There is one pitfall I stumbled into. The paper instruction slip included with the pads had a mistaken instruction as regards installing the FRONT pad (rear pad instructions were OK).As I recall, the slip had a picture that points to the wrong bolts to loosen. It pointed to the bolts that held the parts of the caliper together, rather than to the brake pad pins that hold the pads in place. Even though I doubted the instructions at the time, I decided to follow the instructions on the slip. I ended up loosening the wrong ones and allowed some brake fluid to leak out, requiring me to add more and bleed the front brake. I called HD to alert them to the problem. They said they were aware of it, and that I could get correct instructions at the dealer!!!

If there is a conflict between the manual and the instruction slip, go with the manual.

 

Sorry, I just realized I'm in the Sporty forum. My problem was with brake pads for my Dyna. My above post may not apply to Sporty brakes.

 

Yes, I did remove the cap from the master reservoir. Actually, at the time there was no fluid in there because I was installing a stainless steel front brake cable and decided to replace the front brakes at that time. So the cap was off and the reservoir was empty. I asked someone about this and they said that should have made pushing the caliper easier.

 

Anymore input on this? Obviously, I screwed up somewhere. What did you do to compress the pistons?

 

There are two pitfalls on the front brake. Haven't done the rear so don't know.

First, there is a screw that holds the inside pad to the cover plate that faces the wheel. Do not tighten this too tight or it will strip very easy. Use locktite instead. Do it right or the plate will fall off. Finding another is hit and miss at best.

Second. The brake pad spring clip fits in a very non-obvious way. It folds back over the top of the pad and forces it down. It does not hold the pad directly.The drawing showing this sucks.

I expect there are similar issues with the rear pads.