Front Brake Question

LateBloomer · #1 07-26-2007, 09:33 AM

New member - first posting.Thanks for sucha great site with lots of quality information.

Here is my question: I bought a 2002 Road King (Firefighter edition) earlier this summer and have put about 1500 miles on it since(now 10,500 miles). The front brake lever has to be pulled back more than halfway before getting any sense of resistance and braking; for effective braking at normal speeds the lever is pulled to within an inch of the hand grip. I replaced the brake fluid with DOT 5 and thoroughly bled both left and right sides - no sponginess, but still the lever has a lot of travel before the brakes engage. I looked at the brake pads and they appear to have about an eighth of an inch of pad remaining but I haven't taken them out of the calipers to verify that. The brakes have good stopping power with a little bit of squeal just before the bike stops. I'm just concerned that there is so much brake lever travel before the brakes engage, and could this pose a risk of brake failure in the near future.

My next step would be to replace the pads on both sides but thought I'd ask the members here for advice beforehand. Any comments / suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

sleepneagle · #2 07-26-2007, 09:44 AM

I think you need pads. be sure to check master fluid level first. you may need to use a turkey baster to remove fluid before backing the pistons into the calipers. I use carpenter shims used in hanging doors and windows to move the pads away from the rotor.

R_Einan · #3 07-26-2007, 11:23 AM

I recently replaced the a bleeder valve in my HHI rear caliper that I stupidly rounded off while bleeding the brakes (yeah, I know - I should have been more cautious...). I decided to give the russell speed bleeders a try since I had heard some good things about them and had no personal expersience with them. GREAT product! Absolutely no issues as of yet and made a sometimes irritating job much more bearable. I would definately recommend them to anyone with brake bleeding issues.

RE

wesd41 · #4 07-26-2007, 11:29 AM

New brake lines as well. A set of braided lines will take a lot of that travel out of your lever because they don't expand under pressurelike the stock rubber lines do.

Also, thoroughly clean the caliper pistons before forcing them back into their bores (you'll need to remove the calipers from the forks to do this properly), and consider a set of aftermarket pads instead of the stock HD pads. There's a lot of threads on this site concerning which pads are best, and the Lyndall pads get a lot of votes.

DeJavu · #5 07-26-2007, 11:32 AM

Just a long shot, jack the bike up so that the front wheel is off the ground. Spin the tire and check the runout of the disks. It's possible that a wobbling of the disk is pushing the pads out leaving a gap that requires the lever travel you describe to make up the difference. Also check the adjustment at the lever, most units have a screw the will allow adjusting the initial travel before the piston is moved, Good Luck

Harleypingman · #6 07-26-2007, 01:42 PM

Latebloomer: wesd41 has probably got your solution and it is dirty pistons in the calipers. I went through this recently--new pads, bled the system (no air bubbles), stainless brake lines--and still had a lot of travel in the front brake lever.

The tech at my dealer solved the problem by simply removing the calipers from the fork and rotor; holding one pad from extending while the other extended and exposed the two pistons on that side; cleaning the pistons with brake cleaning fluid; then pushing the cleaned pistons back in their bores; pumping the brake lever to expose the uncleaned side while holding in the cleaned side; cleaning the exposed pistons; reinstalling the caliper and doing the other side.

Cleaning the pistons was like a miracle, literally, in transforming a brake lever with a lot of travel to one with almost zero travel.

Lyndal's website describes this procedure with pics:

http://www.lyndallracingbrakes.com/service_tech.htm

LateBloomer · #7 07-26-2007, 02:07 PM

Wesd41 and Harleypingman,

Thanks for the recommendation. After posting this morning, I ran several searches on the forum and found your earler post about soft brake pull. Cleaning the pistons as you describe sounds like the right fix for this problem. It makes sense with the symptoms I'm seeing. Can't wait to get out of work today to try it. Will post back the results.

Thanks to all for the tips

1FLTRI4ME · #8 07-27-2007, 08:10 AM

How much free play is in the lever,is it in spec? Is there an adjustment?

LateBloomer · #9 07-27-2007, 08:35 AM

Good News!

I removed the calipers and cleaned the pistons, pads, etc. with brake cleaner as suggested by Harleypingman and others. Pressed the pads to one side, then the other to fully expose the pistons for thorough cleaning.Plenty of caked dust to flush out. Reattached the calipers to the fork and pumped up the brake.What a huge improvement! Front brake now begins to engage with just a small amount of lever travel.

It was indeed miraculous - and only cost $3 for a can of brake cleaner.

Thanks to all for the great advice.

DeJavu · #10 07-27-2007, 08:44 AM

Never had multi piston calipers, haven't had that kind of problem with the single pistons on '80 FLT or the chopper. Always appreciate a new tech idea, good one Wesd41/Harleypingman.[sm=smiley20.gif]