Very often when I go to back up my bike I get a pulsing hum from my rear brake... but if I semi jam on the rear brake it will stop, and about once every ten minutes while riding around town as I go to stop my front brake makes a pop or a click.. I just bought this effing bike, its an 04 with 10,000 miles.. anyone know more than me?

 

This is a good one...

Rear Brake... Since the only thing electrical on the rear braking system is the stop light we can eliminate everything but the braking system itself... I would go so far as to say it would have to be in the rotor or calipar... As far as the what type of sound it actually is... well that is subjective... Are you sure its not just the pads rubbing on the rotor... When you release the pressure of the brake the pistons in the calipar only back off far enough to releave the pressure on the rotor... they still scrub a little. The wear on the rotor could be causing the, what you call pulsing... the humming part... I would have no earthly idea... unless its some kind of chatter again with the pads rubbing the rotor...

Front brake... Pop or click.... Could be the piston in the calipar sticking a little and when you apply enough pressure it clicks as it starts to move... maybe the pads where they slide in the clipar has some kind of burr causing it to stick slightly and then move and you get the click... Of course it could be in the front suspension, the fork tubes, but if you are sure its coming from the brakes itself... then I would check the calipar itself...

Then again... its a used bike and if the previous owner did any brake work... who knows...

Charile D.

 

The one thing you don't mention is the condition of the pads. The stock HD pads are pretty crappy compared to others, like Lyndall or EBC. My rear pads were shot at 10K miles.

I know it's tempting for some people to gauge their brake pad condition by looking at the front pad because it's easier to see than the rear, but that's often a mistake. Many riders use a lot more rear brake than they realize.

At 10K miles you should be close to needing a new rear tire if it hasn't been done already. That's the best time to replace the pads, the job's a lot easier when the wheel is off. Even though my Lyndall rear pads have miles left on them, I replace them whenever I replace the rear tire.