From your post it seems you checked everything out. If indeed all is free and moving then you should be stopping. Does the caliper move back and forth easily on the mounting hardware??? Next check and see which EBC pads you have. Not all EBC pads are compatible with the stock rotors,. it has to doe with coefficient of friction between the two.
John

 

As mentioned, if the caliper is working properly and your brake hose isn't shot, then I'd go with stock pads instead of the EBC. EBC makes some fantastic pads, but you have to pick the right pad for your application. I could see where a racing pad would not work for crap on a street bike, for example. Our bikes, ridden on the street, won't generate enough heat to get a racing pad up to working temp, especially the rear brake. Also, new brake pads and rotors need to be bedded in before they will work properly. On my cars, I take them up to about 100, then panic stop them down to 10 (don't stop, keep rolling) then repeat a few times and then drive around until the disks cool off. Of course, you need a place where you can do that safely.

But I'm going with hose or caliper.

 

You said it looks OK, but is the rotor at least .205" thick?

 

yes it is more than that. Looks like an almost new rotor.
Double checked the pistion is moving in and out freely today.
So I reckon braided hoses will be the first thing I try.

I can't see EBC making Harley Touring models pads in a racing compound, and I have tried to get the brake as hot as I can coming down steep winding mountain roads 10 miles at a stretch and the braking gets no better. Maybe a little worse.

But if the hoses don't fix it, I will go with new pads and rebuild kits in both cylinders.
I just wanted to check it was worth putting the money into this stock brake set up as there are some guys who have fitted dual piston rear calipers because they were not happy with the stock caliper.

Thanks all for saving me from going down that more expensive road with your input.

 

I replaced the solid rotor on my 85 WG with a drilled one for wet stopping. Helped a lot. I've heard that is common.

 

Yes drilled is normal on most bikes since the early 1980s for this reason so I was very surprised to see a solid disc on a 1995 model. I was wondering if somehow the hard bags and mufflers and all that dresser stuff keeps the solid disc dry? Seems unlikely but....

But so far it does not work in the dry so have not had a chance to test it in the wet. I have a drill press so easy fixed if it is a problem.

 

Sounds like a problem I ran into a while back, pad opposite the piston wasn't contacting the rotor flush. Had me really wondering, piston moved fine, firm pedal - no pump up like you can get with air in the line, and with the brake pressure off, wheel spun just fine, definitely centered ok. Took the pads off, and could see where that pad was only scuffed on the forward edge. Put it back in, applied the brake, and could get a 0.002 thousandths feeler gauge over half across the pad from the rear side. Put another pad in, worked fine. ?? Micrometer said same thickness both sides, my guess is the lower metal tab on the pad wasn't fitting in the clip on the bike square, maybe too wide.

Another bike new pads failed on was the disk, put new pads on a disk that was worn uneven, would barely slow the bike down (front). Put a disk without wear on it, same pads, and worked fine. Even one ridge a couple thousandths higher will hold the pad up with barely any contact surface; it'll wear in eventually, but till it does, little or no brake. If those pads have been on the bike a while, probably not the disk.

My experience with EBC pads is that they're excellent, same for Lyndall, way better than stock for normal riding. And the back brake on my EVO works very well.

 

Don't get distracted by drilled rotors chaps! Early ones were of varied materials, including chrome plated, various sorts of stainless steel, as well as iron. The Italians used iron ones from the outset, which go rusty and look crap, but have always stopped well.

Chrome rotors eventually shed their chrome and got dropped pretty quick, the stainless ones, which look good, but don't stop so well, are the ones that are still drilled today. The old rear rotor is iron and is fine and doesn't need to be drilled.

You have a problem with the functioning of your brake, not the rotor. I suggest you solve that first, then it will be worth adding a braided hose, which will simply give you more feedback, not more braking. A change of pads may help, although EBC in my experience are fine.

 

Yeah, that sounds like something I should check more carefully too. I was looking at the slider pins and stuff but did not really suss out the pads as closely as you mention with feeler gauges etc. Sure would be a cheaper fix than a braided brake hose.

My past experience with old worn out brake hoses has always been that they plug up and hold the brake on causing dragging, which I don't have. Or they get soft and swell under pressure and cause sponginess, which I don't have.

And that keyhole shaped rear pad set up is just plain weird so surely would bear looking at again. Thanks for the tip.

I might try putting some felt marker pen lines on the rotor and take it for a ride and see if the pads wipe the lines off evenly on both sides, indicating full contact.

 

Ah yes, I thought the disc looked like cast iron but been so long since I saw one of them that it never clicked. We used to machine the chrome off the cast iron discs on our 1970s Triumphs to expose the cast iron underneath and make them work in the wet.
Yet I have undrilled aftermarket cast iron discs on my BMW Airhead R100RS and they do not work at all in the wet. Maybe a different type of cast iron.

I am going to have another look at it all tomorrow so will let you know if the solution presents itself.