I honestly don't know if it is different than it was say last month but it feels too squishy compared to my Ninja 500.

I did bleed the brakes the other day but it did not change. I don't know if there is air in the line but I pumped a lot of fluid through with the help of my wife.

The lever can almost be pulled to the handle. The brakes are working. It will stop and likely lock it but it just takes more lever than I think it should.

Thoughts?

 

Sounds like there's still some air in the system. Do another bleed. Not insulting your intelligence, but you have bled brakes before, right?

 

No insult at all since I did not appear to fix the issue.

I have bleed brakes in my car and did it the same so this is what I did:

Open the cap, had my wife pump them up. Is there much pumping needed?

I opened the bleeder as she held the lever in. I closed the bleeder. She then pumped the lever again, held it and I once again opened the bleeder and closed the bleeder. We repeated this for awhile always making sure the reservoir was not too low by adding new fluid.

Called it good when I got bored.

 

That method should work fine. Sounds like you're timing the caliper bleed port correctly. Are you using a clear tube at the caliper port nipple? With a clear tube and having a little high arc to the tube before bending it down toward your catch bottle, you can see if/when bubbles finally stop, and the bend helps to keep bubbles from backing up into the caliper.

 

Yes I did you a clear tube. I never saw any bubbles from the start however.
On the 4th when I have the day off she is going to help me the other 3 (two bikes) and I will do it again. I don't think it will change it though. It may be fine as I never remember it being really stiff. Maybe the caliper is a bit goofy and need some attention?

 

There is a reach adjustment screw in the lever. That hasn't loosened up or fallen out, has it?

 

get a bleader kit from napa and go to a home improvment store(or somewere) and get more clear tubing so you can get the bleed bottle above the m/c, as my rule of thumb i bleed the system 3 times with at least 2hrs between bleeds, make sure to push the pistons all the in to the caliper too, if they are out you can trap air

 

After fitting new brake lines, i just wasn't happy with the firmness! Did a couple of full bleeds & they we're ok but not 100%. I was on HEL brakes website & tried this brake doctor top tip:

Tying the lever back overnight

One way to rid any last remaining air from the system is to tie back the lever over night. Firstly remove the master cylinder reservoir cover BUT then balance it back on top of where it should be fitted so that moisture in the air does not contaminate the system overnight. Then pull the lever in as hard as possible and cable tie it in the ON position (brake lever pulled right back to the bars). Leave this overnight and in the morning release the lever and your brakes should feel fantastic - basically the back pressure caused by tying the lever back overnight will have forced any last remaining air out of the system out to the atmousphere and leave you with sharp brakes the next day. Replace the reservoir cap correctly and you are ready to ride.

This worked very well for me & gave me that last % of firmness I was hoping for!

 

Getting all of the air out of the line can be a real problem.

Another possibility for the squishy lever is the brake line expanding. Changing to a braided stainless steel line improved my front brake........after I got the air out.

Ride on
Brewster

 

It sounds like master cylinder piston wore out. If nothing (suggested above) helps just get master cylinder service kit and replace it.