I need some help on my 05 Sportster with the rear brakes. Put a new wheel, pads and rotor on the rear. Now my pads are barely rubbing the rotor. It is enough to make a few lines on the inside and outside of rotor. I have taken the pads on and off multiple times, but still cant figure it out. Any suggestions?


Picture shows rotor marks.

 

That looks pretty normal for new pads to me. They take a little while to even up to each other. Mine still has some random darker lines than others from time to time.

Unless it's dragging real bad or turning blue from the heat, you should be okay.

 

Agreed they will take a couple times to get them bedded in. You can go out and do a few stops from progressively higher speeds say 20-50mph and that will get them bedded in before you go on a long ride. Make sure you allow for cooling time between stops to allow the brakes to cool or you can end up warping them.

 

when was the last time you disassembled/cleaned/flushed the caliper?


they do tend to stick after a while , especially when you replace pads that reposition the pistons

 

They are getting hot. You can hear them barely rubbing when riding.

 

When I replaced the pads. I didn't flush the caliper though.

 

Well, they are supposed to get hot. They are also supposed to touch the surface lightly at all times.

The issues occur if it is getting too hot from rubbing too much. The rotor will literally have a blue color to it in the parts that are hot.

If the pistons are fully bottomed, then it is misaligned. They should have to push out just a little bit with new pads to touch the rotor. Jack it up and spin the wheel in neutral. You should be able to get it 1/2-1 turn at least. The rear doesn't spin as freely because of the transmission and belt drag. If it barely moves or only turns like 1/4 turn, then the brakes are probably binding it up.

It's hard to tell from your picture, but every time I install new pads I get lines like that on my rotor for some time. They're sort of dark, almost brown.

I did have an issue once when I replaced the wheel and the spacers were off by a few thou causing the pads to drag when they were brand new (made spacers with old pads, so I didn't get it quite right). The rotor got a couple bands on it like usual, but they were blue/rainbow colored just like hot steel should be. I also could only spin the rear wheel about 1/3rd of a turn in the air with a heavy spin. Normally I'll get close to 3/4-1 turn when everything is fine.

 

if you popped out the pistons ,cleaned the rubber then you added new fluid ,that would be flushing.