Yes I compressed the piston down before putting in the new pads.
There is not a return spring in the caliper, pads should ride close to the disc, in fact there should be some slight rubbing, if you seat your pads after you install a new set, that entails going out and getting up to about 30mph and hitting them hard almost coming to a complete stop and then let off, and doing that several (6-7) times, then riding a few thousand feet and letting them cool down, then again 30mph stops, at least 6 sets of this stopping and then it is still recommended that it takes 300 miles for the pads to seat the rest of the way. There are different version of how to seat the pads, read and do it however you feel is right for you.
Yes I cleaned the brake pads with brake cleaner and the piston was able to retract inside with no issue. And as for the brake fluid I used dot 4. I took apart the brake again and it's the same issue. There is no problem with the clearance as well, I don't see anything wrong or excessive that could possibly be banging against the side. Thanks man really appreciate the advice though.
Hmm yeah I read about that but I figured it'd be not good for my brakes since they squeak and i can't freely roll my tire backwards when it's on a rear stand. Let alone back it up into my garage without actually giving some effort. But I'll give it a try. And so everyone knows the alignment on my rear tire is perfect and the slack is just as perfect as well so it's not that either. Thanks man
OOPS, reread your above post -- disregard below suggestion.
Okay this I wasn't aware of, can you let me know how to adjust that so i can release some of the pressure? Would appreciate that a lot man. Actually just rode it around and did some subsequent rear braking at 30mph.
It is probably okay then if you rode it and it did fine, the free play adjustment is not necessary if you did not do it during the pads life cycle, I adjust mine ever so often to keep a certain feel on the pedal.
No worries I have the manual myself I'll take a gander at it. And as far as the smell of burning there was a smelling sensation of that sort. And the disc had a slight purple/red discoloration to it as well.
And as far as the alignment slot I went to go check and its in there.post a pic!
make sure you got the alignment slot back into the swing arm as well (I didn't a few years back, rear brake mounting shifted back, pinched line and eventually snapped itwas a good excuse to upgrade to ss line!)
As long as you keep the fluid level correct it will, as the fluid goes down if you don't add more it will get slightly longer at the end of the pad life, if you add fluid to compensate you have to remember to take that added fluid out when you do new pads, if not you compress the piston the fluid will not have a place to go, if you have the cap off when doing the piston push in on the caliper it will shoot all over the place. Adding fluid is one way or adjusting the pedal is another.
Hydraulic disc brakes always self adjust without adjustment of the lever or the pedal. This applies not only to motorcycles, but to all hydraulic disc brake systems. You do not need to add fluid as your brakes wear to keep the pedal (lever) travel the same.