Brake sticking

[Raverez]

When I removed the wheel to change the tire, I found one of the pistons reAl hard to push back into the caliper. After
Much work I finally got it in. So I re mounted the wheel and put everything back together. But when I pressed the brake lever the left one stuck closed again.
Now, is the caliper bad or the brake hoses.  How can I trouble shoot it?

[old2soon]

My rear brake locked up and upon further inspection there was corrosion on both of the exposed portions of the pistons. Got the pistons out of the bores with an air hose and took scotch brite to the bores and pistons reassembled with new O-rings and all is good in Mudville.  The exposed portions of the pistons are exposed to the elements and WILL get nasty.  Hope this helps you. RIDE SAFE.

[justintyper]

yes you need to tear em down and rebuild or try pinwall i hear they sell used ones pretty reasonably.

[NITRO]

Just rebuild them, might as well do all 3 at the same time. Someone here had pictures of the process. It isn't hard, but it's always nice to have pics.

[Jess from VA]

Our brake calipers get really cruddy.  They need cleaned up periodically.  During detail washes, I spray lots of S100 or mag wheel cleaner in them and scrub hard with stiff bristle brushes.  On tire changes,  I use gun bore solvent and brass and stainless brushes, and brake cleaner (which doesn't actually clean anything, it just blows loose crap out of the caliper into your eye).  I have never taken mine down into small parts, but while apart I push the pistons almost all the way out and scrub them shiny along with all the rest of the parts, and grease the brake pad pin.    

[Raverez]

looking for parts for rebuild kits. But first a silly question. Are the front brake rotors interchangeable?
Does it matter which side I reinstall them on? and how will I know which one is left or right?

[gordonv]

Take them apart and kept them separated.

If they where new parts, no it doesn't matter where they go back. But being used parts, they should have "mated" to each cylinder they came out of, and should go back into the same one they came out of.

Will it make a differance? Yes and no. It may wear a little quicker re-mating to a different cylinder, but that is going to take how much life out of a part that should last longer than the bike will?

[hubcapsc]

looking for parts for rebuild kits. But first a silly question. Are the front brake rotors interchangeable?
Does it matter which side I reinstall them on? and how will I know which one is left or right?

They won't do right if you try to put them on wrong, don't worry...

A rebuild kit is basically just the seals, there's not much inside there: 
06431-MA3-405 front std/tourer/interstate and rear std/tourer
06451-GE2-405 rear interstate

The first time I rebuilt one I got the rubber boots as well, but unless you
can see that they have failed, they're probably good.

Getting the pistons to come out if your calipers are skanky is a little challenging
sometimes, but you can search on her and find several ways people do it
that work pretty well. I think Jess pushes his out just by mashing on the
brakes after the pads are off, I bet that works good and is maybe the easiest,
but don't pop the pistons all the way out hydraulically, or you'll have
paint-eating brake fluid gushing out.

Bleeding after reassembly is harder than just flushing new fluid into a
system, when it is dry you have to get the system primed before
pumping the brake handle will work...

-Mike

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

I had the right front brake caliper locking up on my Interstate so I rebuilt the Calipers,(Replaced the O-rings and Cleaned the Pistons) and replaced the Pads . I rode it afterward and the right caliper still wants to lock up after riding a while. I took the right caliper off of my other Interstate to see if it was the Caliper and found that it still locks up after riding a short distance .Come to find out that the Rubber Brake hose has collapsed and won't let the fluid flow back to the Master cylinder. These Rubber Brake Lines are known to separate or blister on the inside sometimes. Hopefully this is not your problem but it is worth taking a look at.

[Raverez]

Well I have been looking into steel braided brake lines. But not sure yet. Thinking of replacing the brake line all around.
Maybe the clutch also.  So the rotors are not interchangable?

[Ricky-D]

Collapsing hydraulic brake lines prohibiting the transfer of fluid is hogwash and always connected with the promotion of braided hydraulic lines as justification for replacement of the OEM.

Exactly how much fluid do you think moves in the brake lines on the Valkyrie when you apply the brakes.

***

[hubcapsc]

Come to find out that the Rubber Brake hose has collapsed and won't let the fluid flow back to the Master cylinder. These Rubber Brake Lines are known to separate or blister on the inside sometimes.

Yeah, that's know to be a fact. I replaced my front brake lines when they had around 80K on them and
were about 15 years old, but I replaced them with OEM. OEM lines fit like they were made for the bike 
and work real good from my non-racer perspective. I rebuilt the caliper, and the master cylinder at
the same time, and my front brakes are awesome. And they do that "clunk" thing that some
people's bikes don't do anymore after stuff gets kind of gunky... http://www.rattlebars.com/valkfaq/#NOISE%20CLUNK

-Mike

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

I am replacing my front brake lines with OEM parts. The ones on my Valkyrie are 14 years old and the bike has sat around in a winter garage  and only ridden a few months out of the year before I purchased it and I believe that replacing them with OEM parts will be fine. I didn't look at buying Steel Braded lines due to the fitment, either too short or too long. This blistering of the lines doesn't happen very often, but it does happen. If the new ones last  14 years I'll be happy.

[Raverez]

Well, I ordered the OEM line from the HDL website. Also the seals, and boots. Now I looked around and it seems ordering the parts individually is cheaper than ordering the rebuild kits.

[old2soon]

Well, I ordered the OEM line from the HDL website. Also the seals, and boots. Now I looked around and it seems ordering the parts individually is cheaper than ordering the rebuild kits.

  All I ordered was the O-rings. Guy that services my cage has a 5 bay shop and lets me use his air hose and solvent wash tank. I used Scotch Brite on the bores and pistons. It was very much like Scotch Brite but a little more than half the cost. A green mesh looking stuff that shined the pistons and bores up like brand new. Packaging got tossed but I have a lot of the green meshy stuff left over. And I did replace the short rubber flex brake hose on the swing arm. RIDE SAFE.

[Raverez]

. I didn't look at buying Steel Braded lines due to the fitment, either too short or too long.

Yep, gonna try to KISS this job.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Well I got my New Front Brake Lines installed yesterday and What a PITA it was to bleed them. I replaced both front rubber lines and spent over Five hours just trying to get fluid to bleed at the Calipers. I filled each caliper with fluid, connected the lines and used a C-clamp to push the pistons in to get fluid to go up into the lines so I would have less air in the lines while bleeding them. I also bled the Master Cylinder. I ended up putting a  clear hose  Filled about half way with fluid on the bleeders so that when I opened the bleeders, (one at a time), the air would come out and when I released the brake it would such fluid back in the system, instead of air. Then repeat several times until I did not see any air bubbles, kinda like reverse bleeding. I also had to take the master cylinder off of the handlebar and pump the lever ,when I did this pressure would start to pump up and I reinstalled the master cylinder and bled them again,(for the Hundredth time) , and when I bled them I was back to square one, no pressure. I finally took the hose off of the master cylinder and took the calipers back off and pushed the pistons in on both calipers to push the air back up through the lines ,all while trying not to get Brake fluid on the paint. After doing this I finally started to feel that I was getting some pressure to the calipers  so I closed the system and finally have front brakes again. I may try bleeding them again at a later date, but for now, I am Done With it. I hope that if any of you replace the front lines, you don't have the trouble that mine gave me.

[Misfit]

Well I got my New Front Brake Lines installed yesterday and What a PITA it was to bleed them. I replaced both front rubber lines and spent over Five hours just trying to get fluid to bleed at the Calipers. I filled each caliper with fluid, connected the lines and used a C-clamp to push the pistons in to get fluid to go up into the lines so I would have less air in the lines while bleeding them. I also bled the Master Cylinder. I ended up putting a  clear hose  Filled about half way with fluid on the bleeders so that when I opened the bleeders, (one at a time), the air would come out and when I released the brake it would such fluid back in the system, instead of air. Then repeat several times until I did not see any air bubbles, kinda like reverse bleeding. I also had to take the master cylinder off of the handlebar and pump the lever ,when I did this pressure would start to pump up and I reinstalled the master cylinder and bled them again,(for the Hundredth time) , and when I bled them I was back to square one, no pressure. I finally took the hose off of the master cylinder and took the calipers back off and pushed the pistons in on both calipers to push the air back up through the lines ,all while trying not to get Brake fluid on the paint. After doing this I finally started to feel that I was getting some pressure to the calipers  so I closed the system and finally have front brakes again. I may try bleeding them again at a later date, but for now, I am Done With it. I hope that if any of you replace the front lines, you don't have the trouble that mine gave me.

No need for all of that trouble. Next time use a large syringe and push the fluid up from the bleeder.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Hey Misfit, I will try to remember the Syringe  Method If I ever have to do it again, which is a possibility  as I own three Valkyrie's.
.