Hows this for a learning curve. Having a crack doing it myself and not paying someone to do it. I Ordered new front and rear brake pads for the beloved late 06 fatboy. Checked out the part # on the back of old pads which were 30-125, cool so I ordered a set online but couldnt help but notice the little tabs looked slightly different. Same part# 30-125 so I just presumed they would still fit , well thats when the fun just started. Pads arrived and I've taken rears off and am putting newbies in but they are a pain in the ass, I manage to get the outboard ones in with the caliper off but with the caliper back on I'm having a lot of trouble lining up the inboard pad and pushing through the pad pin bolts.  In my haste I have given them a whack or 2 in frustration to help them through with no success. Just when I thought I had them, I attempted to do up the pad bolts and found they wouldn't thread on. Thinking I had damaged them I re tapped both holes and bolts to be sure - still no success, then found I had damaged one of the metal bushes the pad pin sits in deep in the caliper, stopping it from threading in . F&%K, tried realigning with a pin punch only F&%Ked it more. Had to take the caliper off and apart to get access and drill out the out of shape bushing so the pad pin would sit. Put it all back together, put caliper back on bike and re installed the old pads and bingo no probs then bled the system so I'm back at stage 1. Turns out the pads I needed and that matched mine were part # 30-124  F&%K knows why mine have a different # on them but at the end of the day I screwed up and ordered the wrong pads. What have I learned today, double or triple check everything and if in doubt ask and also hide the bloody hammer. Can anyone point me to where I can find a list of changes to the 06-07-08 models as it is challenging to buy items not knowing these .What a day ,I'm finished and refuse to do anything else--beer aclock. Hope this helps someone having a go

 

Google "Harley parts finder" .... Click on one ... Follow the prompts to your year and model bike ... I use "Ronnies part finder" ... The parts are in US dollars, but gives you an idea the costs ..

Thanks mate, I see what you mean. I ended up saving Capital Harley Davidson to my favourites only as it enables Aust customers and Ronnies doesnt . They are in essence the same data base.Lots of info there that will keep me entertained for ages. Didnt know there were so many variations of models

Thanks again

 

I've seen the same problem arise at my local indy shop. This was a 2006 Springer , the last of the 1450 motors. Rear 4 piston caliper

Bike up on the hoist and the "new" pads are just a wee tad different on those pins like shown in your diagram.

They just took the pads to the bench grinder and caarefully "buffed" the offending pins until they fit !

No change to locating pins or anything major so all was fine.

I thought about  doing the same ,but had a element of doubt but now that youve mentioned it I will give it a go. Got nothing to lose as

I've ordered a set of new pads and I just so happen to have couple of sets to play with and then I'll have some spares. Why did Harley 

make these changes, they could have kept everything the same and made everything so much easier

thanks Tom

The mechanic , an ex Frasers "Harley trained" technician , reckoned it was to "keep ahead of the aftermarket" and in Frasers workshop they "modified" parts like this regularly to keep bikes on the road.

Personally maybe I've been lucky and always had or got the right pads at the right time. They can't have a ramp down for a day or more waiting for pads to come etc etc

+1 have done the buff on plenty of car pads over the years And would have done that if I didn't
Have the right pads on hand

around 08 they changed to a brembo brand caliper i think , allway check pad against da old 1's 1st before installing

& don't forget to flush out da system with new fluid every 12 mths  & bleed untill new fluid cumsout