So, I'm not the most mechanically inclined, but I took my bike apart to get the frame, swing arm and bodywork painted. I'll post pics soon as I get the tank back. Anyway, I've got the bike back together which made me feel pretty proud of myself. Then I go to push it to another spot, and the back break doesn't work.
Everything is hooked up right, and I didn't disassemble the break at all. The pads will close a little on the disk but not enough to grab. Any ideas?

is your brake fluid resevoir full?  Is there air in your brake line?

yep, it's full, and there shouldn't be any air, I never messed with the lines exept for removing them from the fram/swingarm

did you try to pumping the brakes several times?

about two dozen times, it helped for sure, but I can still push the bike with the break engaged

you should try bleeding your brakes / replacing your brake fluid

there's a good how-to here: http://www.bbburma.net/HowTo/BrakeFluid_Replace/

before you fool more with your brake, check the obvious stuff. like: is the bike in neutral? if i remember correctly, when the engine is cold my bike doesn't want to roll when it is in gear, even if i pull the clutch in.

edit: ha ha. tragicimage is right. i'm dumb.

re-read the post.


The back brake isn't grabbing, the problem isn't the bike not wanting to roll.