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Front Brake Lever Travel

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One For The Road

Member
Hi All,
I have a 2005 Ultra Classic. The front brake lever seems to have a lot of travel before the brakes grab. It goes most of the way to the grip before any braking action. They work okay once the play is out of the lever. I flushed the system using a vacuum bleeder and filled it with fresh brake fluid. Still has as much play. May be time for a master cylinder rebuild.

Thanks
 
Sounds like you know your answer....that would be my course of action. The piston in the master cylinder is probably bleeding off pressure and the fluid is blowing past the oring/seal.
 
What you likely have is a ridge of baked on schutz on the caliper pistons. These ridges catch on the rubber sealing boots and pull the pistons out, so you need to pump a couple of times before positive engagement. The symptoms of this are good, positive brake, once you pump a time or two. if it still feels a but mushy, once you pump to engagement, you likely have air in the lines. Check you brake liner thickness as well.

Once you need to clean off the ridges on the caliper pistons, you would benefit from a complete rebuild of caliper and grips. It is not too hard, or too expensive. It just requires care and time.

Good luck,
Rich P
 
My 03 roadking had the same issue. I flushed and rebuilt the master cylinder. Didn't get any better. Then I removed front brake calipers , removed pads and cleaned pistons with brake clean and a brush. That fixed the issue. Also put in a set of russel speed bleeders.
 
One For The Road said:
Hi All,
I have a 2005 Ultra Classic. The front brake lever seems to have a lot of travel before the brakes grab. It goes most of the way to the grip before any braking action. They work okay once the play is out of the lever. I flushed the system using a vacuum bleeder and filled it with fresh brake fluid. Still has as much play. May be time for a master cylinder rebuild.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Separate brake calipers from lower legs. Remove pads clean brake dust from around caliper pistons. Remove front brake reservoir cover and take some of the brake fluid out. Compress the caliper pistons in. Reinstall brake pads and attach calipers cycle brake lever until you feel pressure build up. Bled at caliper bleeder. See if that helps if it feels better but not firm enough then remove reservoir cover again secure the brake lever as far back against the grip as you can and secure it there with a cable tie or whatever you have and let it stay in that position for a few days. That will allow any air in system to work it’s way to reservoir. Remove cable tie and check brake lever action. If it had not gotten any firmer then you might have the rubber brake line hose portion expanding when you are applying lever pressure and not giving you a firm lever until the hose expansion has stopped. Hope these idea help.
 
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