Hi all, Ive a 1992 FXDC around 55,000 miles on her. Working great, fairly stock. I have a very annoying rattle coming from the brake pads - the PO put twin brakes on front with a wide glide conversion. I know its there but cant work out how to stop it rattling, everything seems to be where it should be and there is enough pad left.
Any ideas please?
Thanks

 

Anti rattle clips are missing, go to Ronnies Harley for a breakdown to view the diagram, it is #16.

http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche....PER%20ASSEMBLY

 

Thanks 1997Bagger, Im pretty sure I had those but I will have another check on both brakes.

 

Hi guys, 1997Bagger, I checked both brakes and they have the anti rattle clips (thanks for finding them on Parts Finder by the way!), I bent them alittle to see if they had lost their "spring" and ill take it out for a ride in a while and see how it goes. If its still there I guess I might need to buy new springs as I cans see anything else wrong. Will let you know how it goes this pm.

 

You may have already done this but the guide pins can rattle some.
Especially if they are dry. A good coating of brake grease would be in order.

WP

 

Floating rotors can also rattle if you have them.

 

Hi guys, went out for a drive after flexing the clips but she was still rattling.

From what i can tell the brake pad under the clip is "loose" and simply held there by the clip, so it must be permanently if lightly rubbing the brake disk? I think the brake disks may be slightly warped or damaged and may be causing it to rattle...would this make sense?

l'll have a look at the other suggestions also. Thanks.

 

By all means check all options, however my experience of springs, especially flimsy ones, is that they can change shape or lose springyness. It is worth getting new ones, simply to eliminate those possibilities.

 

At this point I'd recommend completely disassembling the brake calipers.
There's not all that many parts and something must be loose to cause the rattling.

On second thought get a rubber mallet and tap on the calipers to see if you can confirm the calipers are the source of the rattle before you start disassembly.

 

Thanks guys. I have knocked the outside of the calipers with the bike turned off and that is definitely where the sound is coming from, just a loose rattle...also when i squeeze the brakes the rattle stops. I took them off to check the "anti-rattle clips" and to be honest the pad that fits under the clip was pretty loose (having ridden many other bikes this pad set up seems a little "basic").
I will add that when i squeeze the brakes lightly I do get a kind of wobble feeling in the brake lever as if the brake disk is not 100% straight. Don't know how old the disks are but they look ok for wear but perhaps they are a little warped and that makes the pad rattle?

I'll have a look around again this weekend. Unfortunately getting some new clips as Sir Graham mentions may take a while out here.

Would putting copper grease on the back of the pad help do you think...i do that on my Suzuki Bandit to stop it squealing?

Will keep updating. (for those who know my history i'm still just damn happy that i stopped her leaking after 4 months by simply tightening the tappet guide bolts thanks to your input!)