I've got an 04 flht W/ 08 hd sidecar, in August when I had the sidecar installed, I noticed a little noise coming form the sidecar brake when I came to a stop. I had it checked out at the 1000m check up and Harley said it was good,well I rode it for a while then took it to a local trike shop, they took the pads off and cleaned the rotor but it only took care of the skeak for a little while. Today I just picked it up from harley cause the skeaking was getting worse, they said it was fine & flushed the sidecar brake, on my way home, 2nd stop, SKEAKED so load the guy next to my looked to see what happend. Any advise would really help.
Thanks, Jay
Pep Boys, or any auto house, sells stuff to stop this, something like "Disc barke quiet" or other clever name. Often the squeal is due to vibration of the pads, brush the stuff on the back of the pads, they wont squeak again.
The sidecar disc on my '03Ultra/TLE squealed while braking for the first 3-4,000 miles. I had the dealer re-check it during this time and was told it was "Adjusted" but it kept squealing. It finally just stopped. In 30,000 miles I almost always use the front brake exclusively. I've read that using the rear brake will cause excessive tire wear, so I never use it.
Originally written by gregbenner on 3/21/2008 8:34 PM
Pep Boys, or any auto house, sells stuff to stop this, something like "Disc barke quiet" or other clever name. Often the squeal is due to vibration of the pads, brush the stuff on the back of the pads, they wont squeak again.
100% correct Greg. The squeal is vibration between the caliper and the metal part of the brake pad. The stuff you get at AutoZone or any auto parts house applied to the back of the brake pad will eliminate the squeal. I use a black silicone in a big tube because we do quite a few bikes at the shop but those small tubes are good for individual usage.
I ofter wonder why H-D service depts won't use this stuff...guess they want the repeat business. ???
o~o
i use the front brake first all the time & the rear right at the stop sign. i want to keep the habit of having my foot on the brake - but almost never put on much pressure & try to do as little stopping with the rear as possible. but with the foot always on the pedal i shouldn't be caught without enough braking - i also use the rear more with a passenger to keep it from pulling left at lights, but even then i put pressure just at the last 30 ft or so.
changing front pads is worlds simpler than changing the rear pads - i have the parking brake on and a 15" wheel - its a all day job to get at the g*& d*&*^ things.
in fact the rear wheel is a huge huge pain in the but to change. take off the bags, take off the parking brake, take out the pads [with a 15" wheel the caliper wont go on or off with the pads in the caliper], then remove the wheel..
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