Front caliper seize
Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 108
Likes: 1
From: Poplarville, MS
Friend of mine just went down from front wheel lockup. It can be very dangerous.
Bike is damaged and so is rider. Some research shows that all the things mentioned are possible.....one other thing...some custom master cyl and lever assemblies do not release all the way. Trapping a little pressure and causing brakes to ride...when they heat up they can grab. His bike had Harley custom front master cyl...he says there was no slack or slop in the front brake lever at all....on my '04 softail with stock front master cyl and lever, I have a bit of wiggle or slop in my lever. I'm glad of it , cuz it means the piston is all the way back and the lever is not holding it forward.
Harley is fixing his '08 Custom softail now. Don't know if they are gonna look for the problem or not. Do know they are replacing the entire front brake system. Be nice if they would pinpoint and tell us what went wrong. Also found out he ain't the first guy that went down and got hurt from front brake lockup on a Harley.
Good luck with it.
Pete/MS
Bike is damaged and so is rider. Some research shows that all the things mentioned are possible.....one other thing...some custom master cyl and lever assemblies do not release all the way. Trapping a little pressure and causing brakes to ride...when they heat up they can grab. His bike had Harley custom front master cyl...he says there was no slack or slop in the front brake lever at all....on my '04 softail with stock front master cyl and lever, I have a bit of wiggle or slop in my lever. I'm glad of it , cuz it means the piston is all the way back and the lever is not holding it forward.
Harley is fixing his '08 Custom softail now. Don't know if they are gonna look for the problem or not. Do know they are replacing the entire front brake system. Be nice if they would pinpoint and tell us what went wrong. Also found out he ain't the first guy that went down and got hurt from front brake lockup on a Harley.
Good luck with it.
Pete/MS
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 983
Likes: 4
From: Fredericksburg, Va
Alright here is the update: While I was waiting for a new brake line a buddy of mine had sold me two calipers (front and rear) for $50.! What a great time too..so I replaced the caliper, still got brake heating lockup. Received new brake line...and tried to bleed my brakes for 2 days..no luck, so went (brakeless) to my buddy's shop and attached one of those compressor pumps that suck the fluid through...did a manual check and no bubbles, but there was no pressure being applied by the M/C. So now I have a M/C rebuild kit coming ...should be a few more days. If this does not work ...I will get a new M/C if that doesnt work - I dont know what to do.
Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 983
Likes: 4
From: Fredericksburg, Va
Update- Rebuilt M/C...no luck, bought new M/C and it is still overcompressing. So far I have a caliper with a few thousand miles on it (still the original factory pads), new brake line and new M/C. I re-torqued the front wheel along with all of the caliper mounting bolts and the lower caliper bolt and brake pin. Any other ideas? This is throwing everyone I know for a loop...I basically just put on all three major components.
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,396
Likes: 146
From:
Update- Rebuilt M/C...no luck, bought new M/C and it is still overcompressing. So far I have a caliper with a few thousand miles on it (still the original factory pads), new brake line and new M/C. I re-torqued the front wheel along with all of the caliper mounting bolts and the lower caliper bolt and brake pin. Any other ideas? This is throwing everyone I know for a loop...I basically just put on all three major components.
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,049
Likes: 5
From: Emerald Coast, FL
Alright here is the update: While I was waiting for a new brake line a buddy of mine had sold me two calipers (front and rear) for $50.! What a great time too..so I replaced the caliper, still got brake heating lockup. Received new brake line...and tried to bleed my brakes for 2 days..no luck, so went (brakeless) to my buddy's shop and attached one of those compressor pumps that suck the fluid through...did a manual check and no bubbles, but there was no pressure being applied by the M/C. So now I have a M/C rebuild kit coming ...should be a few more days. If this does not work ...I will get a new M/C if that doesnt work - I dont know what to do.
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,396
Likes: 146
From:
Some guys shouldn't own computers either. I offered a suggestion about the rotor, since I'd seen this same problem before. The OP chose to explore other possibilities. That's where you chimed in. That doesn't mean he's incopmpetent. Anybody who hasn't run into a baffleing problem either hasn't ridden long or doesn't turn wrenches at all! If it turns out to be the rotor causing the problem, does that mean you shouldn't own wrenches?
Former Sponsor
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 19,364
Likes: 40
From: Los Angeles, CA
The only time I ever had a seized caliper it was a hairline crack in the master cylinder.
Drew
Drew
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Road Master
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,049
Likes: 5
From: Emerald Coast, FL
Some guys shouldn't own computers either. I offered a suggestion about the rotor, since I'd seen this same problem before. The OP chose to explore other possibilities. That's where you chimed in. That doesn't mean he's incopmpetent. Anybody who hasn't run into a baffleing problem either hasn't ridden long or doesn't turn wrenches at all! If it turns out to be the rotor causing the problem, does that mean you shouldn't own wrenches?