I have had it happen twice now. I come flying out of this canyon by my house up to a stoplight and need to brake rather quickly. I've done it before with front and rear no problem. But sometimes when I step on my rear brake the bike barely even slows down. This problem can be corrected by pumping the rear brake. Is this normal? I just had to have the rear master cylinder rebuilt and brake line drained. Any of you guys have this problem? It's a 98 fatboy

 

Your front brake is 70% to 80 % of your stopping power, the rear brake is mainly there as a stabilizer, and you should never be pumping it. Sorry to tell you this, but it seems like you need to master some braking skills. Rely more on that front and less on that rear brake.

 

The CA highway patrol class I took to get my lisense says it's all %25 front and %75 rear because you don't want that front tire locking up

 

If you have to pump the brake pedal to get the brake to work, you have a problem with the master cylinder, brake fluid, or caliper. Time to start troubleshooting.

 

Brakes?? I though you were riding a motorcycle to die sooner???

Front and rear together is best practice like your first post said. Slow speed maneuvers or scrubbing off speed in turns it's best to rely on your rear more. Most of your braking power is in the front. I think the CHP was trying to explain equalized pressure...25% pressure on your front lever and 75% pressure on rear pedal is about right to give you equal breaking on both ends because the front has so much more effect on reducing speed. You don't want to lock either end up.

 

Sounds like you need to bleed the rear brake to get air out of the line. Inspect the brake reservoir and lines and repair any leaks before you bleed.

 

Whoever charged you for the brake work didn't bleed the rear properly.

 

That is just idiotic. At best it's the other way around. Either you didn't remember it correctly or the instructor needs to go back to crosswalk duty.
When you begin to stop most of the bike's weight transfers to the front, making the rear lighter. That's why all bikes (and cars) have bigger brakes on the front.

And you should get the brake lines bled again.

 

posts 6 & 7 are correct. inspect for leaks too !

 

Two things on a motorcycle that you don't ignore are tires and brakes.

I a true emergency situation you don't have time to "pump" your brake pedal (or lever).
You may only have one chance of avoiding and accident and maintaining control of your motorcycle.

Your bike is a '98 model. It's 20 years old (I have one too) so it's time for some TLC, especially if it's your "daily rider".

I'd suggest new brake pads with a total "flush and refill" of your brake fluid (front and rear) and a manual "bleeding" with an assistant while looking for fluid leaks.

If this doesn't eliminate the need for "pumping" your brakes in order to get a good, full pedal you may want to get some input from a professional before you think about rebuilding or replacing master cylinders of calipers, which can be very expensive.

Thankfully, I've only had to have one (front) master cylinder replaced and that was on my '96 RK and that (because of dealer or MOCO stalling) was finally covered under the extended warranty.

Good luck.