Brakes

Those bolts must be made out of pot metal! the inside of the tool area on the heads of mine were loose to the socket when I took em off from whoever did them before me over torqued em (being an 05 probably doesn't help either). by the time I got em off they were almost rounded out to the point that when I went back on they rounded out so bad they wouldn't torque down. had to order new ones. I can't believe they are $12.14 each as cheaply made as they are................ Point is: DON'T OVER TORQUE THEM. they will strip out easily!
Before you do the job, check with allen hex socket to see if it fits tight in the head, if its a little loose, get you some new ones before you do the job.

EasTexRIII said:

Those bolts must be made out of pot metal! the inside of the tool area on the heads of mine were loose to the socket when I took em off from whoever did them before me over torqued em (being an 05 probably doesn't help either). by the time I got em off they were almost rounded out to the point that when I went back on they rounded out so bad they wouldn't torque down. had to order new ones. I can't believe they are $12.14 each as cheaply made as they are................ Point is: DON'T OVER TORQUE THEM. they will strip out easily!
Before you do the job, check with allen hex socket to see if it fits tight in the head, if its a little loose, get you some new ones before you do the job.

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So that's why my old Triumphs leaked like sieves. Newspaper on the floor was a necessary part you had to buy for parking them in the garage.

I wil hunt the tools down. DIY always costs more.

I've ordered new bolts. I tried to get copper slip grease. You can get it in the UK but not so much in the US. I managed to get EBC in Vegas to send me a few packets of the grease they use. EBC says to not put grease on the backs of the pads.

On another note, I just had the dealer replace the fork seals but one of them is still leaking. Could he have over filled it? Are after market seals no good?

dougl said:

So that's why my old Triumphs leaked like sieves. Newspaper on the floor was a necessary part you had to buy for parking them in the garage.

I wil hunt the tools down. DIY always costs more.

I've ordered new bolts. I tried to get copper slip grease. You can get it in the UK but not so much in the US. I managed to get EBC in Vegas to send me a few packets of the grease they use. EBC says to not put grease on the backs of the pads.

On another note, I just had the dealer replace the fork seals but one of them is still leaking. Could he have over filled it? Are after market seals no good?

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Ha Ha, DIY only cost more if you have to buy the required tools, after that your good to go. If dealership did the brakes you would've needed new bolts anyway. AND, DIY you always know it was done with the owners satisfaction, safety, ect as top priority

Do as EBC Suggests, no dressing on the pad backs.

A/M fork seals are probably not your problem. Ask the dealer if they made sure to thoroughly check that there are no tiny marks, burrs, gouges, scrapes, cuts, ect in the fork stanchion (Inner leg tube) That will cause leaks as well as even the tiniest bit of dirt/debris on the seal lip.
If there is any small damage to the stanchion, see this:

How to repair fork stanchion scratches

cr0ft said:

Better yet, get ones that measure Newton metres... oh wait, America.

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That reminds me, I need to pick up some Fig Newtons.

cr0ft said:

Better yet, get ones that measure Newton metres... oh wait, America.

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Actually mine has both scales on either side of the handle

Ridefree

Ridefree said:

Actually mine has both scales on either side of the handle

Ridefree

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By some miracle, my new Tekton torque wrench has nM as well as inch lbs.

Well I had to wait for at least 6 weeks for the dealer to finally fix a leaky fork seal, but I just replaced the front brake pads with EBC's. Quite proud of myself that I didn't break a brake line. They seem to work.

My 1978 Craftsman torque wrench also marked for metric and SAE.

DIY: I wanted to redo my bathroom. Contractor lowest bid was $20,000. I thought I'd do it myself. $20,000. When I was done, I had a new tile floor with electric heating, tiled shower enclosure, IR-activated hand drier, exhaust fan, new light over the shower, Toto toilet with washlet seat, convex lighted articulated shaving/make-up mirror, heated main mirror, and wall mounted auto-on hair drier. Oh, and about $9,000 in tools.

I liked the first one so much, I did the second one, and that one was about $11,000. And still had about $9,000 in tools left.

DIY on the Rocket -- already have a bunch of tools for the little parts. I don't have, and don't foresee having the ability to deal with the mass of separating big stuff -- so admire you folks able to lift the bike off the engine. I'll see if my Becker stand is sufficient for removing either wheel -- I'm optimistic in that I did purchase the Loctite LB8012 Moly paste 65% for the shaft drive. And curiously, I note the Loctite has a "Use by" date of April 2021 (five years' shelf life).

dougl said:

So I guess I need to go out and buy a torwue wrench and some allen sockets. Never put a torque wrench to my 1970 TR6R ot 1983 Sportster.

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IMFASTTOO said:

THATS WHY they fell apart LOL

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Now that's funny!

dougl said:

Well I had to wait for at least 6 weeks for the dealer to finally fix a leaky fork seal, but I just replaced the front brake pads with EBC's. Quite proud of myself that I didn't break a brake line. They seem to work.

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You might be interested in my thread I posted not long ago about brake squeal. I started having squeal issues and as other members pointed out the EBC pads need to be "bedded in". I didn't realize this.

Brake squeal