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[roadrunner]

Does anyone have any experience with a spongy front brake lever on a 04 FLHTCSE?  THis is the 4th time into the dealer.  The dealer says some are spongy and some are not?  They have check the seating of the front pads, rotor runnout is 3 and 4 hundreths, harley spec is 800, bleed the brakes and now are going to rebuilt the master cylinder.  The dealer says warranty wont cover the rebuild since all is within factory specs.  My issue is what is the spec for the front brake lever.  Thank

[Boatman]

I don't know the spec's, but my front brake lever is nice and firm.

[roadrunner]

Fix: Dealer rebuilt master cylinder and was covered under warranty (orginally said it wouldn't be covered).

[Garznhogs]

Too much travel was a problem right off the bat on wife's 04 RK, and it's a problem on my 04 seeg.  
Dealer did 'something' to wife's bike two different times now, and it's better, but not how I like it. Haven't thrown the issue at them about my bike yet.  Waaay too much travel, but not really spongy.
So, thanks for the ammo! A master cylinder rebuild just before it goes out of warrranty! allright!  [smiley=huepfenjump3.gif]

Garz   [smiley=smoking.gif]

[JR]

Does anyone have any experience with a spongy front brake lever on a 04 FLHTCSE?  THis is the 4th time into the dealer.  [highlight]The dealer says some are spongy and some are not? [/highlight] They have check the seating of the front pads, rotor runnout is 3 and 4 hundreths, harley spec is 800, bleed the brakes and now are going to rebuilt the master cylinder.  The dealer says warranty wont cover the rebuild since all is within factory specs.  My issue is what is the spec for the front brake lever.  Thank

It amazes me what comes out of some peoples mouths. My reply would be "well I want one that's NOT!" When it comes to brakes I want them right! I'm glad the dealer did what is right. I can't see the MOCO asking for a lawsuit over something as important as Brakes!

                                                                        JR [smiley=banana.gif]

[Twolanerider]

If it's a soft "pedal" on an 04 it's almost certainly a bleeding problem (especially if they've rebuilt the master cylinder).  From 04 to 05 one change was the change from silicone (DOT5) to DOT4 brake fluid.  

Silicone fluid is great in many ways.  But it is a complete pain in the ass to work with.  Agitation of just about any kind will cause the fluid to entrain air within it.  That's air that won't easily bleed out.  The fluid will just have to sit for awhile to let the air creep out of it before it can then be bled and actually push the air out as a separate entity.

Turning the bottle over too quickly or just shaking it up a bit is more than enough to cause this.  Pumping the lever too aggressively will do the same thing.  Entrained air is still air in the system.  And that's a soft pedal.

If you've got the time the best method to bleed DOT 5 is to let it gravity bleed.  Get one of those fill caps at a parts store that will let you set the fluid bottle in the master cylinder.  As the cylinder's volume goes down a little more fluid will transfer from the bottle to the cylinder.  SLOWLY turn the bottle upside down and stick it in the cylinder.  Hook a piece of rubber line on each bleeder screw, open the bleeders and walk off and leave it.  

Later wipe up the mess, close the bleeders, finish it off with one or two "standard" bleed attempts done VERY SLOWLY on the lever.  If you don't want to wait and let it gravity bleed for a couple of hours then do any bleeding you do attempt VERY SLOWLY on the lever.  Don't use a pressure bleeder or a vac type bleeder.  Either will agitate the fluid.  This issue with DOT 5 is why it can not be used on vehicles with ABS.  The brake pump will cause the same problem on an ABS car.

If you've got a soft pedal on a system that's been worked on though it's almost always a safe bet to assume you've got air in DOT5 fluid.  The stuff is just a total bitch to get bled out sometimes.

[schreijo]

I have 16,000 miles on my SEEG, had my brakes replaced and not ever had any softness.  Hope you got the situation resolved.