Triumphrat

Creative · 07-27-2009, 05:02 PM

Long story short, I am a new rider and I dumped my bike in a parking lot by accidently leaning on the throttle while making a right turn into a parking stall. I am fine - the bike was not hurt bad.

I cracked the handle clamp (holds the front brake, mirror, and brake fluid to the handle bars) and a turn signal cover. I also scratch the bike a little.

I replaced everything and have learned from my mistake. But now my front brake lever takes a lot more pull to engage. I have adjusted the tension from 4 to 1 but it is definitely not like it was before. It takes a lot more to make the bike stop. While waiting for the part the brake handle just hung loose not attached to anything but the cable.

Is there something else I need to check? A friend suggested I might have to bleed the brakes but this just doesn't make sense to me?

Suggestions please.

AaronP220R · 07-27-2009, 05:15 PM

You just might need to bleed them or replace the master cylinder. If there's a small hair line crack it in air will get in. Or it might be the caliper.

If braking force is going down and handle travel is increasing then you're compressing something inside the brake lines other than fluid.

Creative · 07-27-2009, 05:18 PM

Thanx, I will check for cracks and try bleeding the brakes.

AaronP220R · 07-27-2009, 05:37 PM

I would start there. If you do find a leak then replace the part and completely flush out the old fluid and replace with new. Brake fluid is hygroscopic which means it absorbs water (even from the air) so if there is a crack or leak you need to completely remove the old fluid and replace it.

Moisture contaminated fluid is BAD. Lowers boiling points, corrosive to the system XYZ. So...actually, I would be safe and probably flush it anways. Especially if you're loosing braking performance after a spill. My first inclination would be to check the brake line fittings on the mastercylinder and caliper to make sure they're tight. They simply could have been jared in the lay-down and loosened a little. If you find a loose fitting, tighten it and flush the system. If you find a crack, replace and flush the system.

MacBandit · 07-28-2009, 02:58 AM

It's likely that you got some air into the master cylinder when it was hanging there. It's usually pretty easy to get the air back out without bleeding the entire system. Also a complete bleed doesn't always get this air.

Sometimes it's just a matter of getting the master cylinder level and squeezing the lever very hard and then letting it go (letting it snap back to position). What this does is sometimes the an air bubble will attach it's to the head of the piston and is too large to get back through the reservoir holes. The snapping action breaks the large air bubble into small ones and allows them to move through the small holes. You will have to perform this action repeatedly to get the bubbles out. You can usually hear the bubbles pushing back into the reservoir if you hold your ear to it and gently pull the lever just a little.

If it doesn't work with the master cylinder level you may have to tip it to the left or right.

Creative · 07-28-2009, 10:49 PM

Thanx AaronP220R and MacBandit. I tried snapping back the lever and it did help a bit. My friend came over today and showed me how to bleed the brakes and after spilling some brake fluid it was back to normal.