Is this normal for an Ultra?

Dealer says this is okay but to me it seems like excessive drag. I removed calipers, cleaned and pushed piston in a little by hand and the front wheel spun freely for 5 or 6 revolutions. It was noticeably easier to walk the bike around he garage. Couple pulls on the lever and it's back to this. I don't think the pads are returning enough.

 

It's fine a little drag is normal. But what is a little to me maybe excessive to you.

 

I appreciate opinions, especially from others with similar bike. My single-disc softail front wheel spins free as does my son's 1200C. It's obviously not my first bike but it is my first bike with ABS if that is contributing to this.

I should fill in more history. The bike sat for 6 years on a pallet with less than 600 miles on it before I bought it. We did engine, primary and trans fluids, replaced the battery and drove it. First season noticed occasional front wheel chatter and had dealer look at it suspecting I had a bead wheel bearing. They rebuilt master cylinder and said brakes are fine. Hasn't chattered since but I wonder if calipers/rotors took some damage. I had someone suggest replacing caliper quad seals.

 

If you haven't done so, replace the brake fluid and flush the old stuff out - do both brakes! If that doesn't solve it, disconnect the caliper from the forks, remove the pads and clean around the pistons, to ensure they can move freely and retract properly.

 

I haven't done the rears but I did remove both calipers and clean everything and the dealer replaced brake fluid when they rebuilt the master. I'm thinking I may need to rebuild the calipers.

 

Dealer wants to measure run-out and rule out wheel bearing so they asked me to bring in front wheel. We caught a break in the weather so I pulled off the calipers one at a time. The left caliper felt the tightest so I removed it first and the wheel was still dragging on the right. Pulled the right off and the wheel spins perfectly free. Background noise is melting snow dripping off garage. Definitely not a wheel bearing issue.

While at the dealer I felt some brake levers on similar bikes. I have no play in my brake lever whatsoever but other bikes have play before the front brake engages.

I wonder if a temporary "Y" brake line from master directly to calipers will help isolate this. I can bleed that without a special ABS tool. If problem persists it would rule out ABS and brake lines to/from it. Since the master cylinder was removed and rebuilt, it might isolate this to calipers.

 

If it were me, I would remove the calipers and do a rebuild. It looks like your pistons are not returning all the way. Road grime, mis-matched fluids, corrosion and stuck pistons all contribute to that. I would also do a runout check of the discs while everything is apart.

 

Remove the master cylinder cover. Pull a couple of ounces from the reservoir.
Get a syringe or mityvac with hose. Attach it to one of the brake bleeders on either caliper.
Crack open the brake bleeder and attempt to push new brake fluid into the caliper. If everything is good, fluid will flow up into the master cylinder. If not, pinched line or ABS module is bad.

If flow is good, start looking at calipers. That said, there have been reports of faulty ABS modules.

 

A rock hard lever or pedal is the typical ABS failure symptom. If you can actually apply and release the brake my guess would be a partially or totally plugged equalization port in the master cylinder so pressure remains in the system even when the lever/pedal is released. May have gotten plugged during the rebuild work.

 

That's what I am thinking, rebuild the calipers. Runout is fine, rotors are okay but I did notice a couple of other things that don't look normal.

The pads are wearing unevenly with the left pad of each caliper worn more than the right. The bike spent 6 years on the side-stand strapped to a pallet. It was the low side of each caliper that seems to have the stuck pistons.

I also noticed the front tire has some cupping and is much more worn than the rear which is the opposite of my experience with my other bikes. Seems excessive for only 5k miles. I'm fine with replacing rubber based on age, I almost did it when I bought it.

I can probably handle caliper rebuild but how would I bleed ABS brakes if I don't have a Digital Technician? Once I disconnect the caliper I'll introduce air and gravity will walk it up into the ABS. It's not a simple fluid flush, I'd need to bleed air out through the ABS. Would you rebuild then trailer to the dealer for a brake bleed?