Go Sportsters

Or you could do like I did and zip-tie it in place. I get bags of black ones from Ace; looked for black and orange zip-ties from the MoCo but it seems to be the one thing they left out of their accessory catalog.

I just zip tied it on the bottom.

Supposedly 07+ have the improved clip, didn't inquire as to cost.

You might have bent the pins and now the caliper cannot move as much as needed.

There is a related problem with not getting the caliper properly positioned on the pins during reassembly and bending the mount or caliper, but I cannot remember the specifics.

Here's my 09 sporster custom.


















About a month ago did a 2,000km roundtrip thru mindanao. Had to put the bike on 4 boat rides each way. It was really fun. The longest ride we did in a day was 500km, we only stoped for gas.

had a 94 fxr new & the rear pads were gone at 4k. i dont use rear brake that much, mainly front. they dragged continually, H-D design flaw? not sure

I know what you mean. On my '95, I use mine mainly to stop them from squealing.:huh

The rear brake is fairly worthless. I use it only as a parking brake when stopped on hills. Even still, just curious about the heat - I'm don't know too much about these new fangled "disc brakes" and consequently don't know how much heat/drag is normal.

I agree, rear brake is crap. Not much bite.

For the rear brake, it's not necessarily the caliper itself. I went to the HD Full Floating rotors and Lyndall racing pads... whole new animal now.

Front went to a floater also with a GSXR 4 pot Tokico with Vesrah Sintered pads.

The Sportster actually stops now.

Although I'd still like to try dual Tokico 4 pots up front... Still waiting to find a good deal on a set of dual disk sliders.

I can make a good argument against that point of view.

I learned how to use the rear brake in my dirt biking days where using the rear brake to slide the back end around is a vital skill. In street bikes, the same, but less aggressive, technique is normally called trail braking.

There have been reports in magazines where using the front and back brakes together reduces stopping distance by about 5 to 10 feet. I'll take that any day, and there have been some days when I wish I had it.

Next, using the rear brake can actually reduce fork dive and reduce risk of locking up the front wheel by taking some of the braking force off the front end.

If you ever have had the front brakes fail, you had better know where the rear brake is. Yea, I've been there, done that. But if you never use the rear brake, it is not likely you will find it in an emergency.

Most guys who don't know how to use the rear brake say they don't want the rear to slide out. Using the rear brake only when going straight will fix that problem. If you can't use the rear brake without sliding out the rear, you shouldn't be riding a motorcycle.

Other guys say the rear brake is too sensitive and locks up. My response to that is fix it so it doesn't. Too much air pressure in the rear tire can cause a small contact patch and cause easy rear wheel lock up. Try to adjust the brake pedal down a bit. Try a different pad compound. On dirt bikes, I have cut off some brake pad area to get a better feel on overly sensitive brakes.

My 08 flops open all the time also. I just zip tie it, but it was at the shop recently and I forgot to redo it. Riding this weekend with a pillion and she said 'something is hitting my leg' while riding down the road.

Agree with all of that. Also, dragging the rear brake works wonders for low speed maneuvering...

Most people who study this shit say that the front brake does between
80-90% of our braking work for us.

When confronting something like... oh ... maybe... a drunk stepping off of a curb, I like the idea of having that extra 10-20%.

i wear out the rear brake on the XR. that and lots of clutch slipping is the ONLY way to ride it around in tight spaces. use it with the front for most stops, too ... the twin discs up front are a little clumsy and grab when the bike gets around walking speed. it'll put you on the ground in a big hurry. the rear brake wont stop the thing on its own, but it definitely stabilizes it and helps it stand up when you're going slow or coming to a stop.

You guys should upgrade your Brake Pads to Lyndall Pads. That will add a bunch of stopping power to those sporties.

When I rode choppers and bobbers in the late 70's/early 80's, the front brake was the first thing to go for looks and weight reduction.

Rear drums provided 100% of the stopping power! :eek1

I kinda like these newfangled front brake thingies!

Hey guys, I have a question about the 96 sportster I just bought not to long ago and I do not know much about them.

Quick run down:
I bought the bike from a friend of my dad who said it was a 1200. I know that its registered as and originally was an 883, but how am I to tell if the conversion was actually been done without tearing into it? Is that even possible?

Also, I had a super e carb installed and it has been jetted as if it was a 1200. Would it even run if it was an 883 with a carb set up like that?

Thanks fellas.

Look for signs of wrenches on the cylinder bolts. The 883 was way slower than the 1200 so if yours is fairly quick its a good chance it has the 1200 cylinders in it. Snag a ride on a 883 and compare?

Other than that, you could remove a rocker box and measure one cylinder.