1.) How do you remove the brake pin with the swing arm in the way? There is no way to get a socket on that pin. 2.) With the caliper on the rotor, how can the pistons be pushed back into the body? You would need to force a piece of metal between the rotor and the brake pad, therefore possibly scoring or marking the rotor. The HD forums has a post that says to remove the bolt at the rear of the swing arm, and then slide the caliper forward to remove the brake pad pin. Not sure if I want to follow a post from a forum thread in regards to brakes, because I am not sure if the caliper would rotate forward with one bolt removed. Wouldn’t I be putting stress on the banjo bolt assembly? If you could send any insights my way as to how to perform this, I would appreciate it greatly. Hate like hell; taking it to a dealer—I’m far away (1 hour) and the expense would be, as usual, outrageous. Thanks again for taking the time.
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You can move the caliper forward by loosening/removing bolts #1 and #3. Before doing so, use the box end of a 1/4″ wrench to loosen the pad pin. Bend back the brake line retaining clip to free the brake line. As long as you do not let the caliper hang by the line, the banjo assembly will be fine. You can gently pry against the rotor with a non-marring tool to compress the caliper pistons. This is specifically what the Harley Davidson manual tells us to do. However, if you have the caliper removed and in your hand, remove the pads and pry the pistons back with flange pliers or large retaining ring pliers.
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I would suggest buying a service manual.