So I wanted to paint the inside of my brake rotors black, and when I was putting them back on the wheel, I noted the direction of rotation according to the tire, and then I put the rotor marked "RIGHT" on the right side, and the rotor marked "LEFT" on the left side. I was then looking in the service manual later on and I noticed a picture showing the slots on the brake rotor facing in a different direction than the way I had it on my wheel. I checked the rotors once again and confirmed that I had the tire rotating in the right direction, and that the rotor marked "RIGHT" was on the right and the rotor marked "LEFT" was on the left...

Well my curiousity was still raging, so I broke out the manual again and read it this time. Aparently it was dumb of me to assume that the rotor marked "RIGHT" rotor would go on the right side and the rotor marked "LEFT" rotor would go on the left side. The maual states in there that the rotor marked "RIGHT" goes on the left and the rotor marked "LEFT" goes on the right.



Really Harley? I dunno, I just thought this was incredibly stupid, and was wondering if anyone else noticed that...

 

Not sure but is left and right referenced sittin on the bike or looking at it from the front. And u will hear loud like noise if those have groves cut

 

Looking at the 2009 service manual, right is right, left is left.

Looking at the online parts manual for a 2007, right is right, left is left:

http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche....dmc&A=511&B=25

the front of the bike is where the headlight is, the rear is where the taillight is. when seated facing front, the operator's right is the vehicle's right side


Mike

 

That parts finder also has it backwards. The rotor labeled "24" and described as "RIGHT" is being shown on the left side of the bike. I say that becasue of the direction of rotation of the rotor, would indicate that the wheel would be rolling towards the top left of the picture, so the rotor on the left side of the photo, "24" "RIGHT' is on the left side.

However I also realized that if you look at the axle orientation, it would indicate that the wheel rolls to the bottom right of the page, in which case the rotors are rotating in the opposite direction, but are labeled correctly.

Here's a screen shot of that page of the manual. It's weird...

 

wow, they couldn't have been more confusing.

I'm so turned around I don't know my right from left anymore.

so this is a clumsy way of expressing that the side with the part number faces the inside

Mike

 

Negative, the side with the part number faces the outside, in this application at least...it's dumb, but yeah, absolutely confusing.

 

On the 07 the left goes on the right and right on left. They did this to stop squealing.

 

That's funny, I did hear they reversed them because of noise, like Lonewolf said.

 

From a maintenance standpoint, left/right orientation is always as the vehicle is operated, unless specifically noted. Is there a service bulletin regarding the inverted brake rotors?

 

Lonewolf176 has the correct answer. There's even a service notice out on the right/left issue that you can get from your local dealer.