V-Rod front brake rotors

I just don't get it. I've had, for the most part ,OEM rotors on bikes forever and have yet to warp a rotor. I now have a heavy bagger and have traveled the highest mountain passes where you can smell the burning brakes of four wheelers for 10 miles. On a heavy bagger you would think that if there was a condition that would heat up brakes enough to warp them it would be under conditions like these where you see a sign of 10 miles of straight down such as Monarch pass in Colorado. What in the world would cause such heat to warp a rotor? Aggressive riding is not far from what I do on my heavy bagger. I just don't get it. I have been over the same passes pulling a travel trailer with a truck. I know that hitting the brakes hard and letting up on the tow vehicle and using engine as brake goes a long ways. I've seen brand new brakes under such conditions fail from glazing over in less than a few miles. whereas applying brakes correctly giving them a chance to cool having no effect what-so-ever. So, I am baffled whether there is truly a design flaw or just proper braking techniques under extreme conditions. I'm not accusing here....a vehicle should be able to hold up under most conditions. But, like I say..I've seen brand new brakes become toast after only a few miles in places that I have been. Rotor size may play a part. But for the most part, friction dragging on a brake with a slight pressure instead of heavy braking will heat it up far more than heavy breaking for a shorter time.

The fact that Harley offered to replace the front wheel and hub as well as the rotors if Ruger would pay the labor makes me think Harley thinks the problem is with the wheel/hub. If there was a problem there you could put a perfectly flat rotor on and it would still wobble. It would be worth checking runout on the rotors when they're first installed. I wonder if you can true rotors while they're on the bike like they can on cars these days?

[Donwe]

Originally Posted by milindh

The fact that Harley offered to replace the front wheel and hub as well as the rotors if Ruger would pay the labor makes me think Harley thinks the problem is with the wheel/hub. If there was a problem there you could put a perfectly flat rotor on and it would still wobble. It would be worth checking runout on the rotors when they're first installed. I wonder if you can true rotors while they're on the bike like they can on cars these days?

Correct! there is a wheel machining issue, the MOCO has admitted that, as far as having "enough" brakes goes( that was mentioned in an earlier post), the 06 D models came with the Brembo package, plenty of brakes for that bike.