For some reason my front brake lever is a lot harder to pull now. It doesn't seem to have changed my braking power, only seems to be too touchy now. It takes a lot of strength to pull it in all the way. It's an 08 GS500F. Any reason this happened? Help appreciated.

So...for anyone else that comes across this by searching:

I took it to the shop and at first they said my master cylinder was shot but then another dude came out, and pretty much just WD-40'd the plastic gasket inside the lever and pumped it a few times. I guess when I washed it I caused it to get warped/dry. Now it's good as new.

I'm having this same problem after replacing my stock bars with SM2.. I'm pretty new to all this.. so I'm not sure of the cause, or how to fix it..

maybe it has something to do with how I removed and positioned the cylinder during the install?

I've been reading about air bubbles getting in brake lines.. could that be the problem?

any input would be very very helpful! 

Nope ... stuck piston ... take off the caliper and clean everywhere etc etc ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: UO Renn on October 05, 2008, 02:00:02 PM
For some reason my front brake lever is a lot harder to pull now. It doesn't seem to have changed my braking power, only seems to be too touchy now. It takes a lot of strength to pull it in all the way. It's an 08 GS500F. Any reason this happened? Help appreciated.

Quote from: UO Renn on October 07, 2008, 04:03:00 PM
So...for anyone else that comes across this by searching:

I took it to the shop and at first they said my master cylinder was shot but then another dude came out, and pretty much just WD-40'd the plastic gasket inside the lever and pumped it a few times. I guess when I washed it I caused it to get warped/dry. Now it's good as new.

The front brake lever has a pivot pin that needs to be greased periodically. Given that the bike is so new, it's unlikely that this is the problem, but you may want to have a look at it anyways.

This may be why the WD-40 helped. Instead, I would recommend removal of the pin, cleaning, and proper greasing (axle grease, white lithium grease, etc - not WD-40)

Quote from: FreedomAlive on October 30, 2008, 03:43:02 AM
I'm having this same problem after replacing my stock bars with SM2.. I'm pretty new to all this.. so I'm not sure of the cause, or how to fix it..

maybe it has something to do with how I removed and positioned the cylinder during the install?

I've been reading about air bubbles getting in brake lines.. could that be the problem?

any input would be very very helpful! 

Air bubbles should not get into the brake lines unless you run the brake fluid dry or disconnect the brake line. In any event, if air had gotten into your brake line, the lever would be easier to pull (not more difficult) because the air bubbles would compress easily.

You should consider the suggestions mentioned above and see if it helps. In the case of the caliper cleaning, use a green Scotch pad to scrub the brake caliper pistons (search for posts from gsJack for more details).

thanks a lot guys.. ill give that a try 

The same thig happened to me about a month ago. I lubed the pivot on the lever and bled /replaced the break fluid front and rear. It fixed the stiff lever. A helpful hint for bleeding the breaks, you folks may already know this trick but here goes. Find tubing that will fit the bleeder, I'm pretty sure it's 1/8 inch. Drill a hole in the lid of a pint soda/water bottle a little smaller than the OD of the tubing and stick one end into the cap then the cap on the bottle and the other end over the bleeder. Then bleed the fluid into the bottle instead of all over the caliper. I used clear tubing so I could see when the fluid was clean coming out of the bleeder.

well I removed the caliper and gave the lever a little squeeze to see how everything was working. Everything seemed to be working okay..the two round cylinders (pistons? lol) pressed against the pad just fine.. but needed a bit of helping back into the caliper.. I dunno if that's normal

Tomorrow I'll put the bike up on its center stand and give the wheel a spin to see if its turning smoothly.. then take it for a short ride to see if its all in my head lol

Quotebut needed a bit of helping back into the caliper.. I dunno if that's normal

Yep, normal.

Took the bike for a good ride today.. everything seems to be in working order sm2 bars install complete!  my butt feels a lot better. Now I'm thinking about going naked 

Thanks for all the help