I need some help with my front end. I had a definitive and rhythmic bounce to my front end when I hit the brakes. The front wheel also rubbed the brake pads when spun without weight on the front end. I thought it was the front rotor (warped). I talked to Renegade (they were a big help) and they said that since it is a full floater they didn't believe it was warped. But suggested I bring it to HHI (their local distributer and the place I purchased the wheel from). I brought it to them and they determined that the clamp side wheel hub was warped and replaced it, checked out the rest of the wheel and said it was fine [Wheel, and rotor]. I remounted the wheel and it was all over the place. I brought it to the local dealership (Chatahootchee HD - also a great help) and they said the front tire (Metzler) was out of round but they could replace it free. So I had them do that (they didn't even charge me labor), and they balanced the wheel too. Now I have the bike back and the wheel spins fine without a load on it [no rubbing anywhere] but when I brake I still feel a bounce in the front end. It is not like when the hub was warped, but it is still there (and still no rubbing of the rotor on the brake pads). Anyone have any ideas what might be causing this? Or things I should check? The bike has 35,000 miles on it. I haven't changed anything on the front end except the wheel. The only things I could think of are the axle itself, but that is straight, it has brand new Lindal gold pads, but other things I was thinking of might be fork oil or bearings in the steering head. In case I didn't mention it when I am riding the bike there is no wobble, no bounce, nothing until I'm braking and nearing a stop. Then I feel a slight bounce that is rhythmic.

Thanks ahead of time for anyone's help/suggestions

 

My first guess would be a warped rotor. But that's just a guess.

But I'd almost bet a beer on it.

 

when is the last time that you pulled your caliper pistons and cleaned them? sounds like you are not getting even pressure, not so much warped rotor, very very very rare that a floater goes bad.

 

It sounds like the front end is depending on the springs only and the damping is not there. I like to go with the simple stuff first, so I would check the fork oil. Especially if it hasn't been changed in a while.

 

Joe, thanks for jumping in. I pulled them and cleaned everything including putting in new pads about 2.5 weeks ago. But I think you are making me think that maybe it is the caliper...

 

Actually, I didn't pull the caliper pistons. I just sprayed them when I changed the pads. If only one piston was applying pressure would that cause it to bounce?

 

Could be a cracked rotor, too. Drilled rotors crack more easily. Much more easily. They're a hand-job abyway. The only reason the MoCo does it is because it looks cool. 'Gassing Out' stopped being a problem back in the early 60's.

You said it was 'rythmic' which leads me to believe it's the rotor. I guess it could be a caliper, but why that would be rythmic has me a little puzzled. Calipers don't rotate, rotors do.

Could be some busted spokes, out of spec spokes, bent wheel but I doubt those because they would get worse with speed.

A wobble or 'pulse' just sounds like a classic warped or cracked rotor to me. I've been wrong before. Many times. But the rotor should be one the easiest things to check.

 

The Rotor is made by Renegade (not Harley), and the local distributer HHI said they checked the rotor and it was fine. Also when I have the bike on the lift and spin the front tire it doesn't rub on anything. It spins fine. If you look at my sig pic you can see that I don't have spokes on my wheels. A new floating rotor is $400. I appreciate your help, but it has me stumped. It seems like everything has been pulled, checked, new hub, new tire, new brake pads. And still can't find it. When I am at speed and pull the brake don't feel much and even when the front wheel is spinning and I have the brake pulled a bit, I don't feel any pulsation through the brake handle.

 

Maybe you're sensitive to it and what you're feeling is a minor high spot in the rotor.

I just don't want the rotor to have a microscopic crack in it and have it take a dump on you while you're running 80MPH down the road.

Does it do it more once the brakes get 'warmed up'? Is it fine while they're cool but the warmer they get, the more you notice it?

Which brings up a question -- Can Harley rotors be turned or do they have to be ground? Or can they even be machined at all? I would think so. Maybe. Don't know.

 

could it be that the new pads just need to seat to the rotor(break in a bit)? Also possible that maybe one of the pistons is not moving as freely as the others. So when you cleaned the caliper did you expose the pistons by compressing the brake lever to clean the pistons better. Are the bolts torqued evenly on the caliper... did you replace the pins that hold the pads when you replaced the pads?