about 3500 miles on my '08 and have been noticing some slight shaking that seems to be from the rear brake.
no brake, no shake...
warped rotor? or what else might cause this? how do i tell? (pretty hard to watch the rear rotor while riding!!)

 

that's what happened to me... it turned out to be a warped rear rotor. i couldnt even see that it was warped - pretty sneaky.

 

of course, mine is just outta warranty!! --- but then its prob not a warranty item anyway

dont think i want to tackle taking off the rear wheel myself-
what did it cost to replace yours? did you stay stock, or did you do an upgrade?

 

Same as with your car..

Do you do a lot of riding in the rain? The reason that I ask is because Ive hard.. not sure if its completely true.. but Ive heard that heating your rotors up while its raining causes your rotors to get hot then cold from the water.. and long term can cause warping..

 

bike has never been wet... except to get a bath - then it gets a leaf blower all over it and finally toweled down.
i take it for a short ride after its dried off and lightly use the brakes to make sure that they get dried.

and when i ride, i use engine braking as much as possible. makes no sense to me that the rotors would be warping already... but the symptoms sure seem to be that-

 

Instead of replacing it with a stock rotor, get a floating rotor. HD has some for ~$100.00.

 

thx charley... will look into those

after a visual inspection, and walking the bike i can not see any rotor issues. i understand that maybe walking the bike is not enough to see the out of line, but if its out its very very slight. had another thought-

coupla nights ago after a ride, i pulled the bike in the garage and thinking i was in neutral let the clutch out - actually i was in first gear and this killed the engine. first time i have done this. cant imagine that our clutches cant handle this, but wondering if this could have caused the light shaking i am experiencing.

i guess i need to pull the rotors to check whether they are slightly warped?
is it possible that this could be some sorta clutch or other tranny issue?


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floating rotor for those interested (maybe me too!):

http://alturl.com/sm8e

 

just get a magnetic base dial indicator and check rotor,very simple.
your naked eye is not going to SEE any warpage

 

thx-
have never heard of these...

looks like a neat tool-

http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt1...fow72_520.html

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some more causes of brake/ bike shake:

http://www.hdtalking.com/touring_mod...s_applied.html

 

Popping the rear wheel off is easy.

Loosen up the necessary bolts, put the bike on a lift, clear the belt and remove the rear caliper, pop out the axle and the wheel lands on your toe.

If you don't have a lift, there are some creative ways to drop the wheel - like laying the bike down in the grass. Or using the centerstand that HD doesn't put on bikes.