Switchback spongey front brake
Road Master
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 828
Likes: 8
From: western Mass
Here's MY unique little experience....a few years back, I needed new tires. Took my EGC to an indy a friend recommended. When he was done and I went down the road...the front brake lever went to the grip! I went back right away and he tried to tell me it was "normal" and that the brakes just had to "re set" after the wheel was off! (let me mention here I've been riding for over 45 years so I know better!) I just snorted at him and rode the bike to another shop. The guy took the front wheel off the bike and all 4 brake pads had split in half! Turns out the other blockhead had put the axle spacers on the wrong sides when he remounted the wheel! The other shop said I was lucky I wasn't killed because of this! So.....it MIGHT be worth a look at things to see if somebody did the same thing! (the spacers on each side of the front axle are NOT the same dimension, so it pushed the wheel out of proper alignment with the rotors!)
Stage III
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
i have the same problem with my wife's switchback, there's got to be air in the lines, and my understanding is I'm able to bleed the the caliper like normal but anything at the abs unit and before you need the digital technician 2 to bleed the abs unit out. I complained about the spongy brake lever to the dealer when i test rode the bike, and they did nothing for it and found that out after i took delivery. I rode a few switchbacks one in york and a few on demo rides and the lever was fine. these dealers either don't wanna be bother or don't know what they are doing simple as that! Gonna try bleeding at the caliper myself first and if that don't work I'm complaining again to the dealer and if that don't work that i will get Harley corporate on the phone
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,125
Likes: 51,446
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
If it's spongy like that one of 3 things going on , air in the system still only way it can feel sloppy fluid will not compress or a warped rotor or loose caliper is pushing the pads away so it takes more movement to engage them again . Last but I haven't seen much of this with stock MC's is just plain sloppy parts and fit in the master cylinder & lever , a lot of the older aftermarket Custom Chrome junk used have that problem .
Advanced
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 89
Likes: 1
From: Florida
If he can pull the lever back even close to the grip, and the system has already been bled properly, and it is not anti-lock, it needs a master cylinder. I just went through this on my softail. There are no other answers but believe who or what you want.
Cruiser
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 107
Likes: 3
From:
Some 3012 Dyna's and softails have a problem. H-D knows about this. Just had my fld fixed. If I would let it set over night, the front brake handle would go all the way to the bar. Pump it up, and it stayed up all day until you let it set over night again. The dealer put a master cyl. re-build kit in and everything is great now. Dealer told me this was the 3rd one this week. 2 dynas and 1 softail.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 12,653
Likes: 18
From: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Some 3012 Dyna's and softails have a problem. H-D knows about this. Just had my fld fixed. If I would let it set over night, the front brake handle would go all the way to the bar. Pump it up, and it stayed up all day until you let it set over night again. The dealer put a master cyl. re-build kit in and everything is great now. Dealer told me this was the 3rd one this week. 2 dynas and 1 softail.
You mean Harley is STILL gonna have these kinds of issues in a thousand years???? Crap!
Sorry, couldn't resist.Good luck OP. Try a different dealer, and explain how it's been a safety issue and almost got you killed. Most don't want that kind of publicity hanging over their heads.
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: Bundaberg, Australia...OY!
After a week I noticed my lever was slowly becoming softer and eventually went back to the grip. My dealer replaced the whole master cylinder and mentioned that thay had done a few. Lever is normal now.
Try loosening the filler cap , pump up lever and zip tie lever overnight.
Try loosening the filler cap , pump up lever and zip tie lever overnight.
Big Kahuna HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 38,428
Likes: 896
Funny this should come up....Just last week a few of us were hanging around the local dealers place and checking out the new bikes.
There were 1 of each color switchback on the floor and I happened to notice exactly what you are seeing with the spongy lever and being able to pull the lever all the way to the grip.
We found this to be true on all 3 bikes!!!!......but not on any of the other new bikes on the floor........Something's not right!!!
There were 1 of each color switchback on the floor and I happened to notice exactly what you are seeing with the spongy lever and being able to pull the lever all the way to the grip.
We found this to be true on all 3 bikes!!!!......but not on any of the other new bikes on the floor........Something's not right!!!