Re: brake lever excessive travel

[Jim Gillespie <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Smith <robert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> I have a 1999. My brakes work fine wrt both travel and feel.  Have you
> tried to adjust the lever travel? If not, try that first.

    I've tried with mine.

> I have mine on setting '2'. At the moment, on my bike this gives about
> 2.5cm of travel before the brakes engage.  I think '1' gives slightly
> less travel.

    I think that the amount of travel will be the same whatever position
the lever is in, but that by moving the lever further from the bar you
bring the "braking zone" into your own comfort zone.

    After cleaning the pistons I set the lever to '4', closest to the
bar.  As lever travel increases I move it out to '1', where it is at the 
moment.

> Is the travel on your bike more than 2-3 cm?

    Um, no.

> As the pads grind down, the lever will travel more.  That's just the
> way it.

    Are you sure?  I thought that hydraulic brakes automatically
compensated for pad wear, as long as you have enough fluid in the
system.

> You may want to check the pad thickness.

    I did before I did a track day a few weeks ago, and there was plenty
of pad left.  Before cleaning the pistons there was some lever travel;
after cleaning the pistons practically no lever travel.  Half way
through the track day, still very little lever travel.  Then I let my
friend Phil have a go, and suddenly there was loads of lever travel!
This suggests that lever travel is related to usage; I hadn't been using 
the brakes very much (I was working on corner speed) but one session of
what I suspect was heavy brake usage and travel had increased
considerably.

    Maybe new fluid would help, but I don't hold out too much hope.

                Jim
- --
      jim@         ,'_              I vote for a communist state where I
  gillespie.org   / -.--.    ___    work for the government and they give
                 _\_  ~-.`--'_.-'   me all the TZ250's and Dunlops I need
                / /\\    \--'_ \\   to survive for a year.
 '99 Sprint ST  \__/ `---'  \__/                            -- Roger Ford


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