I have a '05 rk custom... When I got the bike, it made a terrible noise when pulling in the front brake... when I took it to the dealer (before the TSB came out), they told me it was caused by the chrome dome spacer between the wheel and the rotor. They filled the dome with silicone/foam, and the squeal never returnd. Now, when the TSB came out, I had the rotors swapped, just in case... I still have absolutely no noise... IMO, take the bike to the dealer and ask them to fill the cavity, which is causing a harmonic noise... worked for me, and cost me no cash, at all...

 

Before blowing big bucks on floating rotors just to try and get rid of squeals, try some Kevlar pads. I have been running EBC Kevlars for over 60k miles on both the stock rotors and some cheapo polished stainless ones. Neither squeak, sweal or have that annoying swishing sound like you get with OEM pads. EBC Kevlars are 19 bucks a pair from Jireh Cycles.

 

Any 2 piece rotor is a floating rotor. No, they shouldn't move back&forth if you push them, that would be way too much movement. The specs on movement are like 0.2mm or less.

I am getting Hawg Halter 6 piston calipers up front and W8less Brakes composite floating rotors too. Anyone have these rotors and or calipers to opine about??

 

We make floating rotors and they are suppose to move back and fourth (if you push them side to side. That is why they are called floating rotors. We have been making Metal Matrix Composite Ceramic rotors for over 10 years and on numerous motorcycles out there. We spin cast our friction rings unlike the look-a-like cheaper rotors out there. When you squeeze cast a friction ring the molecules do not align up and air bubbles are a problem. We had catastrophic rotor failure in the beginning years during development using this same squeeze cast process testing on a race bike. Do your homework first than decide what to buy.

 

OK, we are saying the same thing. Float should be from side to side, not in the direction of travel as I called back&forth(like rocking the bike fore and aft on the wheels ) So, I think we are saying the same thing, just worded differently

 

I visited your site but can't find out how or how much, to buy your rotors or even see them. Just explaining the composites

 

RE: OK, we are saying the same thing. Float should be from side to side, not in the direction of travel as I called back&forth(like rocking the bike fore and aft on the wheels ) So, I think we are saying the same thing, just worded differently

You are correct. Thanks for the clarification for all to read and decide for themselves. There are many who claim they have floating rotors, however they have two piece ones.

There are many ways to make rotors, some good and some bad. The cheap ones are dropped stamped (Drop Hammer) where the metal distorts under the tremendous pressure when hit with the die. The blanks are than finished and ground smooth. The problems arise when you try to use these rotors once you leave the store. Heat allowes the metal to find the molecules true alignment. Once this happens, these stamped friction rings may go out of parallel which gives the pulsating feel thru the piston to hydraulic brake fluid to master cylinder to brake handle to the riders hand.

When machining a part from a sheet that is rolled (manufacturing process) from the foundry, all of the molecules are aligned. It takes much more time and costs to machine (think CNC or Bridgeport) a piece from a sheet than it does by a stamp method. For some parts, a stamping is acceptable. For others, such as brake rotors, they are not. The cheap price you just received, sometimes is not all that cheap once you have to re-buy that cheap part. It pays to know how an item is made before buying it.

This is the short version. You may research this subject better on the internet or by calling or e-Mailing me with your questions.