i have a customers 2001 ultra classic (12,000miles) in my shop. the problem is with the front brakes. after setting for about 1 minute the first pull has no resistance and goes all the way to the hand grip. the second pull it pumps up good and tight. i pulled each caliper off to verify all 4 pistons are working properly. there were working properly. next i attempted to bleed checking for any air in the lines. no air found. however it did have the factory dot 5 in it. so i then assumed that the problem was in the master cylinder. i purchase a repair kit and installed it. flushed out the entire front brake system using new dot 5 of course bled the entire front brake system using the vacuum bleed and also pressure bleed methods. yes i did feather (sort of speak) the brake lever to bleed all the air bubbles out of the master cylinder itself before i performed the flush and and bleed. so question is am i missing something here. well i know i aint missing anything cause i have done this a hundred times. oh yea the seals are installed currectly on the plunger. so any ideas that i may can try. i have probably 2 hours of bleeding time invested in bleeding so i am 100% sure there is now air in the system. so has anyone had this problem before. oh and please dont tell me to take it to the dealer. i have the same certifications as those guys and probably more exp than most of them. just a little stuck here. so tech to tech any ideas....thanks in advance
i dont have another around the shop for a dual disk bike. lol already thought about that. if it was a single disk i would just take one off one of my bikes. the only down fall to that even if i had one it is a paint to bleed those stupid dot 5 systems and that fluid is high as hell lol. but good thinking and thanks for the reply
good thought about the upside down calipers. however they are correctly installed. i have since this post tried the old hose in a can bleeding method and still no success. but i will go ahead and try tieing the lever back and see what happens. i will update in the AM. thanks guys
v twin i was wondering where you got your info on the 5 yr deal with changing all the brakes components. not by any means am i saying you are not correct. i am just wonderin cause i do not find that in the manual anywhere. i know the sportsters have a 25k service interval for replacement of front and rear caliper and master cylinder seals. i would just like to know so i can sell that service but i need to be able to show the customer the interval on it...thanks a lot hope to hear back from you...