I get a lout squeak in the front as I slow down, and sometimes a stereo squeal in the back that starts at higher speeds and once started will continue until I let off of the brake or come to a stop. I sound like an 18 wheeler when I come to a stop. My SE pipes are not loud when slowing down, so this makes up for it to ensure people hear me coming.
I actually figure that when I develop the inevitable rear cylinder oil leak a little of the oil is bound to get splattered onto the rotors. I am confident that this will cure my squeak and squeal. It's not a bug it's a feature!
I noticed something like that on my old '76 FLH when I changed from solid rotors to drilled rotors.
The sound I get when I apply the brakes is like the sound you hear when there are locusts in the tree making their famous squeal noise. The squeal stays until I released the brakes, front brake worse than the rear.
Now on my new '08 SERK I get the same noise only to a lesser degree.
I think it's the air being trapped in the rotor drilled holes that "pop" when they exit the trailing end of the pads. Not too sure about that but that's the only thing I can think of.
In the past when I was a service manager at a Chevy/Pontiac dealership for about 10 years, we had some cars/trucks that would exhibit brake squeal with very light brake pressure and it would go away if you pressed harder on the pedal. Some said they were glazed, but there really wasn't a fix for it other than changing out to a different material brake pad.
I know there's been threads here about different pad brands and material used. I remember reading that they had a test bike, a Goldwing, and they had stock pads and then changed out to the "new" brand and the bike stopped considerably quicker. They measured heat build up and there was less heat with the new pads as well. I think this test was done at the new pad manufacturer's location and that it was reviewed in a magazine as well.
The bottom line is that some brakes will squeal and some don't. Changing material of pad will probably help, but if you squeal with stock stuff I'm not sure how you would fix it without changing parts. Then why don't all stock pads/brakes squeal? I couldn't tell you, just don't know that answer.
But if the noise some of you are hearing sounds like a small locust in front wheel, I'd say it has to do with the drilled rotors. Also on my old bike and the new '08, increased pressure doesn't make any difference on the noise.
Just my 2¢ worth of useless information....
