When I bought my bike from HD the front brakes were pitiful....they wouldn't grab until squeezing the lever past half way. I could easily pull the lever all the way to the stop and never lock the front tire. Anyways, after reading the forum I saw a post about how dirty pistons were retracting back into the calipers. That is exactly what I had after closely watching my brakes. So I removed the caliper, squeezed the pads together after a lot of pumping and cleaned off the pistons with brake cleaner. Put it all back together, bleed the brakes, top off fluid and now my brakes seem very sensitive. I can easily push my bike around while in neutral,. But now I can just barley pull the lever and the bike will come to a quick stop.

Normal? ...my service manual doesn't say anything about this.

 

Ever ride a sportbike?

I can hard stop my FZ6 to the point the tail almost lifts with just two fingers.

IMHO, its how motorcycle brakes should be... you should be able to perform most stops with a single finger.

Make sure that they aren't dragging though, put the bike up on a jack and verify that you can freely rotate the front wheel. If so, you are all good.

 

No, never been on a sport bike. I have a jack, so I'll check to see if they are dragging. If they are what can I do about it?

 

If they are dragging it would probably be from dirty pistons (which you just cleaned so I doubt that is it), or from something impeding the movement of the pads.

When I do brakes, I remove the pads, clean the pistons as you did, and take a soft brass bristled brush to the inside of the caliper (NOT to the pistons or the seals!!!) where the end of the pad has to move freely back and forth. I get any built up grime and brake dust out of there before I re-assemble.

I'm betting that you just aren't used to having strong, responsive brakes and this is just an adjustment for you.

If they aren't dragging, go enjoy your properly functioning brakes! (Another sign they are dragging would be if you are cruising on the highway and they are really hot or you smell burning metal. You can do this test by cruising at 50mph for a while on a country back road, and then use your rear brake ONLY to stop. Get off your bike and carefully put your finger on the front caliper housing...if its CRAZY hot, your brakes are probably dragging.)

I can't wait to get mine working right, the front is all squishy on my Iron 883. I have a braided front line being shipped to me now, and I'll clean the pistons when I install the new line and bleed the system.

 

Got it, thanks!

 

Flushing the system is likely what improved your brakes. The feed port (a pin-hole) can get clogged and prevent proper fluid transfer to the master piston. When you release the lever, it will suck back the caliper pistons instead. If the relief port gets clogged, then your brakes can drag or even lock(!) causing serious injury or death (!!)

Flushing the system is good. Rebuilding the master cylinder is better.
I don't know about '03s, but the service interval for '04s and newer is 4 years I believe.

 

So I put my bike up on a stand today and it seams the front brakes are dragging a bit....but I am not sure how much drag is too much

The wheel will not spin freely, even with a little push,however, I can easily rotate it myself with just a bit of pressure. Should the wheel be able to spin on its own for a few rotations?? ...I'm trying to get a feel if my brakes really are dragging or not.

 

All disc brake pads keep a little pressure on the rotor to keep water and other stuff from forming a film that would require time to scrub off.

 

Mike,

It sounds as if you have done all the right things. If you were to drive a new bike or car you will find the brakes seem very sensitive and all you have done is to restore yours to what they should be. It won't take long to get used to them!

As for the drag, just check the pads are not hanging on say built-up brake dust in the caliper.

 

Installed new bars this weekend and had to replace the front brake line. After refilling the MC and line with new fluid and bleeding everything, the brakes improved immensely.