2007 FLHX
I was out riding last night and it felt like my rear brake was engaged. I look back and the brake light was not on but it still felt like i was slowing down faster than I should. I was not in a good place to stop so I drove home and pay for it later.
Today I went to go look at bike and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I looked at the master cylinder and the clear top is pushed up. I unscrew it and see that the fluid is low. I go to push the rear brake and the pedal goes all the way down and then out the back from the inside of the caliper brake fluid came out.
At this point I go WTF.
I like to do things myself so I need help to figure out what is broken and needs to be fixed. I imagine that something is mess up. Never messed with brakes before so any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks

 

Sounds like a bad piston/seal in the rear caliper. Rebuild it or replace the caliper. Those are your options.

 

Thanks

 

Did you raise the bike to see if you could turn the wheel by hand? That is the simplest test, which would tell you if the caliper is dragging. As 2black1s suggests, you can only dismantle the caliper to see if it can be rebuild, or replace it. I suspect you will find a piston is stuck, possibly corroded. I would also strip and clean the master cylinder, to make sure that is fine.

 

Thanks for the help. It had to be rebuilt. The dealership said the brake child looked funny and showed me. So it's possible the previous owner may have used some strange fluid in it. Either way problem solved problem staying solved.