I did a search and found no thread on hard brakes just soft and I did a thread in tech and got no responses, so I went here to the crowd. I got a 02 Springer and the brake lever is hard to pull in , brake is very weak, the pads look brandnew, the brakes drag on rotor ( feel when just pushing it around). I bleed brakes completely and replaced with dot5 (master cylinder lid said) and bleed ( gravity) . I also sprayed down caliper with brake cleaner. I tried to pump brake when caliper was off so pistons would come out to clean them , but I couldnt even get them to come out of caliper. Think I need to rebuild caliper and how hard is it to do that? THANKS in advance!

 

You are in the right direction,clean out pistons and caliper.Put new fluid in resovoir.Get a manuel or take to mechanic.

 

Your on the right track, as your pistons are frozen. You'll need a rebuild. I would take it to an indy and let him fix it.

 

I had one years ago that did that. It probably isn't too hard or expensive to fix yourself.

The toughest part may be removing the piston from the caliper. If you can't move it out by squeezing the brake lever try using a C clamp to force it in. Then use the brake lever to push it out again. A few in and outs will probably losen it. It also may require a little penetrating oil (I like PB Blaster). Do not pry on or nick the piston.

Hone the inside of the caliper and polish the piston (if it isn't pitted too deep).
You can get a hone that works with an electric drill at most auto parts stores, they aren't expensive.
Use plenty of lubricant during honing and clean the caliper well before reassembly.
Replace the seals in the caliper and flush the system completely using new brake fluid.