Went on the CT Dream Ride today with my 06 streetbob. Generally whenever using the front brakes, I get a small buzzing sound when the handle is pulled in and the calipers squeeze...but today it seems to have gotten very pronounced..any clues? Normal for dynas? Brakes seem to be working fine...

 

There will be some noise because the disc is a floating rotor and moves a little.

 

Normal for Harleys for at least 7 years now.

 

Mine does it sometimes as well .......I don't know. I do know it did always do it ......go figure.

 

check for anything loose but almost certainly the floating rotor ... mine seems to change in volume depending on weather/dust

 

slight segway here (mine does it to btw, just never thought much about it) - what exactly defines a "floating rotor" Vs a regular rotor? And is this something that has changed on Dyna's recently? How would I know I have a floating rotor? (mine is a 2005 WG)

 

The sound you hear also is the air going between the holes in the rotor as well.

As for the floating rotor/disc take a close look at how your rotor is attached. You will notice what looks like a steel rivet between the disk and the and the attachment point to the axle. These are seperated (two-piece) and allow for thermal expansion as your rotor heats up. Sometimes, with thermal expansion, the rotor will "grow" and can change the normal noise you hear. This helps with warping. A non-floating rotor is one piece, aka, your rear rotor. It has slots, pretty ingenious, which allows for rotor expansion.

 

once heard it was the sharp edges on the pads hitting the ventilation holes cast into the rotor. heard mine a few times on fast down hills in sturgis area coming up on slower baggers. slight pressure on occasion and the buzzing went away. haven't heard it since returning to home turf.

 

thrill -
you got a fixed rotor.
a floating rotor is not hard mounted to the wheel, but it has some "standoff" points that let it move around slightly
probably changed in 2006.