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Front brake delay.

TimmyB

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I have a Suzuki Bandit 1250 2007 non abs.
When I first bought the bike even putting it on the trailer there was a strange delay before the front brake would actually grab. I figured easy enough fix I get the bike home bleed up the brakes and Wallah.
Nope still there rebuild the front calipers still there rebuilt the front brake master cylinder still there. Add Steel brake lines add pads even though new pads were on the bike. Still had the same problem
I ended up buying a 16mm front brake master cylinder on eBay and that solved the problem.
I was just wondering if anyone else out there had this issue with their Bandit I mean I have ridden and owned several bikes and have never encountered this before.
 
What exactly do you mean by 'delay'? Did it have a firm brake lever? Or was the lever going all the way to the bar before the brake would grab the disk?
 
The lever was firm moving the pads but it was like not enough force was being applied until the lever was moved farther
 
You might check the posts your calipers slide back and forth on (floating calipers). Does your front brake drag at all? That was another symptom.

I had a situation where my front caliper was not moving(floating) and the front wheel was dragging. The lever was spongy. Once I loosened the mounting bolts, the lever immediately firmed up and the brakes worked (this was performed on a stand). I disassembled, lubed the posts and everything went back to normal.

BTW, the cause of this was from a leaking fork seal that dumped all over my brake - another thing you might check.
 
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The lever was firm moving the pads but it was like not enough force was being applied until the lever was moved farther

This is the way master cylinder works. There is a dead travel at the begin of movement where the master cylinder does air bleeding.
 
This is the way master cylinder works. There is a dead travel at the begin of movement where the master cylinder does air bleeding.

I understand this like I said I have ridden hundreds of bikes have owned probably 50 bikes and have never encountered this.
It was like the master cylinder was not putting enough Force on the pads until you really pulled hard on the lever.
Let me rephrase this another way if I get on my road king dinosaur Harley-Davidson low-tech bike pull the front brake you feel the pads start to bite and it's linear until a complete stop this bike if you pulled to wear it begins to engage the bite isn't there and it just seems to have an area that doesn't have power.
Continue to pull on the lever you will get breaking power.
I have a lot of friends that ride and wrench.
I had every one of them take the bike for a ride and before they even got out of the driveway they were like that is awfully strange that spot of no breaking then the breaks work great.
As far as the amount of travel of the lever it was right there not mushy not close to the handle within the first inch of pole if not less you really feel like the pads are going to begin biting. To add a little more to that story the pads that were on the bike or brand new EBC Double H I took them out lightly sanded the surface in case they were glazed the rotors were not warped touch them up lightly cleaned everything very well with brake clean. Still the same condition persisted until I changed the master cylinder to a 16 mm.
I rebuilt the original the bike has no miles on it maybe 3,000 it was kept indoors. There was no pitting corrosion or contaminants in any of the fluid when I bled it when I rebuilt the calipers and the master cylinder it was all clean as a whistle.
I maintained a friendship with the guy I bought the bike from even thoughw he was in another state and he said yeah that's what he didn't like about the bike he had it in the shop they bled everything changed the pads and it did not change the condition.
 
Is the rotor(s) true?

If one is warped or bent, it could be knocking the pads back.

Pad knockback is a pretty common phenomenon in road racing cars. wheel bearings wear and as the tire is side loaded, the hub/brake rotor assembly will move and push the pads apart. That's why you see drivers pumping the brakes prior to a braking zone.

In this case, a warped rotor or frozen rotor on the keepers could create what you are feeling.
 
I understand this like I said I have ridden hundreds of bikes have owned probably 50 bikes and have never encountered this.
It was like the master cylinder was not putting enough Force on the pads until you really pulled hard on the lever.
Let me rephrase this another way if I get on my road king dinosaur Harley-Davidson low-tech bike pull the front brake you feel the pads start to bite and it's linear until a complete stop this bike if you pulled to wear it begins to engage the bite isn't there and it just seems to have an area that doesn't have power.
Continue to pull on the lever you will get breaking power.
I have a lot of friends that ride and wrench.
I had every one of them take the bike for a ride and before they even got out of the driveway they were like that is awfully strange that spot of no breaking then the breaks work great.
As far as the amount of travel of the lever it was right there not mushy not close to the handle within the first inch of pole if not less you really feel like the pads are going to begin biting. To add a little more to that story the pads that were on the bike or brand new EBC Double H I took them out lightly sanded the surface in case they were glazed the rotors were not warped touch them up lightly cleaned everything very well with brake clean. Still the same condition persisted until I changed the master cylinder to a 16 mm.
I rebuilt the original the bike has no miles on it maybe 3,000 it was kept indoors. There was no pitting corrosion or contaminants in any of the fluid when I bled it when I rebuilt the calipers and the master cylinder it was all clean as a whistle.
I maintained a friendship with the guy I bought the bike from even thoughw he was in another state and he said yeah that's what he didn't like about the bike he had it in the shop they bled everything changed the pads and it did not change the condition.

One way to be sure that it is not a specific problem of your master cylinder, is to try another bandit and see if you have the same feeling. If yes then you have a very delicate finger :-D . If not then something is wrong with master cylinder. I cant say that i feel that strange behavior ( if i understand want you are saying )
 
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