The rear brake on my 2014 Fat Bob is worthless. If I am at a stop on a hill, the rear brake will hold the bike from rolling back, but that's the extent of its abilities. Virtually no effect on actually slowing the bike. Is this normal? Air in the line? Glazed pads? It's been like this since I bought it with 810 miles on the clock.

EDIT - search on this forum did not turn up anything re my question, but subsequent google search located a few threads on this forum. Sorry about the new thread.
From what I gather, it's not unusual for the Fat Bob rear brakes to be useless, but that is not normal. Still don't have any word on why they are crap.

 

Not normal.
Any chance the rear rotor is warped?
If someone placed a rotor disc lock on the rear and then rolled the bike without removal of lock then it could very easily warp the rotor.

 

How far down does the pedal go when you press on it?
Does it get firm towards the end of its travel?

If it goes down quite far or there little to no resistance on it, bleed the brakes.

 

If it was mine and the brakes still gave you trouble after a fluid flush. I would disassemble the caliper and check every part for wear or a spot it's catching on. Braided lines help too with pedal feel. I use them on everything.

Also, does the brake stay engaged as you release it?

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll take a closer look at the rotor. The brake lever "feel" feels normal. The brake releases without a problem.

 

If you bought from a dealer, do you have any warranty? That brake should be fine and much better than you describe.

Our rear brake can be a devil to bleed, as the brake pipe tends to go uphill to the caliper, from the master cylinder. But if there is air in the system, the pedal should show that by not being firm when pressed. You may have a piston or two that are hanging back and not moving freely, which is worth checking.