I am ignernt of brakes ...

[fred1369]

... as well as most other things.
Due to circumstances totally in my control, the 2002 Dyna has pretty much stayed in the garage for 2 years. Road King, Road Glide, Can-Am got in the way. So I charged the battery and drove to the shop for state safety inspection. The front handbrake lever and the foot brake lever have to be pumped and fully pulled & pushed, respectively, and even then it is weak braking power. It sorta works but doesn't feel safe at all.
Is this a simple matter of adjusting the cables or does the brake fluid need to replaced by a professional?
FWIW, nothing is leaking.

[Geezer-Glide]

Could be crud on the pads/rotors. Most likely though, the brake fluid has absorbed moisture from the air and now the brakes are "spongy." Whole system needs to be cleaned and bled. If it's not within your scope of comfort, take it to the shop.

[Fe Butte]

Yeah, DOT 5 systems sometimes make their own "Air in the system" a good flush and bleed may cure this issue.

Also DOT 5 fluid is not supposed to be hygroscopic, (absorb water).

And there are no brake cables in a motor this new.


Sure hope the safety inspector didn't advise that is what could be the cause.

[fred1369]

Thanx guys. I take it to a nearby metric shop for safety inspections. They just check light and horn and tires and pads. I'll take it to an Independent pro I have worked with before. He was top in his class at MMI.

[Infidel!]

Flush and bleed for sure.

You probably have a bunch of air and moisture in there.


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[Fe Butte]

DOT 5 fluid makes air in system by operating the brakes and traveling up and down in altitude.

Somewhere in a galaxy far away I read an article about how DOT 5 makes capillary air bubbles when the brakes are operated*, which after some time they form into larger "compressible" air bubbles, this capillary action also happens when you drive from lower elevations to higher elevations. Which happens here on the West coast because people drive from basically sea level ( 0 to 500 Ft ) to the higher elevations in the Sierras on the way to Reno or Lake Tahoe with passes reaching 8,000 Ft.

* Thus is why they don't use DOT 5 in ABS systems, because the action of the ABS module "froths" the fluid into one huge air bubble in the system.

But alas I cannot find that article...

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/08/06/...it%20to%20boil.


And . . .
https://ebcbrakes.com/articles/brake-fluid/

[fred1369]

[QUOTE=Fe Butte;1520518]DOT 5 fluid makes air in system by operating the brakes and traveling up and down in altitude.

Somewhere in a galaxy far away I read an article about how DOT 5 makes capillary air bubbles when the brakes are operated*, which after some time they form into larger "compressible" air bubbles, this capillary action also happens when you drive from lower elevations to higher elevations. Which happens here on the West coast because people drive from basically sea level ( 0 to 500 Ft ) to the higher elevations in the Sierras on the way to Reno or Lake Tahoe with passes reaching 8,000 Ft.

* Thus is why they don't use DOT 5 in ABS systems, because the action of the ABS module "froths" the fluid into one huge air bubble in the system.

But alas I cannot find that article...

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I know you aren't s'posed to mix 4 and 5 but after flush & bleed can 5 be replaced by 4 or is that the wrong stuff for a Harley?

[Fe Butte]

Thus the disclaimer...