Ok, so only been riding a year now. I just installed new handgrips on my 08 FLSTN. After getting everything hooked up and put back together I attempted to squeeze my front break which turned out to be extremely stiff and hard to pull.

What did I do wrong?

I will tell you.. I skipped the Air Filter removal crap recommended in the Maintence Manual.

Any ideas?

The breaks are not locked and respond but respond drastically when the break is squeezed.

Thanks

 

don't see how installing new handgrips would have any impact on your front brake...I just changed some on my "09 deluxe and didn't have to do anything to the brakes

 

? not sure what you did? do they work when you pull them? rather have them that way than sloppy!

 

If you changed the throttle grip you had to take the switch housing off to do it.
I'm just guessing but the odds are that you accidentally forgot to push in on the brake light switch actuator pin before you screwed everything back together.
Now the pin is jammed between the lever and the housing causing the lever to bind.
Just for grins turn the main switch to IGN position and try to pull the lever, bet the brake light doesn't come on like its supposed to.
If it hasn't been bent all out of shape it should be easy to fix by loosening the screws on the switch housing and use a thin screwdriver or something to push the pin back before screwing the housing back together.
Just remember if you can't hold the housing very nearly completely together by hand, something is wrong. Never force it together more than about 1/8" by using the screws.
Its way too easy to bend or break things in there that way.

Good Luck and let us know what you find.

 

Welcome! And I would do what Citoriplus recommends.

 

Ok turned the bike to IGN and the break light stayed on. The handle has no pressure on it forcing the break light switch back in. One thing I noticed while reading over the Service Manual. I did not insert a piece of cardboard between the break lever and lever bracket.... Also, the master cylinder did "hang" for a few minutes (just because I'm a jackass) Could air have gotten into the tubes from the cylinder hanging "upside down"? I'm hoping it is something that simple and I did not manage to bend something I shouldn't have

Thanks for everyone's help and advice...

 

air would make it spongy. Ditto on Citoriplus.

 

i had a similar problem but did not even do any work on the bike, turned out to be air in the brake lines, easy thing to fix if you have that can with the 2 tubes to connect to the brakes and get the air out. watched someone do it to my bike, took about 5 minutes if patience to get all the air out. good luck

 

++++1

 

Old post, yes. But, thanks for this. I put new grips and levers on my 2013 Street Glide and fought with the front brake lever. Read your post and found that pin pinched between the lever and the switch housing. Very little on the inter-web on that exact symptom. Appreciate it man!

Cheers.

Snerb