I have approx 1.75" inches of travel in my brake pedal; I bled the rear brake, using about 1/2 of a bottle of dot4, still have the same amount of travel. Is this normal on the GS? Or is it possible that I didn't bleed the entire line? thanksin advance for your help.

if you don't like the amt of travel....adjust it so it is more or less whatever you want.

if u take the heal guard off you can adjust the pedal to where u want it.

According to my Owner's Manual (1995 GS500E):

The pedal should be 50-60mm below the foot peg, as per the following figure:



If it is not, it can be adjusted as follows (refer to the following figure):



(1) Loosen lock nut #1 and rotate push rod #2 to locate the pedal 50-60mm (2.0 - 2.4") below the top face of the foot rest.
(2) Retighten lock nut #1 to secure push rod #2 in the proper position.

Hope this helps!

Cheers, Roberto.

reading it again, i think he means he has to push the pedal down almost 2in before it starts to apply brakes. don't think there's any way to fix that, right?

Quote from: dogjaw on October 28, 2007, 05:48:38 PM
I have approx 1.75" inches of travel in my brake pedal; I bled the rear brake, using about 1/2 of a bottle of dot4, still have the same amount of travel. Is this normal on the GS? Or is it possible that I didn't bleed the entire line? thanksin advance for your help.

The rear brake should feel soft and spongy on sport bikes and sport-standards as 90% or more of the braking power comes from the front.  (100% during a stoppie)  You should have to nearly stomp on the rear brake pedal to lock up the rear.

Does the rear brake feel spongy but work, or is the brake pedal totally loose?

[img]it feels like I have to depress the pedal approx 2" before the rear brake engages, I just adjusted the pedal per your instructions, brought it up some, but still has the same amount of travel. It does stop the bike, so if this amount of travel is normal, I'll let it be. I've been riding it like this since I bought it back in the summer, never thought it odd until I rode a 750 Vulcan yesterday, brake felt totally different. Attached is a pic of   my 1993 Suzie. Thanks to all for your help, this site rocks...

Cruisers will have much firmer rear brake pedals than sport bikes.  More stopping power comes from the rear on a cruiser because of the weight bias under braking.   

If you go into an empty parking lot and practice dragging your rear brake at slow speeds to stabilize the bike, you'll get a feel for it.  Again, to lock up the rear you'll have to almost stand on the pedal.  If you have some rear brake, that's good enough.

Many racers bleed a little air into the rear brake system to make it even softer.