Ok so it’s possible I’m just brake paranoid. I don’t feel as confident in them as I used to. I swear they are a damn sight spongier than they used to be.
The thing is, I only had them serviced last month, or perhaps the end of August. They (Motorcycle Pitstop) agreed that they were bad and after trying a few things (including scraping the pads) they replaced the brake fluid and the pads.
They were nice and sharp again for a good couple of days but now they’re going back to what I feel is really bad again.
I understand that brakes will bed in and fade over time but I’m sure they shouldn’t get this bad and certainly not this quickly.
Now, I admit that through my paranoia I’ve been a bit heavy handed with them to make sure that, if I need to I can actually stop in an emergency, and also I was at Brands Hatch the other week which will have faded them also.
I’m just not confident in them at the moment. I’ve thought about getting some braided hoses.
Any ideas as to what the problem is? Bear in mind I’m mechanically dyslexic :ermm:
Braided hoses would always help the feel. You might try bleeding the brakes again just to be sure there was no air trapped when the fluid was changed.
One tip. The day before you have the brakes bled, before putting your bike away for the night pull the brake lever hard and secure it with a cable tie or some wire. This forces all the micro bubbles down to the calipers and makes bleeding a doddle.
Good bit of advice is get a 50-70ml syringe, and a length of clear tube to fit end of syringe, and bleed nipples on the calipers - undo cap on top of reservoir by brake lever, remove some of the fluid in the reservoir - so there’s still fluid covering the exit hole at the bottom of reservoir (can use the syringe and tube to do this - dispose of the brake fluid if dirty - local council dumps should have tank for this, or speak nicely to your local bike workshop), then fill syringe with new brake fluid, attach tubing to bleed nipple on caliper, loosen bleed nipple and slowly push brake fluid into caliper, keep a close eye on the reservoir - don’t want to overfill, as brake fluid is evil, corrosive stuff (prob idea to put cloth around the reservoir to catch any excess fluid.
Remember to tighten bleed nipple up, if you have to remove tubing to decant any further excess fluid in the reservoir. Don’t want fluid running down your calipers onto the wheel.
This should ensure that any bubbles are pushed up and out of the reservoir.
Not sure what volume required - might be in manual. Shouldn’t be too much. If replacing dirty brake fluid, you’ll be able to see when new fluid has reached the reservoir. Obviously when completed, re-tighten bleed nipple, then replace reservoir cap.
Do this with the other brake caliper and bob’s your uncle.
Can do this to bleed brakes, and after you have fitted the new lines.
This job is best done with mate - makes it easier.
I’ve got some tubing and some fresh brake fluid if you want to give this a go at the weekend ? Bled the brakes on the Triumph and improved them no end.
Might be worth taking the pads out and making sure the pistons move freely and the seals are clean, only take 10 mins a side.
Is that where you got your nickname then?Were you scraped up off the road?So is Mrs Kill a para-ambulancy type person then or a roadsweeper?;):PANYWAY!!! Are the brakes sorted mate?
Well actually yes! I have had a number of accidents or dropped my bike under different circumstances (even thrown paddies when I’ve done so) and because my “friends” (;)) find it most amusing, I decided that RoadKill was the most appropriate handle to use on here :)Mrs Kill is indeed a London paramedic. Her first impression of me was “oh no a computer nerd who likes bikes”. I guess my charms won her over.As for my brakes, I didn’t bleed them this weekend. I didn’t get a chance in the end, I slept through most of Saturday after not getting back from “Poppins” on Friday until 5am.Grim, however, kindly gave my bike a bit of a push outside of poppins. His opinion was that although they weren’t as sharp as he would expect a sports bike to be, they weren’t anything to be worried about. Especially in the wet where I could lock the front wheel up.That in itself made me feel much better. Being too close to the situation meant that I couldn’t think about it objectively.I will still try bleeding them though. If it doesn’t make any difference, it is still a useful skill to learn.
Ummmmm 
