If your bike has brake pad pins from HD like mine (they use a 1/4" 12 point socket to remove them) get them out of your caliper before they get too hard to remove. My dealer, unbenknownst to me, knocked the corners off of mine. Now I am having to easy out them which believe me will be no fun.

The chrome hardware kits for the calipers come with new pins with much more substantial grip via larger torx bit heads. Get 'em... install 'em. Maybe HD fixed this in later years, but boy do they suck if they didn't. Trust me... you will be glad you did. Even a careful mechanic can easily screw them up becasue they get siezed in place and the metal is soft... and you won't be able to get vise grips on the rear caliper pins, either.

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AND... if you get a set of brake pads from HD make sure that the tangs are EXACTLY the same as yours or you will wear yourself out trying to get the pins back in. You may have to grind the tangs to match your existing ones (as I did). Harley doesn't tell you that their 'universal' brake pads need this kind of adjustment.

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I've replaced my brakes front & back with Lyndall Z Pads, i had no problem with the pins easy out easy in... Are they defective? or were they not lubed before they were put in?

 

there are 2 kinds of pads that harley uses and the dealer did not know that. the tangs are not the same. I ran into the same issue and the dealer did too. Lyndall does list 2 different pads for front and back. I have a picture with the 4 pads and the part numbers and can email you it if you give me your email address.

 

Sounds to me like yoiu are talking about the caliper mounting bolts. Just make sure you ahve a 10mm 12 point socket for them. That's what mine has. As far as the pins that hold the pads I have the PM calipers and have had no problem. Make sure you know what you are doing when working on your bike and all will be well...

 

I'm not sure what the "universal" pad is (?). The HD catalog shows four distinct designs of original equipment brake pads, and is quite specific as to which part # fits which models. For my FLSTN, service manual notes that "front and rear calipers use the same exact brake pad set", and the catalog lists one style for front/rear -- that's what I recently bought and installed and had no problems with pin alignment.

 

My pad pins are 9 years old and been in and out several times. The heads are still great. Using a quality socket to take them out makes a difference. An el cheapo, worn or damaged socket will bum them up quickly.

 

enough with the grinding
http://www.lyndallracingbrakes.com/a...ide-harley.htm

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll pull mine In the morning, lube em' and put em' back in. Better safe, than sorry.

 

sounds like the pins were already messed up and he is just paying the price for that screw up, plus the wrong pads or cheap pads. Working in the auto business for the last 30+ years I have seen the same many times, you save nothing with cheap parts