Funny Front brakes

[New_R]

I noticed the problem when I bought the bike but didn't think much of it because the fork seals were bad and I thought that fork oil was on my pads causing them to not grab properly. After I replaced the fork seals and dust rings they don't leak oil all over the place, also I replaced my front brake pads at the same time.

I bled my brakes going through 2 bottles of DOT4 castrol fluid because they still felt too squishy, and I thought I had air in my lines. But I still have problems with how hard and when they grab. My brake lever is really loose, I can pull it in with out any effort at all. It doesn't seem to have the tension that other bikes do. When I lightly grab my brake lever nothing happens then when I apply more pressure it will grab really hard.

Its a 1999 ZX6R. If it were one of the calipers wouldn't it pull the front wheel to one side? Thats why I believe it is either the front master cylinder or the line leading from the master to the split off. I'm not loosing any fluid. I did notice when I changed the fluid the old stuff the previous owner had in it was bad or something because it was brown and almost like jello .

Any ideas what the problem is?

[BuzZz]

Sounds just like you still got air in the system. If the banjobolt at the mastercylinder is positioned higher than the rest of the brakelines, air loves to get trapped there. You can unbolt the clamp holding the M/C to the bar and hold it a in position so that the fluid resevioe is the highest piont. Tap it with a wrench to jar the bubbles if you like. If you have help, you can try re-bleeding the system with the M/C held like this.

Another place air hides is in the crossover hose from one caliper to the other, if your bike has one. Most stock systems do have one. Remove the caliper at the farthest end of the hydrualic circuit, the one with only one hose connecting to it. Bleed the brakes again while holding this caliper higher than the highest piont of the crossover hose. You may want to put a thin piece of wood in the caliper between the pads, to make re-installing it easier.

I'd give that a shot.....

[New_R]

Thanks BuZz I will try that... I hope its air hiding in the lines somewhere rather than a master cylinder problem.