I have had the front brake on my 2003 Electra Glide "rubbing" since the day I bought the bike new.
I was wondering if this is a common to all the bikes or if this is just mine. The dealer says it is because the tolerances are so tight, my neighbors does the same thing.
Let me know.
Thanks!

 

I asked the sporty section about my 03 sprster which has always had the dragging front brakes and the overwelming reply was the same as the dealer "Its normal" fug'in hd is all I can say.
There are some things you could experiment with if you dare. Like filing edges of brake pads off?

 

IF you know what you are doing.
By a can of aerosol disk brake quiet , most any auo parts store.
Remove the pads from bike ( be careful, they only fit right one way)
spray the back sides of pads (THE METAL BACKING PLATE SIDE)
with a coating of the spray.
Put brake pads back in the caliper.
The sticky side should be against the pistons.
Mount calipers to the bike.
Pump brakes back up.
What pulls the piston back into the caliper after you release the handle
is the elasticity of the square cut o'ring in the caliper around the piston.
It only pulls back about 1/32" So if pads don't stay stuck to the piston they
will drag a little on the rotor.
You can also apply a VERY LIGHT coating of antiseize to the pins that align
and hold the pads in the caliper, so pads will slide more freely on the pins.
All else fails rebild or replace the calipers AND do the above.
But this should help.

 

As long as the wheel spins freely, it is normal. If you don't like the noise the stock pads make, swap to Kevlars and the noise will go away.

 

If you switch to the lyndall racing pads you will eliminate the drag and the broke dust and have MUCH better stopping power.

 

Aren't disk brakes supposed to lightly touch to keep them clean and ready to operate?

 

Is that similiar to caliper grease? Thats also why I like to do my own brake work on bike. One time I had a shop do them and some high school kid threw on the new brakepads ,did not bleed,no caliper grease, did not clean(all those little things) and it cost me two sets of pads til I realized I need to do it the right way. You can get lucky but I want to Know it was done right.

 

my 05 ultra had the same brake problem. My brakes were dragging so bad that the wheel wouldn't turn. I took the brake pads off and stuck a small piece of wood between the pucks and then pulled the brake lever and pushed the pads all the way out. I then took fine sand paper and sanded off the grit and grime build up on the pucks. I then put a couple of drops of three and one oil on the pucks and let it run back behind the seal. I pushed the pucks back in and put the pads back on and bolted her back up. Presto! My brake dragging problem was fixed. Some of my ridding buddies did the same thing and this solved their problems. My front brakeswere the only ones tha I have had problems with. If you will follow the aforementioned instructions this will solve your problem.

 

Floating rotors and Lyndall pads......only way to go......you won't believe the difference it makes

 

Thanks guys, I will have to try some of these fixes. The noise just gets irratating after awhile.