After reading the boards and seeing this issue pop up several times, I thought I would post what I found out and how I fixed my problem. Hope this will help a newbie.
I have a 03 Road King Classic, bought the bike with 3000 miles on it. My other scoot was a 83 FXRS Shovel. Quite a change for me. Ever since buying the bike I noticed a constant scraping sound coming from the front brakes. This is a VERY common problem, possibly attributed to the design of the rotors in regards to their ability to keep dust away from the pistons inside the caliper. There was no discoloration of the rotors or what seemed to be excessive wear. I inquired about this sound and was told from 2 different HD guys that it was OK. Im very attentive to detail and probably would be considered obsessive about this kind of thing.I onlylike noises coming from my pipes and my ole lady!
After reading this forum and checking out Lyndall Racing Brakes website, I ordered up their 18000 mile Z-Pads and followed their cleaning procedure. (link>>>
http://www.lyndallracingbrakes.com/service_tech.htm
This procedure is simple enough that most can perform it. On my Road King, I either had to take the fender off or loosen the rotors to allow the calipers clearance to be removed. I chose to loosen the rotors. I suppose one would be able to retain their stock pads and just follow the cleaning procedure if you were very careful. I had chosen to install the lyndall brakes so I sacrificed my old pads and used a small prybar (flathead) to spread the pads after working them. The pistons on the back sides seemed to be the ones that were not functioning very well, but they loosened up after working with them.
After reinstalling them with new pads, It was time for a test ride. I was AMAZED at how much better the front brakes functioned. The stopping power was improved many times over and they were quiet!!! The lever was much more solid. It was very spongey before.
Since I now have an ear for the scraping sound of the front brakes on the rotors, I have noticed this on many bikes. I have a friend with a 06 Heritage with less than 1000 miles on it and it is already doing it. I hope Harley redesigns their rotors so this is not a problem.
Hope this helps anyone with the same problem. You can remedy the sound but more importantly, improve your stopping power which in turn improves your ability to stop when you need to.
I have a 03 Road King Classic, bought the bike with 3000 miles on it. My other scoot was a 83 FXRS Shovel. Quite a change for me. Ever since buying the bike I noticed a constant scraping sound coming from the front brakes. This is a VERY common problem, possibly attributed to the design of the rotors in regards to their ability to keep dust away from the pistons inside the caliper. There was no discoloration of the rotors or what seemed to be excessive wear. I inquired about this sound and was told from 2 different HD guys that it was OK. Im very attentive to detail and probably would be considered obsessive about this kind of thing.I onlylike noises coming from my pipes and my ole lady!
After reading this forum and checking out Lyndall Racing Brakes website, I ordered up their 18000 mile Z-Pads and followed their cleaning procedure. (link>>>
http://www.lyndallracingbrakes.com/service_tech.htmThis procedure is simple enough that most can perform it. On my Road King, I either had to take the fender off or loosen the rotors to allow the calipers clearance to be removed. I chose to loosen the rotors. I suppose one would be able to retain their stock pads and just follow the cleaning procedure if you were very careful. I had chosen to install the lyndall brakes so I sacrificed my old pads and used a small prybar (flathead) to spread the pads after working them. The pistons on the back sides seemed to be the ones that were not functioning very well, but they loosened up after working with them.
After reinstalling them with new pads, It was time for a test ride. I was AMAZED at how much better the front brakes functioned. The stopping power was improved many times over and they were quiet!!! The lever was much more solid. It was very spongey before.
Since I now have an ear for the scraping sound of the front brakes on the rotors, I have noticed this on many bikes. I have a friend with a 06 Heritage with less than 1000 miles on it and it is already doing it. I hope Harley redesigns their rotors so this is not a problem.
Hope this helps anyone with the same problem. You can remedy the sound but more importantly, improve your stopping power which in turn improves your ability to stop when you need to.
