Cooling off in house this afternoon, got a nice ride in before breakfest with some friends. Something I have noticed on my 97 EG is the rear brake is a good bit harder. Not only in feel but have to push a bit more in stopping than one of the guys 04 RK. Played with it in the parking lot of resturant this morning. It`s alot different (harder) than my Road Star was or my Venture is. Havn`t seen any post on the subject, thought I`d ask if this was a common thing or any suggestions as to what to do. Thanks WP

 

I think your 97 has the old large single-piston caliper and large diameter iron rotor. It is quite powerful, saying it is so simple. It could be everything is fine, but I suggest you check the pads move freely in the caliper, as they can get stuck with the build-up of brake dust. Also check the piston moves freely. If you haven't done so recently, bleed the brakes and flush out the old fluid. If it still feels the same after that, you know it is OK!

 

He speaks the truth does Mr Brown......I would go a step further and lever the pads/piston back into the caliper,pump them back until they work and then change the fluid.

The brakes on the two bikes are quite different so should feel like it.

 

Between us we can do this!

 

I`ll get it apart and take a good look. Thankfully I have the means to flush the brakes fairly easily. Single piston huh easy rebuild if needed BG I wish I was better with printed words but if ya have time I went into a bit more detail in post #6. Thanks I do appreciate the help Sir WP

 

The brakes on the two bikes are quite different so should feel like it.[/quote]

Agreed I`m thinking just a bit too different. The pedal has freeplay and is ROCK hard the second it`s done with the freeplay. I picked up a rock while riding in Big bend National park once. It lodged itself in between the rear brake pedal and it`s bracket.(venture) With smoke rolling off the rear pads and rotor I got stopped. The pedal was hard kinda like this EG`s is. In looking at it yesterday after a morning ride I don`t have the heat off of the pads or rotors and it feels the same even after a cold soak. (letting it set say overnight). Appreciate the help WP

 

Well, first thing I would want to know is, does the rear brake actually work? Will it stop you without help from the front brake? It almost sounds like there is a frozen/seized part somewhere. When I bought my Tour Glide, the rear brake made noise and didn't really slow the bike down much if at all. Fresh pads and a good cleaning and all is well. It almost sounds like your caliper is jammed or maybe a line is pinched...

 

I`m gonna start a new thread cause of what I found this evening. The brakes are new and was to have been flushed. Yup it was flushed with Dot 3 or 4 come to find out. I`m not sure how big of a deal this might be but on a auto I`d be jumping naked on SOMEBODY BG We used to be a Mitsubishi car dealer and one of the guys used Dot 3 in a H&^5 I can`t remember what model it was but you wanna talk about amess. IT WAS . Lines look good no kinks that I can find. What I noticed was that with the caliper off I can push the pedal a full stroke, the piston moved. Let pedal up, wait a few seconds and take another push (stroke) Pistons haven`t moved since. 2 more strokes no piston movement. LOL Here we go. Thanks for chiming in all idea`s welcome WP

 

Remove the bolts that hold the caliber on to the bike, the ones that have the rubber seals around them. Grease bolts, reinstall, problem fixed. Also make sure the aluminum caliber where the bolts go through are clean.

The steal bolt in contact with the aluminum caliber causes corrosion and the caliber to not move on the mounting bolts.