Just got my bike back from it's 10K service a few days ago. The rear brakes were very spongy. The reservoir ended up being cracked and it had leaked out almost all the fluid. My mechanic installed a new reservoir and then filled and bled the brakes. The brake pedal still goes ALL the way down and is very spongy. I took it back to the shop and we manually bled the brakes w/ me there helping. I still have the same issue. Not sure what's up but we bled and bled until there wasn't any fluid left for us to keep going. No change at all what so ever in the brake pedal and I'm not about to go out riding long distances w/ it like this. Can anyone shed some light? I've seen the spongy front brakes but nothing for the rear. Did the search of the forum but came up w/ stuff that had nothing to do w/ brakes. HELP! I want to ride my Harley!!!

 

my thoughts:

check your lines. you may have a crack/leak. if you bled them 3 times and have new pads, there may be a leak or the reservoir top/gasket is loose/gasket.

i just had this nightmare with my old jeep-

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/br...wrong-2627362/

see page 2

 

The brakes were bled once by him w/ the pump and then manually w/ me helping. He said my pads are good (just had a 10K service done) and my reservoir had to be replaced. He borrowed one from another bike (not Harley) and put it on mine. The reservoirs look the same. Maybe that has something to do w/ it? We bled the brakes down until there wasn't any fluid left to bleed anymore. There wasn't any air in the lines either. It's been sitting since I got it back the 2nd time. Not seeing any leaks just yet. Might go w/ new pads next. I need her up and running before the Oyster Run next month. There's also a "Sturgis Canada" rally I'd like to check out next week.

 

Go to the Tech Brakes section, where there are Stickies on helping to cure soft brakes. Regardless of your best efforts, you still have air trapped IMHO. Bleeding brakes can be a simple or darned difficult job, in my extensive experience, no guarantee of what will happen. Patience and dogged determination are your friend!

 

My mechanic said there wasn't any air in the system as it was bled over and over but it was Friday so…maybe he was in a hurry to get out of the shop. We went through a whole bottle of fluid just bleeding them. How long can it take?

 

There's no easy answer to that I'm afraid. I installed a new rear caliper and brake line on one occasion and the darned thing was bled and solid with just a few tentative pushes on the pedal. The undisturbed fronts took me until the following day - they just wouldn't firm up. You may well find that when you tackle them again - with a clear head and fresh determination, that they roll over real easy!

 

u have air trapped somewhere ---

2 things u can try --
depress the brake all night long with a string or cord
let sit alll night then see what happens the next day

try to loosen the rear caliper -- dont remove it all together - just loosen the bolts that hold it --- then bleed it once , thats it see if it gets better

 

oh also check if the gasket/seal is on the cap correct if not seated normal u will not get pressure
also as your bleeding the brake ---- tap on the line and fittings with something - or smack it with ur fingers




sorry didnt see that some1 posted that already sorry cvaria

 

The rear brakes on a Sporty CAN be a bitch to bleed sometimes.
One trick that has worked for me several times in the past to get the last bit of air out once the brake is functional, is to loosen the reservoir cap and then tie or weight down the brake pedal so it stays depressed and leave it sit like that overnight. If it gets better but still not 100%, take the bike for a ride, vibration gets the air bubbles moving, then repeat the overnight tie-down of the pedal again.

The same process works for the front brake, which is also simplier, because it's easier to tie back the lever to the handlebar grip.

 

You can also remove any clamp holding the brake hose in position, where you then unbolt the caliper, raising and pointing its bleeder upwards, where any residual trapped air in both the hose and the caliper can more easily travel upwards and out the bleeder valve during the bleeding procedure.

I've found that vacuum bleeders work the best and are also the quickest method.

=8^)