Front Brake problems-need ideas

[Pecker]

My '05 Tour Deluxe is having some serious front brake issues, need ideas on where to start. The bike has about 50k on it, I'll admit, the brake fluid is about a year over due on flushing. My problems are these: the front brake lever is hard to squeeze - meaning if I squeeze the lever with the normal force to moderatly slow down, I barely get any braking action, if I squeeze harder the brakes just about lock up; other issue- when I do find that sweet spot in the front brake lever for good moderate braking, the brakes pulsate pretty bad (like a warped disc) and the front end dances all over the place. Needless to say, this thing is scary to try to ride. I hope with all of these brilliant minds here, I might find an answere

Thanks,

Dave

[Pecker]

Thought I might need to add a little more info. I have already cleaned and lubed the lever pivot, I could not see any signs of wear. I have also checked my runout on both front rotors, they are straight and true. I have also cleaned the slide clips for the brake pads, thinking the pads were sticking on the caliper.

Dave

[Yammer Dan]

Are they releasing as they should? May need to clean calipers.

[Pecker]

Yes, the calipers are releasing, the wheel spins free.

[Condor]

You might toss another set of pads on....and check to see if the surface of the rotors haven't got some junk on them...

[rod]

Did you grease the lever where it meets the plunger? Flushing the fluid and cleaning the pistons would also help. That helped mine a lot. Rod

[PBJ]

Take some fine grit sand paper 1500 or more and gently sand the rotors. A friend once told me most time unseeable build up on the rotors mimics a warped disc. But the pressure issue seems more like moisture in the lines.

[Pecker]

Thanks for the input. My plans are to flush the brake fluid (never a bad idea), revisit the frnt brake lever-clean and lube as needed, while the reservoir is empty I will pull the plunger and boot to see if any gunk is built up in there, lightly sand the rotors, and either replace the front pads or de-glaze the ones currently in use.

My feeling is it's something fairly simple that I need to add to my yearly maintenance list. I'll keep you posted.

Dave

[GaryZ]

Although I have not had this happen on a motorcycle, I did have a collapsed brake line (rubber) cause my truck brakes to act really weird. The lines did not pass fluid at first, then extra pressure would force some fluid through. Fluid stayed trapped when releasing the brakes causing them to drag. The result was the truck would pull violently to the right under initial braking (the right side was working correctly) and then pull to the left when leaving a stop (the left side was dragging).

 

[flb_78]

This happens on my 99 when I don't change the brake fluid.

 

The lever feels "notchy". I would drain and flush the front brake lines first before I tore anything down.

[Pecker]

Problem solved! I flushed the brake fluid, lightly sanded the front rotors, scuffed the front pads and pulled the lever off and cleaned & lubed. Not sure what the fix was, I'm leaning more toward the fresh fluid and sanding the rotors but I'm not positive. Regardless, this will be part of my annual maintenance moving forward.

Thanks for all the good suggestions, once again $12 well spent.

Dave