RK Classic Front Brakes
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,007
Likes: 4
From: Vancouver, B.C.
RE: RK Classic Front Brakes
There was a message posted in one of the tech forums here that links to an interesting article on "reverse brake bleeding". I haven't tried it myself, but it looks like a good idea.
Reverse bleeding works great in no time at all. It's the only way to go when starting from scratch, IMO.
CN
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,007
Likes: 4
From: Vancouver, B.C.
RE: RK Classic Front Brakes
I have an 06 Road King Classic and my braking teqnique is like yours, a couple of fingers on the brake and the other fingers on my throttle. I have never had alot of play in my lever. I could stop at half travel with the lever. Now I changed my cables and can't get the brakes to bleed properly. Still trying to get all the air out of my lines. I can pull my lever all the way to the throttle and have no brakes at all.
CN
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,007
Likes: 4
From: Vancouver, B.C.
RE: RK Classic Front Brakes
In my opinion, I do not think your clutch is operating correctly and recommend getting it checked out by an HD dealer soon. Good luck.
This is an answer I might expect to hear from a stealer.
CN
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 10,449
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From: Roswell, GA
RE: RK Classic Front Brakes
https://www.hdforums.com/m_1965292/tm.htm
Check this thread. Basically, the symptoms are excessive brake lever travel, but no air in the lines and pads are in good shape. The problem is the pistons in the brake calipers have to be cleaned of the accumulated brake pad dust and such; the link describes how to do it.
Check this thread. Basically, the symptoms are excessive brake lever travel, but no air in the lines and pads are in good shape. The problem is the pistons in the brake calipers have to be cleaned of the accumulated brake pad dust and such; the link describes how to do it.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,728
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From: Olympia, Washington
RE: RK Classic Front Brakes
ORIGINAL: axe11
In my opinion, I do not think your clutch is operating correctly and recommend getting it checked out by an HD dealer soon. Good luck.
axe11
In my opinion, I do not think your clutch is operating correctly and recommend getting it checked out by an HD dealer soon. Good luck.
axe11
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 6,680
Likes: 602
From: South Florida
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RE: RK Classic Front Brakes
I second Harleypingman's post. I had lots of problems when I first got my bike used with 7500 miles on it. The dealer "exercised" the pistons by pulling the calipers, remove one shoe, then pumping the hand break until the exposed pistons contact the shoe. Then remove the other shoe and repeat with the opposite side pistons. This worked great and I darn near killed myself when I pulled the front break and it started stopping the bike with only a small amount of lever movement.
But ... the problem came back after a thousand or so miles. I did the "exercising" myself and got the breaks back in good shape. But it happened again.
Turns out the pistons had some varnishing and kept getting stuck. The dealer rebuilt the calipers and the problem hasn't returned.
Hope this helps.
But ... the problem came back after a thousand or so miles. I did the "exercising" myself and got the breaks back in good shape. But it happened again.
Turns out the pistons had some varnishing and kept getting stuck. The dealer rebuilt the calipers and the problem hasn't returned.
Hope this helps.
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