I noticed today idling at a light that the front brake lever was flopping around with the vibration of the engine. I checked the fluid and it was about 1/2 of an inch from the top of the reservoir and looked good/clean. BTW, My front brakes are about 60%. 17K on the bike. Have no problems stopping.

Q: Is there any way (adjustment) to tighten up this lever? I'd freak if I had that much play in the clutch before it engaged!

Q: How high should the fluid be in the reservoir when checking fluid levels?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Tony

 

Unless you have visible signs of a leak don't fret about the level in the reservoir. It is a sealed system and has a sufficient amount to keep the system charged until you need to change your brake pads. (one caveat - If your master cylinder is mounted in such a precarious way that it could draw air you should raise the level to prevent that from happening) Then, when you are ready to change pads there will be room in the reservoir for the fluid you will displace from the calipers when installing the new pads.

All that being said, there is no adjustment to take the play out of the front brake. You can disassemble the unit and stretch the spring but chances are it still won't make much difference. I have rebuilt these things and still had no luck getting more leverage. Some will have nearly a full pull and others won't engage until they are less than an inch from the handgrip.

 

Try this: take off the caliper and spread the pads all the way back to their widest point, now put it back on and pump it back up. I do this fairly regularly and it puts the lever way back out to the 1st 3/8" of pull when it engages. don't mess with the fluid at all, just open them back up and re-install and pump, see if it works for you, AND, it's free

 

I'll try it Jax... what do you use to spread 'em? A screwdriver?