Are the HD front brakes supposed to suck? My RKC front brakes dont do their job too well I feel. How should they be? I am used to riding a Buell XBR and rice rockets where I could stop on a dime with my front brakes. I can hit my RKC hard and not do much. Is it my rotors? My pads look good and seem to have a lot of life left.. Help please. Thanks.

 

Yeah, they are not the best stoppers in the world even though they are made by Brembo, and even with the ABS option. Unlike my other bikes, I have found my 09 RK is a front and rear brake kind of bike when you want to slow down, and even then it's best to leave plenty of room.

Love my beast, but it doesn't stop like my other bikes.

 

An 800 pound touring bike isn't going to stop like a Buell XBR. The Brembos don't suck by any stretch, but they're also not going to stop like a canyon-carver.

 

Had a VTX1800 which was an 800 plus pound bike and stopped great. I do not like the way my 2008 Ultra stops. But, loved many other things about her

 

The pistons in the brake calipers do not have dust boots on them. Bad design. The brake dust builds up on the pistons and causes them not to retract fully and makes the brakes feel very mushy. Here is a link on how to go about cleaning them.

http://www.lyndallracingbrakes.com/service_tech.htm

I did mine a while ago and the difference is amazing.

 

Brembo is a nice step up from the previous Hayes calipers but like previously stated, stopping power on a Harley just isn't the same as a sportbike. If you think yours are bad, try a Cross Bones which has a single piston caliper. It sucks!

 

The pistons are not supposed to retract fully when you release the brake lever. No disc brake system does this. As the pads wear down, the piston's 'home position' will gradually be further out of the caliper.

 

Looking at your signature pic, I'm thinking you have a 2003 that came with the same crappy brakes my 2004 came with. In 2008 H-D went to a new design Brembo brake set that is much improved over the older brakes (like ours).

If you're really into it, you can buy a complete (slightly used) 2008-2010 H-D Brembo front brake kit on eBay for about $350, calipers, rotors, master cylinder, and matching clutch lever. the new rotors are larger, but bolt right onto the old front wheel. The new calipers fit the new larger rotors and also bolt right onto the old fork. The new master cylinder is a bit larger, to move more fluid, and also bolts right on. I have a complete set sitting in my living room waiting to be installed on my 2004 RK.

There are lots of good posts on this retrofit/upgrade, like this post: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...d-at-last.html

JR

 

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Yes but he is right, they don't retract enough and I had to clean pistons about every 2500 miles. I haven't seen the problem as bad with the brembos.

Beary

 

So did I. Night and day difference.