When I squeeze my front brake lever not much happens at first, but if I really clamp on it, they really grab hard. Way too hard. Like lockup hard.
I does seem that the lever requires a bit too much to activate. The rotors don't seem warped, the pads LOOK ok, and I can't really read the fluid level because the lens is fogged up. Thoughts?

how long since your brakes were bled? open it up and take a look at the color and level of the fluid, if its old and brown or low or even has air in the line it may explain why its not working properly

To reiterate what silvasilv posted .....

If the lever is 'spongy' then you have air in the system ..... bleed the system.

If the lens is fogged up, then you have water in the system ... replace the fluid.

Doc

I was thinking the same thing, Doc, that if the lens is foggy, the fluid's contaminated.

Try this; take a screwdriver, being careful not to scratch the rotor and pry the pads back towards the caliper on all the pistons. Now start pumping the lever as if braking until the pads re-seat against the rotors and see if the lever isn't a lot fuller. I do that with mine and I get a much better feel with a lot less lever movement----jack

DocShadow wrote:
To reiterate what silvasilv posted .....

If the lever is 'spongy' then you have air in the system ..... bleed the system.

If the lens is fogged up, then you have water in the system ... replace the fluid.

Doc

I agree with Doc, but I would go straight to the change the fluid step. YOU MUST HAVE THE FRONT BRAKES WORKING FLAWLESSLY TO RIDE THE BIKE!!

coolalexrex wrote:
When I squeeze my front brake lever not much happens at first, but if I really clamp on it, they really grab hard. Way too hard. Like lockup hard.
I does seem that the lever requires a bit too much to activate. The rotors don't seem warped, the pads LOOK ok, and I can't really read the fluid level because the lens is fogged up. Thoughts?







Like the others said it sounds like you may have moisture in your fluid... You need to flush it real good and then you need to find out how the moisture is getting in there. It wont do you any good to replace just the fluid if it is going to happen again my .$02 worth sometimes you really do need both brakes ......Coug

I agree with flushing the system but I had the same problem on mine and this is what it turned out to be.

Take a look at the contact point between the brake lever actuator and the end of the piston in the master. Mine wore a divot in the piston which caused the actuator on the lever to "hang up". Result...lots of brake lever pressure with little result, then suddenly full brakes. I pulled the lever and polished up the end of the actuator and the divot on the master cyl piston and it fixed the problem. Now I make sure to keep a little synthetic grease on the contact point.

I figure the wear caused the initial force applied to the brake lever to try and push the piston sideways in the bore instead of linear until it popped past the wear point and then because I had a lot of pressure applied to the lever trying to stop it went to hard braking immediately.

Hope this makes sense, speedster

Opened up the master cylinder, what a mess! The fluid was so degraded that there were semi-solid white chunks in it! Picked those out with a clean screwdriver and let the lines gravity drain, then pumped the rest through with the lever. Made sure not to drain the cylinder reservoir completetly and filled her up until fluid bled clean. Much better, but still not perfect. I'll probably repeat the process next week, and look for another reservoir gasket. Now I have to learn how to ride with front brakes, and I'm cool with that comfort. Thanks for the advice fellas. I do have to look into the actuator wear as well, it's still a little sticky.

uhhhh I wouldn't ride without front brakes....
Glad you figured it out.

Steven