I jokingly tell people that I have rear antilock brakes on my '09 Low Rider, mainly because I don't think I could lock them up if I stood on the pedal. The front works better, but not what I'd call great.

Is this common? Should it take that much pressure to feel like my brakes are doing anything?

 

Harley brakes basically suck. When I picked up my Bob I actually brought it back cuz I thought the rear brake was faulty........nope; thats how they build em apparently - LOL

Lots you can do to improve them though....better pads; upgraded rotors and calipers - its expensive but prolly worth it in the long run. I know quite a few guys that have put PM calipers and rotors on theirs and seem pretty happy.

 

Mine sucked bad before I changed wheels. Since I went with the SE wheels and floating rotors front and rear they just suck now.

 

Harley safety measure. You have to be plum moronic to tailgate with these brakes. So, Harley riders don't tailgate like the crotch rocket folks(other than the plum morons). Safety first LOL.

This is a joke... not calling anyone a moron.

 

I just got my Wide and thought the breaks were great compared to my '92 Virago. I have also noticed that the rear is almost worthless but the front seems pretty good. Do they make better pads or do you have to redo the calipers and everything to get the increased stopping power?

 

ive got floating rotors and used ebc hh sintered pads. they work fairly well. upgrade to braided lines, front and rear. night and day difference..

 

Ill look into braided lines. I did change to Lyndal Gold pads. Less dust but no really noticeable improvement in stopping.

 

My rear brake locks up in a heart beat if you hit it hard. It's OK though, I then use the front brake to stop quick.

 

Braded lines, EBC pads and forwards with built in master cylinder helped my braking. It's still not great, but it's better.

 

While on the subject of brakes - for those of you who've put on forward controls - maybe check the rear brake rod where it connects to the brake pedal once in awhile to be sure it's fastened down properly still...kinda sucks riding on the freeway and feeling a piece of metal flop onto your right toe, look down, and see your brake pedal just danglin in the breeze & the rod scraping into pavement...was praying it didn't "catch" and cause me to wipeout...was able to tie wrap it up to the frame till I got home. Not I gotta find a good nut & bolt combination to secure it back together - and of course, loctite (previous owner put the fwd controls on) and put a little black tough up on the parts the scraped on the pavement for a half mile or so...