Let a buddy ride my bike for his birthday. He said teh rear brake was working fine when he put it into the garage. I tried to take it out just now and I have 0 rear brake. What confuses me is that it's dry around the bike. No leaking fluids.

Do I need to remove my pipes in order to check rear brake fluid? It has forward mount controls and a steel bar that runs into a hydrolic actuator near the pipes.

 

To check level there is a window, however the cap may be covered by your exhaust mounting bracket you may have to remove this to open cap. If you stepped on brakes with no fluid you will have air in your system and no fluid tells me you have a leak somewhere, caliper,line or master cylinder or connection point for line. If low on fluid fill and step on brakes, the leak should become visible...repair as nesessary, bleed system and you should be back in business.

 

If the rear brake system on a 1997 bike has never been overhauled, then it is time. Parts don't cost much. Depending on whether or not you will need to pull your pipes, flush, clean, and overhauling the caliper and master doesn't take much time and is pretty easy to do.

Good luck.

 

I had a guy last year come in with a 99 Wide Glide. He was riding and was going to stop, the front brake lever went right to the grip. No brake at all.

I took off the reservoir cover and the fluid was right to the line. The fluid was black. I syphoned the fluid out and at the bottom there was a 1/16" of thick black stuff. I flushed out the system with a whole bottle of brake fluid. It worked fine after that.

I did the rear also and the same crap was in the reservoir. This guy was one lucky @#$^&.

I asked him who serviced this last and when? He said at the Harley dealer last year. I said, the tech didn't check the brake fluid. And this sort of thing doesn't happen in a year.

If you have the stock exhaust. The brake reservoir should be down near the rear of the frame. Look right behind the exhaust close to the rear wheel and down.

Syphon the fluid out of the reservoirs don't bleed the fluid out. You don't want the crap going to the caliper. Clean the crap out from the bottom of the reservoirs. Then fill with fluid and bleed till the fluid comes out clean without air bubbles. Change the pads first if needed and your good to go.

 

On thi sold of a bike am I looking at DOT 5 fluid? Or something else? I know my newer sporty took dot 5. Want to get the right stuff.

Man I hate it when you let someone ride your bike and when you get it back something is broken.

So I'll pull the pipes. Then run new fluid from it from the resovior to the caliper and see if this fixes it?

 

Take the fluid out of the reservoir before you put new fluid in to see if there is crap at the bottom. You can use a turkey baster. The fluid DOT number should be marked on the reservoir cover. The front brake cover will also have the DOT number.


DO NOT MIX DOT NUMBERS.

 

You have an 18 year old bike. You did not say, so do you know for sure how many miles or how many years has it been since the brake system, front and rear, were overhauled? I am not trying to disrespect anyone, but the bottom line is that a safety necessary system on your classic Harley has failed. And, while I realize that most of the fixes offered are well meaning, they are band-aids and you are putting your life on the line if you do anything short of a complete overhaul if you do not know when the last time this was done, IMO.

Clean and rebuild the caliper and master cylinder, flush out the line with new fresh fluid, and bleed...All the parts are available online. The Harley OEM parts will set you back around $325 but there may be cheaper alternatives that are just as good. If you take your time, it will take you a couple of hours.

Do it once, do it right.

 

Pulled the cap off of the container and found it to be empty. Added fluid and the pedal came back. Now it's all gone again. Sounding like I need a rebuild on hte rear brake caliper. And to be honest with you I may take this to a shop. I've never enjoyed working on brakes.

 

Cleaned everything out and ran all new fluid through the braking system. WORKS GREAT!

Thanks

 

It is your ride and your *** riding it, but there is no way in hell that I would ever do a band-aid repair like that on a safety critical system on a classic ride that old just to save a few bucks. I guess that is the airplane mechanic in me...

Good luck and ride safe.