Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[kiwishovel]

Hi all, I have a 2008 SE Road King. The question I have has been talked about but I can’t seem to find an answer. My bike has a proposing front end. When I am at hi speed you can flee it through the bike. When slowing at intersections it feels like the brakes are only working half the time (  this is not the ABS working as I am not feeling it through the brake leaver) .
I have done the following this far. Pulled the caliper apart, cleaned and looked for any sticking cups.
I have changed the front rotors and put new brake pads. I have also changed the shoulder bolts that hold the rotors on.
After all this the bike still proposing front end.

Please help.

[moscooter]

 
A little difficult to interpret just what your problem is.........Do you mean porpoising..........like the fish

It would seem you have eliminated front brake rotor warpage as a cause since you replaced the rotors, etc.  If your Road King has "spoked" wheels,  I would investigate loose or broken spokes and/or a bent wheel.   Also,  the "fallaway" on your neck bearings could be an issue.

[kiwishovel]

Sorry the correct word is porpoising (spell check). It gives all the symptoms of warped disc but as I said I have changed all of the brake components. It does it all the time, sometimes more pronounced than normal.

[grc]

Sorry the correct word is porpoising (spell check). It gives all the symptoms of warped disc but as I said I have changed all of the brake components. It does it all the time, sometimes more pronounced than normal.

Just because you changed the rotors doesn't automatically mean you don't have a lateral runout problem.  The only way to know for sure is to actually measure runout and thickness variation with the rotors mounted and torqued to the wheel.  Harley has a bogus maximum tolerance of .008" TIR, but anything over about .004" will cause some degree of brake pulsation.

If I remember correctly, the 2008 SERK had many reports of front rotor issues.  Unlike most Harley's at that time, the SERK had the new rotor system whereby there is no center carrier bolted to the hub, but rather just the friction ring bolted directly to four cast standoffs on the wheel.  There were many reports of repeated brake pulsation problems even after replacing the rotors multiple times, and eventually the problem was traced to defective wheels with improper machining of the mounting points for the rotors on the wheels.  You might want to verify, if your runout measurements even with the new rotors are excessive, that the wheel itself isn't the problem.

Don't ignore the other basic items like wheel balance and tire pressure btw.

Jerry