequency of the sound wave that changes. Unfortunately our bike has a rotor/wheel combination that amplifies the frequency to a level that the human ear can detect.

OK, now having said that, the frequency/range of this noise is so wide that the only "one size fits all" remedy is to install floating rotors. The rotors ride on pins that dampen the noise (reduce the frequency) to a level that the human ear cannot detect.

Assuming that the “one size fits all” remedy of floating rotors is not in your price range I have listed a set of options to select from:


1. Clean Caliper / Piston bore and shave pads. $ 0
2. Swapping rotors from side to side. $ 4.00
3. Installing EBC brake shims in both front calipers. $ 10.00
4. Clean Caliper / Piston bore and install pads. $ 50.00

Note:

Before removing the calipers I protected the front fender from paint damage as a result of the caliper striking the fender inadvertently. I used masking tape along the back of the fender where the caliper would hang when removed.

1. Clean Caliper / Piston bore and shave pads.

Right side:

o Make sure that the rotor was in good condition including thickness and lateral run-out.

o Remove the bolts that retained the caliper and separated it from the rotor assembly. Clean the rotor with brake cleaner and steel wool paying close attention to any unusual marks or abrasions on the rotor surface.

o This next step assumes that the pads are still at an acceptable thickness. If not, replace both pad sets for each rotor.

o With the caliper removed and the pads still in the caliper, actuate the front brake lever until the pads are pressed together. Remove the pads and clean the outside of each piston, removing any debris that might have collected on the piston or caliper. Then push each piston back into the bore until they were flush with the caliper surface.

o With a file, shave the leading edge of each pad such that the right angle on the pad is no longer at a 90-degree angle but resembles more of a 45-degree angle.

o Reinsert pads into caliper and reinstalled the caliper assembly to the forks.

o Made sure that all bolts for both sides were tightened to manufacturer specifications.

o Actuate the front brake lever until solid and then check the brake fluid level.

o