How to improve 929 front brake lever feel?

Hey guys,

It has been a while. I dusted off my 929, installed a new battery and took it out for a spin. I noticed a few things one of which is front brakes stop fine but lever has always been a bit mushy feeling and now, even with lever set in position furthest away from handle bar, lever still comes in too close to handle bar before activating brakes. Anyone have any ideas about how to improve this?

In past i changed fluid, bled brakes ( I even have banjo bolt bleeder up top with SS lines) and installed new pads even tho old ones were less than half used.

Any suggestions? I hear clieaning exposed parts of pistons in calipers and then pushing them all way back into calipers helps to bring lever out and firm it up. I imagine this works by getting a bit of brake fluid on sides of pistons, lubricating them which in turn, when pistons pushed back out, lubricate seals, allowing pistons to move more freely with less tendency for seals to grip and pull back on pistons which would have the effect of increasing brake lever travel. Not to sure about this... just thinking... which can be dangerous!..

Look fwd to your input! Rydman.

Bleed the brakes more.

Depends on how long the bike has sat idle, you may want to change the fluid. Brake fluid will attract moisture thus introducing air in the lines.

If you've already changed the fluid, take the handle of a light screwdriver and tap on the lines a bunch, this frees up the bubbles and gets them to rise to the top of the system. Then bleed the system with the bleeder up at the master cylinder, or tip the bike back and forth wile pressing and releasing the lever to let the bubbles flow through the master cyl. and into the reservoir.

With SS lines you should be able to get them nice and firm with fresh fluid and a good bleed.

BTW, are you Stuart Rydman that used to come to Andy and My trackdays?

Welcome back, Stu! How ya been?

I'll just throw in a +1 to what they all said to stay on topic.

One and the same!

Hey Stew...where have you been hiding? Like Steve said, you need to bleed...and bleed...and bleed again if necessary, to get the lever firm.

Yes, that's me. were you the two guys who used to ride the white "short" bus to the track with all your gear in it?

RedRider, NHfirefighter13, Andy George,
Thanks for the welcome back so to speak! I have been busy with work, some home improvemet and a lot of other stuff has happened. I won't bore you with all of it.

I agree with RedRider's signature: "Nap time is more important to me than lap time these days" Too funny!

Anyway, I will change fluid and bleed brakes ....and bleed some more. When done bleeding, go for a ride, then bleed some more the next morning. As I recall, 929 is a bit of a pain to get all air out of lines.My bike has been sitting for the better part of 2 years.

Have you tried the brake lever gig? Pull the lever back against the bar (or as far as it will go), strap it there with bungee cords, belt, duct tape, rubber bands, whatever. Let it sit that way overnight, occasionally tapping the calipers, banjos, lines from bottom to top, including top banjo and master cylinder.
In the morning, remove then re-seat the master cylinder cap and remove whatever you used to hold back the lever.

You still have abtech's Ohlin R/T's?

that was gonna be my first suggestion. No amount of bleeding ever got my brakes to where I wanted them. The Brembo did.

2 years the fluid is junk probably. Flush then bleed.

Yup. Still do that too.

RedRider, Yes still have Ohlins forks and shock out back. Still love it!!

Nd4spd, I agree new master would probably make a huge improvement but that is the $500 solution. I will try pushing pistons in to calipers, replacing fluid and bleeding brake system first. Current setup got me around Grattan and Gingerman safely for 5 + years. I know current setup can work better annd feel better than it does now. I will do all this this Friday.

Re master cylinders, I know Brembo makes good quality stuff but its pricey. Has anyone tried aftermarket ones from Nissin? I was looking for a master cylinder for a 2003 Kawa Z1000 I used to own. I found Nissin made a radial one and it came complete with reservoir, hose , mtg bracket, brake light switch. and it cost about 60% of what Brembo equivalent cost at the time. May be a case of you get what you pay for though. I never did buy it.
http://www.braketech.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84&Itemid=101
Brakes on Z1000 were so weak compared to 929's, I actually scared myself more than once on Z when I reached for the lever, squeezed, squeezed some more and darn, I still wasn't scrubbing off enough speed! I needed all 4 fingers to squeeze lever enough to stop in a hurry!

I would think you'd be able to get really good braking performance without having to upgrade to an expensive radial master cylinder. I've been able to get good feel on all the bikes I've had with just a good flush of new fluid, SS lines, and good pads. Heck, even my VFR's brakes feel pretty decent. Now if you're master cyl. isn't working up to snuff that could be an issue, but even then I bet you could replace it with another stock unit, and it wouldn't even have to be a radial setup. My R6 has awesome lever feel, and it's not a radial m/c.

Are you let down just with the feel of the brakes, or braking performance in general? If it's braking power too, maybe you'd want to go with a more agressive pad. Different pads can really transform your brakes.

$500? A Brembo 19x18 is around $260. Brembo, 19x18 Master Cylinder

I don't get how strapping the lever to the bar would help this. Once you pull the lever you seal off the brake lines from the reservoir, so there's no way the bubbles can get out of the system. They could rise, but they'd still be stuck in the system. Also, with pressure on the system air bubbles will collapse (to some extent, depending on the line pressure), making it more difficult to get them to rise to the top of the lines.

Steven George88,
Braking performance is no issue. main concern is how far lever comes back to bar before brakes engage. Lever feel is a bit soft, spongy but then my 929 has always been that way compared to other model bikes brake levers. This may be by design because when I apply brakes, I get a lot of stopping power with little lever effort, so if lever was really hard, I would probably launch myself over wind screen

Luvtolean,
I agree stock system is very good when operating properly. This is why first step will be to replace fluid and bleed. Possibly new pads if necessary.
Leaks... on my bike? I don't think so . Now, my bleeding technique, that may be an issue. but I am pretty careful and think I know what I am doing LOL!

Honda Gal Too,
Check Brembo prices closely, As I recall you have to buy master cyl, then you have to buy each component separately: reservoir, hose, mounting bracket, if you need brake light switch (not sure Brembo offers brake switch). By the time you add it all up, it is quite a bit more than $220 for Nissin radial master with all this hardware included. I admit, I checked all this out about 4 years ago so things may have changed.