front brakes

hi all,

i have a k5 650 pointy, the problem i find with itis that the front brakes are proper ****e.

i have put braided lines on along with double hh pads. i have also renewed the fluid using 5.1 brake fluid.
is it me or do you find the brakes poor?
what i mean by poor is that there is very little feel at the lever.
the lever also travels a fair way towards the bar and feels spongy, i
have bled the brakes thoroughly but they still feel the same.

are ther any upgrades i could add ie; master cylinder from a gixer etc etc, if so anyone recommend anything?

cheers steve

I changed the calipers on my 2000 curvy helped masivly

[fizzwheel]

Sounds like you have air in the system and you need to bleed your brakes to get the air out. Have a search plenty of threads on the topic, It can be a bit time consuming but its worth taking some time over it, if you haven tried it already that is.

can't be any air in system as they have had nearly 1 litre of fluid bled through?

cheers steve

[fizzwheel]

It definately sounds like air, spongey lever that goes back to the bar, no feel at the lever...

What you could try doing is to zip tie the brake lever to the bar and then leave it like that overnight, it might dislodge any air in there.

[yorkie_chris]

Strip and rubber grease seals, all slides and rubbers. Bled out system from all banjos and joints?

[jambo]

If you bleed a system properly, you can do the whole lot with a 250ml bottle, if you're missing a trick, you can put a litre through it and still have a tiny bit of air in the system. You may note that the master cylinder banjo bolt is often the highest point in the system (excluding the reservoir). This means a small air bubble often gets trapped there. Use a spanner, some rag and some patience and you can use the banjo bolt as a bleed nipple:

Compress brake lever
loosen banjo bolt off a little with spanner until fluid starts escaping with bubbles
Tighten bolt
Release lever.

Repeat a few times, may well help. Also take the time out to see how the lever itself feels, if the action doesn't feel smooth, remove lever, clean up the pivot , lever, and master cylinder mount with an oily rag and then re-fit, adding some oil. It's amazing how much difference this can make if the levers sticking on dirt.

HTH

Jambo

[flymo]

Where abouts 'up North' are you?

jambo and fizzwheel are right.
just fitted braided lines on my sv. at first felt cxxx (sorry eu keyboard)
tieded brake overnight to bleed ,,
world of differeance

worth the time

thanks for the input but i do know how to bleed the system.
i have tried the bungy around the lever.
the lever is brand new and lubed.

can anyone get a solid feel at the lever ?

flymo (next to the angel)

thanks again