How much should the front wheel spin freely on a 93 FLHS? Mine seems to drag quite a bit. I know the pads don't retract fully, but there is no residual brake pressure on them.

The calipers were rebuilt a couple of years ago over the winter: New guts, etc. Along with rebuilding the master cylinder.

Wondering if it's time to R&R the front wheel to inspect bearings/etc.? Wheel bearings were repacked in 2016 before the riding season (not by me), when I had new tires installed.

Bike on lift, trying to spin front wheel, only turns maybe 1/4 rotation. Should be a bit freer than that?

Seems to be a yearly problem, as the bike sits from October-March/April (heated garage).

Thoughts?

 

Was the wheel off recently? If so, it may take a few miles (10?, 20?) for the floating calipers to find their happy place.

 

Last time was winter 2015-2016 when I had the tires replaced. Probably 2200-2500 miles put on the bike last year. I did remove the caliper pins yesterday, and re-grease them. Torqued them back to spec.

 

Go for a ride and re-check, but on your way home, only use the rear brake.

As long as your disks are flat and true, they should settle in.

During braking operation, the piston/pads really don't "move" much at all. They rest, ever so lightly, against the disks all the time. A little light drag is inevitable. When you think about the mechanism, there isn't anything there to pull them back.

When you are going down the road, minor variations in the disks (nothing is perfectly flat or true) will ease the pads away a bit.

 

I'm really concerned about the 'free' spinning of the front wheel. I know there is going to be some brake drag, but it almost feels like the bearings are too tight.

Does your's spin a full rotation when on a jack? Mine doesn't. Doesn't make any strange noise, other than brake pads rubbing.

I'll take it for another putt around the subdivision later today when it gets a bit warmer.

 

You can usually hear if the brake pads are dragging.
You can always take pads, off or take a thin, soft piece of plastic & push pads out of the way so there's no doubt.
But yeah, you should be able to spin tire, numerous revaluations before it comes to stop.
If not, you have issues.

 

If you're worried about the bearings, pull the calipers and give it a spin. I was just in there on mine, and it spins pretty damned free (and quiet) with the calipers off.

The way you just removed and replaced the caliper bolts is going to nudge them a bit, and I'm not surprised it's dragging. I ecpect a short ride will clear this up.

 

I'll give that a try later this afternoon. I've got two different sets of contractors in my back yard repairing wind damage from a couple of weeks ago.

Ya know, if ya don't keep an eye on them....

 

It's also time to replace your brake fluid, so bleeding them may sharpen things up. By all means try the quick trip round the block first, to bed things in.

 

Well, since the electrical contractor couldn't come out today due to rain. And I already wasted a day of leave....

I pulled the calipers off both sides. The wheel spins free without noise, etc.

Cleaned up both the brakes. They had a bit of brake crud on them, so I douched everything good with brake cleaner. Scrubbed off mostly all of the gunk, greased the pins, and slapped it back together.

Now for a break in the rain to go for a short putt to see if that is the cure...