Recent play in the front brake lever

[ponchopirate]

For a while now my brake lever has been a bit weird.  It usually engages almost immediately when I pull the lever, but every now and then it will have about a centimeter of play before engaging.  Lately however I have consistenly had almost an inch of freeplay in the level and sometimes even more.  The bike is still stopping fine but this has me concerned.  I figure something is wrong in the brake system somewhere, but I wasn't sure where to start looking.  Or am I over reacting and this is just the natural wear of the pads kicking in?

[pixelmonkey]

sound like you are low on brake fluid.

the large black square resivor above your brake lever has 2 phillips screws. remove those when the bike is on the center stand and wheel is strait. check the oil level and fill as needed. also, check your clymer manual for ammounts. *usually i fill to almost 3/4 and use a rag to wipe the extra that is pushed out by the rubber*

you'll understand the rubber after you remove the screws and view the resivor.

if the resivor is empty or almost empty, you might have to refill and bleed the brakes. *takes a little more time, and extra set of hands, but is still easy to do*

hope it helps!
chris<pixelmonkey>

[scratch]

Have the resivior level before you open that cover. We don't want you spillin' brake fluid all over your bike. And, use Dot 4 to fill up.

If your lever action is different from time to time (i.e.: meaning, in the cold of the morning it's nice and tight, but in the warmth of the day/afternoon it gets a little spongy); there may be air in the line (the air condenses in the cold and doesn't compress as much) or the fluid may just be old, which would have absorbed some water and the water saps some of that braking power.

Anybody want to extrapolate on how water absorbed in the brake fluid affects brakes? Water has a lower boiling point, so if it expands, what happens?

[cummuterguy]

Have the resivior level before you open that cover. We don't want you spillin' brake fluid all over your bike. And, use Dot 4 to fill up.

If your lever action is different from time to time (i.e.: meaning, in the cold of the morning it's nice and tight, but in the warmth of the day/afternoon it gets a little spongy); there may be air in the line (the air condenses in the cold and doesn't compress as much) or the fluid may just be old, which would have absorbed some water and the water saps some of that braking power.

Anybody want to extrapolate on how water absorbed in the brake fluid affects brakes? Water has a lower boiling point, so if it expands, what happens?

You are correct, the more moisture it absorbs, the lower the boiling point. Once it boils, the fluid turns into a gaseous form, and can then be compressed. (just like letting air into the system) So the end result is you get a mushy pedal, and poorer stopping distance.

edit: you also need to check for any 'black specs' in the fluid. Black specs are tiny bits of the rubber seals from your caliper and master cylinder. If you see any, it may be time to rebuild your master cylinder. But I'd still try changing the fluid first. If no better, let me know, and i'll expand on how to determine whether it needs a mastercyl rebuild.

[davipu]

sidenote: brake fliud is highly corrosive and will eat paint in a matter of minutes.