All,


I was riding earlier this afternoon and came up to a stoplight and noticed that my rear brake had no pressure. I pulled off into a nearby parking lot and noticed that the rear rotor had become significantly blued and was piping hot. The brake pads seems to be locked into a position closer to the rotor but were not longer making contact so I was able to ride it home with just the front brake working. I haven't been able to appreciate any leaking brake fluid and the bike is essentially brand-new with only 500 miles on it. I did buy used from a guy who let it sit around for a year and a half. It is still under warranty but I was wondering if it's worthwhile to try to bleed the brakes/replace brake fluid myself versus just bringing the bike to the local Harley dealership for them to deal with it. Also, the rear rotor is blued now and I wonder if they would replace it assuming it's just a cosmetic thing and not physically damaged.

 

Sounds like the brakes locked and the rotor burned.

Caliper could have froze. Or master cylinder has a block in it.

If it were me....I'd replace the rotor and pads. New fluid. Check the caliper and master cylinder and rebuild if necessary.

 

So since it's under warranty just take it to the dealer and let them handle it? The burned rotor makes it seem like the brakes locked but I didn't noticed any changes in my wheel. Weird ...

 

See if they will cover it under warranty.

Be stern. Brakes are a safety issue.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll take it in.

 

Last summer I had an Indy shop do my tires. They screwed up my rear brakes and let me leave the shop on poor working brakes. I took it back and made them fix it at their cost. After some arguing and negotiations they replaced the pads, fluid....rebuilt the MC and the caliper. They also wanted to put cheap pads on but I refused them and made them use OEM.