Hot Dual brake disk
Hot Dual brake disk
I have an '06 1200 Roadster with dual front brakes. After I ride 30-40 miles I seem to get a slight drag on my left brake disk. When I stop and touch them to check the heat, the left disk tends to be too hot to touch but the right one will just be warm. The brakes were just rebuilt by Harley dealer and I wonder if one of the brake pads are out of adjustment or is this normal due to uneven wear.
Bob
Bob
Thanks for quick response. Where should I go to get brakes repaired?
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,846
Likes: 173
From: Simi Valley, CA
What do you mean by the brakes were just rebuilt? Did they rebuild/replace the calipers? Or simply replace the pads?
Also, there is no adjustment that you mention so that is definitely not the case.
As long as there is no mechanical interference from a mislocated caliper or rotor (highly unlikely), the problem is a piston(s) sticking in the caliper.
If all they did was replaced the pads then it's hard to place the blame upon them. Unless the piston was frozen you'd be hard pressed to identify any problem by simply replacing pads. In this case you would be responsible for getting the additional caliper work performed.
If they rebuilt or replaced the calipers and now you have this problem, then by all means they should be responsible to correct it.
Also, there is no adjustment that you mention so that is definitely not the case.
As long as there is no mechanical interference from a mislocated caliper or rotor (highly unlikely), the problem is a piston(s) sticking in the caliper.
If all they did was replaced the pads then it's hard to place the blame upon them. Unless the piston was frozen you'd be hard pressed to identify any problem by simply replacing pads. In this case you would be responsible for getting the additional caliper work performed.
If they rebuilt or replaced the calipers and now you have this problem, then by all means they should be responsible to correct it.
Brakes
Well...the whole story is that I had added DOT 3 brake fluid into a DOT 5 system (my novice mistake). After about 2 months, The calipers were starting to stick as told by my brake handle not returning to home and brake light stuck on since the electrical switch was not made. So, I took it back to the dealer and explained what happened. They did a rebuild of the master cylinder and brake calipers, new rubber brake lines (duals) and flushed out the contaminated brake fluid for a $500 bill. So, the brakes work ok now and the brake light is corrected but left hand brake disk seems to heat up. Maybe that one piston is still stuck.
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From: Grey Duck
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Exactly, what does rebuilt mean?
First off your bike uses DOT 5 brake fluid. DOT 5 has both good and bad qualities which I'm not going to go into, but my car my Jeep and 3 bikes use DOT 5 and I'm not about to change.
Routine maintenance for brakes should include bleeding out the old fluid with new fluid every couple of years.
What does this have to do with brakes dragging and burning up when the ads get changed out you ask???
Before changing old pads if you look in your master cylinder you will notice the fluid is low.
Part of the reason for this is the old pad is thin and the calipers pistons are extended out farther as a result.
You will also notice the fluid looks dark, from heat, moisture, lots of stuff. Its gunky.
Its common practice for most back yard wrenches to clean the caliper from dust and road debris when doing brake work, good practice indeed! But what about the parts you cant see? Like inside the caliper.
Many people say "if you don't open the break system you don't need to bleed the system"
That's half right in my opinion. If you open the system you do in fact, need to bleed it.
But I also believe that a major reason for a caliper to drag or even lock up is because when you squeeze the piston back into the caliper the dirtiest fluid in the whole system, the fluid that sustains the most temperature change, is the fluid inside the caliper.
It's kind of a pain to do but ever since I started first bleeding my brakes until the clean fluid comes out "before" putting the new pads in I have not had to rebuild or replace any calipers.
Sure it's a pain getting the spongy out of dual disc fronts but compared to rebuilding or replacing the calipers (which BTW also needs to be bled) its not so bad, you eventually get pretty good at it.
There ain't no garage that does it this way. That's why the above poster noted that brakes are too important to let some mechanic work on. Do your own if you can.
^
^
Exactly, what does rebuilt mean?
First off your bike uses DOT 5 brake fluid. DOT 5 has both good and bad qualities which I'm not going to go into, but my car my Jeep and 3 bikes use DOT 5 and I'm not about to change.
Routine maintenance for brakes should include bleeding out the old fluid with new fluid every couple of years.
What does this have to do with brakes dragging and burning up when the ads get changed out you ask???
Before changing old pads if you look in your master cylinder you will notice the fluid is low.
Part of the reason for this is the old pad is thin and the calipers pistons are extended out farther as a result.
You will also notice the fluid looks dark, from heat, moisture, lots of stuff. Its gunky.
Its common practice for most back yard wrenches to clean the caliper from dust and road debris when doing brake work, good practice indeed! But what about the parts you cant see? Like inside the caliper.
Many people say "if you don't open the break system you don't need to bleed the system"
That's half right in my opinion. If you open the system you do in fact, need to bleed it.
But I also believe that a major reason for a caliper to drag or even lock up is because when you squeeze the piston back into the caliper the dirtiest fluid in the whole system, the fluid that sustains the most temperature change, is the fluid inside the caliper.
It's kind of a pain to do but ever since I started first bleeding my brakes until the clean fluid comes out "before" putting the new pads in I have not had to rebuild or replace any calipers.
Sure it's a pain getting the spongy out of dual disc fronts but compared to rebuilding or replacing the calipers (which BTW also needs to be bled) its not so bad, you eventually get pretty good at it.
There ain't no garage that does it this way. That's why the above poster noted that brakes are too important to let some mechanic work on. Do your own if you can.
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That's how we learn!
Good info and many thanks from this Harley novice
Thanks Redrub...good information. I have bleed the front brakes before and it is a pain. When Harley did the work (rebuild calipers and flush system), I assume that they checked the piston movement and cleaned it if needed. I will call them and see what they say.
^
^
^
Exactly, what does rebuilt mean?
First off your bike uses DOT 5 brake fluid. DOT 5 has both good and bad qualities which I'm not going to go into, but my car my Jeep and 3 bikes use DOT 5 and I'm not about to change.
Routine maintenance for brakes should include bleeding out the old fluid with new fluid every couple of years.
What does this have to do with brakes dragging and burning up when the ads get changed out you ask???
Before changing old pads if you look in your master cylinder you will notice the fluid is low.
Part of the reason for this is the old pad is thin and the calipers pistons are extended out farther as a result.
You will also notice the fluid looks dark, from heat, moisture, lots of stuff. Its gunky.
Its common practice for most back yard wrenches to clean the caliper from dust and road debris when doing brake work, good practice indeed! But what about the parts you cant see? Like inside the caliper.
Many people say "if you don't open the break system you don't need to bleed the system"
That's half right in my opinion. If you open the system you do in fact, need to bleed it.
But I also believe that a major reason for a caliper to drag or even lock up is because when you squeeze the piston back into the caliper the dirtiest fluid in the whole system, the fluid that sustains the most temperature change, is the fluid inside the caliper.
It's kind of a pain to do but ever since I started first bleeding my brakes until the clean fluid comes out "before" putting the new pads in I have not had to rebuild or replace any calipers.
Sure it's a pain getting the spongy out of dual disc fronts but compared to rebuilding or replacing the calipers (which BTW also needs to be bled) its not so bad, you eventually get pretty good at it.
There ain't no garage that does it this way. That's why the above poster noted that brakes are too important to let some mechanic work on. Do your own if you can.
^
^
Exactly, what does rebuilt mean?
First off your bike uses DOT 5 brake fluid. DOT 5 has both good and bad qualities which I'm not going to go into, but my car my Jeep and 3 bikes use DOT 5 and I'm not about to change.
Routine maintenance for brakes should include bleeding out the old fluid with new fluid every couple of years.
What does this have to do with brakes dragging and burning up when the ads get changed out you ask???
Before changing old pads if you look in your master cylinder you will notice the fluid is low.
Part of the reason for this is the old pad is thin and the calipers pistons are extended out farther as a result.
You will also notice the fluid looks dark, from heat, moisture, lots of stuff. Its gunky.
Its common practice for most back yard wrenches to clean the caliper from dust and road debris when doing brake work, good practice indeed! But what about the parts you cant see? Like inside the caliper.
Many people say "if you don't open the break system you don't need to bleed the system"
That's half right in my opinion. If you open the system you do in fact, need to bleed it.
But I also believe that a major reason for a caliper to drag or even lock up is because when you squeeze the piston back into the caliper the dirtiest fluid in the whole system, the fluid that sustains the most temperature change, is the fluid inside the caliper.
It's kind of a pain to do but ever since I started first bleeding my brakes until the clean fluid comes out "before" putting the new pads in I have not had to rebuild or replace any calipers.
Sure it's a pain getting the spongy out of dual disc fronts but compared to rebuilding or replacing the calipers (which BTW also needs to be bled) its not so bad, you eventually get pretty good at it.
There ain't no garage that does it this way. That's why the above poster noted that brakes are too important to let some mechanic work on. Do your own if you can.