Front Brake Master Cylinder trouble

Have a 01 R1--front brake lever travels all the way to handlebar when pulled no matter what my lever pull adjustment is set on. New pads have been installed, still same problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

You've probably got air in the brake lines. Need to bleed the air out of the lines. If that doesn't resolve your problem then my guess would be you need to replace the master cylinder.

yep yep, its air. Vacuum that SOB

do i have to vacuum them or can i just bleed them like a cars brakes?

do i have to vacuum them or can i just bleed them like a cars brakes? If it's just a matter of air in the lines, a standard bleed should be fine. A vacuum bleed will just make life a little easier. If the bleed doesn't take care of it, you may have some bad seals in your system. Make sure you tighten up all the Bleed nipples and Banjo Bolts. If your still having issues, you may need to rebuild the seals in the master cylinder. Good Luck

Make sure you bleed from your MC first, then work your way down to the lines.

Make sure you bleed from your MC first, then work your way down to the lines. how do i bleed from the master cyl.?

On my bike (2000 R1), there is no bleed nipple for the MC. I've noticed on some newer bikes that there are though. Without it, it requires a little more attention. In any case, what you would do for yours is to first fine the banjo bolt on your MC. I believe it is a 14mm bolt if memory serves me correctly. Anyway, it goes into the MC and has the 2 lines come down from it. What you do is to pump the brake lever, hold it in, then quickly loosen this bolt a tiny bit and re-tighten. Then release the brake lever. Then repeat it again. You only need to barely loosen the bolt (just enough for some air to leak out). What you'll find is that you'll start to get a bit of fluid leaking out around the bolt in that second that you loosen it. This is good, because it means the air is out, but it also means you have to be careful or you'll have a mess. As a result, when doing this, WRAP IT UP WITH A TOWEL! What I do is to get my gf to pump the brake a few times and hold it while I hold a towel around the bolt and lines with my left hand, and crack the bolt loose and tight with my right hand. Don't let any fluid leak out and drip down, as it could get on your front fender or other plastic parts and start to eat through it.

thanks for the info.went and ordered a vacuum bleeder kit. should be here on friday going to try that.

I have a similar problem, no brake lever pressure at all.. I have no leaks anywhere, when i bleed there is very little fluid coming of the calliper bleeds (maybe 1-2 inches of a clear tube is that enough?). I suspect my MC has failed and does not push enough fluid down the lines.

All the failing Master cylinders I have come across would pump up with rapid pulls, but would loose the pressure very quickly. I now use a vaccume bleeder the connects to the air compresser, but when done by hand I've found that if you bleed it, then wait a day and rebleed the process works better. Just keep trying to bleed them.

it turns out i had air just after the master cilinder, i fixed it by bleeding at the master cilinder a few times..