Mushy front brakes -- need advise

[Odeccut]

Hi guys!  I need help:  my front brake goes soft on me every once in a while.  Most of the time it is fine, but every once in a while I can pull it almost all the way to the grip.  The brake engages and stops the bike well, but I am just worried as to why every once in a while the travel of the lever changes so much.  In addition, I am keeping the lever adjusted kind of far from the grip, because if I adjusted it closer, I am afraid it will run into the grip one of those times and I will not be able to stop the bike.   Any ideas?  I tried bleeding the brakes a few times, but I am kind of new to it... Please help -- I am getting really nervous about this.

[ducpainter]

Air in the line is possible, but it usually doesn't come and go.

A bad master is a possibility too.

[mdriver]

Don't take chances like that.    If its not leaking, and bleeding it doesn't help right away, change the master cylinder.

[Speeddog]

Which master cylinder do you have, Goldline or Coffin?

How old is your bike?

[He Man]

 check for loose bolts, then rebleed. then see if it fixes the issue. if not, check for leaks

[Odeccut]

Which master cylinder do you have, Goldline or Coffin?

How old is your bike?

The bike is an '02 620.  It has coffins.  The problem started when I loosened the banjo bolts to get my handlebars fitted -- I needed to move the brake lines around.  While messing with it, I had the reservoir open and like an idiot pulled the brake lever -- don't ask why .  The brake fluid shot up into the air... Anyway, I put it together, bled the brakes, but ever since then it goes mushy every once in a while.

[teddy037.2]

The bike is an '02 620.  It has coffins.  The problem started when I loosened the banjo bolts to get my handlebars fitted -- I needed to move the brake lines around.  While messing with it, I had the reservoir open and like an idiot pulled the brake lever -- don't ask why .  The brake fluid shot up into the air... Anyway, I put it together, bled the brakes, but ever since then it goes mushy every once in a while.

sounds like you just have air somewhere. have you bled the MC by itself?

mighty vac also helps. makes bleeding stuff a snap 

[Desmostro]

sounds like you just have air somewhere. have you bled the MC by itself?

mighty vac also helps. makes bleeding stuff a snap 

How do you do that?  Details of the best way please?

[Slide Panda]

How do you do that?  Details of the best way please?

Some, but not all, Masters have bleeders on them.  So you bleed at the calipers to replace the fuild and get ride of old gunk.  Then you can also bleed at the top, since air rises in the fluid and bleeding from the bottom may take longer/may not get it all.

If you don't have a bleeder on your master, you've jsut got to do it from the calipers the old fashioned way.

[ducpainter]

Coffins have no bleeder on the master.

You can bleed it by having some one squeeze the lever and holding a rag at the banjo and just crack the fitting while it's being held with pressure on the lever.

Works great except for needing an extra hand.

[teddy037.2]

Coffins have no bleeder on the master.

You can bleed it by having some one squeeze the lever and holding a rag at the banjo and just crack the fitting while it's being held with pressure on the lever.

Works great except for needing an extra hand.

+1

and not making a mess of yourself and the fluid  bled my goldline clutch master that way, since only the brake master had a seperate bleeder.

[Howie]

The master should be as close to level as possible.  Wire tying the lever in the applied position over night can help too.