Never been happy with the spongy front brake on the Fatbob since having it.
Bled the fluid thru with a Multi Vac, along with other beeding tricks e.g. crack top banjo to find air ...... Nothing!
Dealer re bled when I got the first servcie done but a very small improvement. "Normal Fatbob feel" was the feedback
After some research and don't hold me to the facts though but apparently the calipers have a new seal from 08 when the twins discs came out on the FB. Air gets stuck behind the seal and pots causing the spongy feeling. (Perhaps someone with more HD knowledge than me can explain this to others.)
SOLUTION:
1.Take off the calipers
2. Take off Master Cylinder lid
3.Press the lever until the pads are squeezed together (Dont do this if you pads are worn or the pistons may pop out).
4. Add small amount of brake fluid to keep brake fluid level.
5. Squeeze them until you get no more travel inwards on the pads.
6. Use a screwdriver or similar to pry the pads apart enough to get the caliper back on the disc.
7.Tighten all bolts
8. Pump lever and hopefully you have brake lever more to your liking. Mine improved 50%.
9. I did crack bottom bleeders and had small amount of air on the first crack and squeeze. Nothing after........
The brake is now more like what I expected from the new bike. Even my Bunky had better lever than the FB and it is 23 years older.
Hope this helps someone.........
Cheers Jam
Jam,
My 08 Fatbob had a progressive brake lever (not spongy) up until about a week ago. It then went very hard. You only have to touch it now to get almost maximum braking. I preferred it how it was. Perhaps this has something to do with what you spoke of.
Colin.
Hi Colin
Mate my spongy is probably what you would call progressive I suppose. Light as gaining stopping power the further you pull in the lever.
My issue is that the leaver came in almost to the grip before you really got some grab. My pref is for it to grab quickly.
Interesting that it changed to firm quickly as usually brakes fade a little as the pads wear....
Colin
I have the same problem...as soon as I touch my lever I have full brakes.....I prefer to have some play, not none....
I wrote into forum alot earlier about this and did not get a reply...so I thought it was just me having this happen..
I have changed my front pads to sintered ones and they are better ..ie less effort...but still no free play .
Wingy,
Still haven't decided whether or not I can live with the hard lever. Will probably complain about it when I have the 16000km service.
Yes it sucks ...and I have short fat fingers so its fairly bad for me...If they fix it I would love to
find out how etc.......cheers.
Has anyone else had this or know what is going on ,other than....your brakes have bedded in (from the dearler)
I have tried alot of other bikes (new in showroom) and they all seem to have some freeplay before getting a firm
lever.
Still no responces.....had a search on the US sights last night and it looks like a fairly common
problem over there.......too much grease on the caliper pistons from new and over time grit builds
up on the pistons and the dont return enough ( no dust seals ) ......I will do the fix when I have time
and let you know if it fixes the problem......NO freeplay at all is my problem.
only got 3 k on mine and brake is progressive which suits me i would hate the no play,
Well done the ...remove caliper.. pump brake until pads touch and spray with cleaner....a lot of shit
came out ......opened up pads and done this a few more times......no differance....removed filler cap
fluid looked very dirty so changed that and bleed the brakes with no probs but still no change...fuck
am I the only one in oz with no freeplay at all......its giving me the shits ..well I will have to rebuild the
master when I get a kit......only done 15000 k.
