2007 R1200r

[cuervo2274]

During some hard city riding I noticed my front brake lever became considerably harder. The brakes still perform awesome but it takes a bit to get used to the stiffer lever. Now they are touchier than ever. The bike has just under 3k miles on it.
What would cause the lever pressure to change?
Any ideas?

Thanks for your ideas.

[DennisDarrow]

This happened to me on an 83 R80RT that I totally despised. I let it sit for a year or so and when I went to ride it the front brake lever was acting as you described. Flused the brake fluid out and it became even worse. Total rebuild of the master cylinder cleaned it up. A couple of years later the same thing happened; but the whole brake was locked up due to water contamination of the master cylinder.
This is where I LEARNED that yes, the brake system does NEED, have to have, a thorough fluch on a regular basis.
Good Luck.........Dennis

[DarrylRi]

I am moving this thread to the Hexheads area, where you're likely to get more, and perhaps more specific to your model, response.

[ndjimbo]

Have you had the brake recall performed yet? The recall involves replacing a rigid pipe and some other parts for the front brakes. Apparently, the concern is that the original pipe could crack and cause leaks of brake fluid. This may or may not be related to your problem.

FWIW, I occasionally give my brakes a heavy workout during my "training days" in vacant parking lots, but I haven't experienced any issues similar to yours.

Jim

[deilenberger]

Cuervo,

When you say they became "harder" do you mean the lever feels harder to pull in, or when pulled in it feels hard? I know this sounds unclear - problem is - your description is unclear to me.

As noted - the bike has a recall outstanding for the brake system - so it might be to your advantage to visit a dealer ASAP.

[cuervo2274]

The service manager at BMW said that there is a pump that pumps pressure into the brake system as needed. After putting on about 400 miles this weekend the brakes feel more normal. Thanks for all your comments and I'll make sure the recall was performed.

[deilenberger]

The service manager at BMW said that there is a pump that pumps pressure into the brake system as needed. After putting on about 400 miles this weekend the brakes feel more normal. Thanks for all your comments and I'll make sure the recall was performed.Cuervo,

I'm not sure what your service manager is referring to. The master cylinder at the lever will maintain the fluid level in the brake system automatically, but that shouldn't need to be done except as caused by pad wear (and the pistons in the calipers moving towards each other as the pads get thinner.)

I would have the brake recall done ASAP, if the failure occurs you can be left without front brakes, which is more excitement than most people want on their bikes.

[cuervo2274]

thanks, bringing it in for two recalls first week of Sept.

[astroturf52]

One time while riding down the road on my 1983 R100RT the front brake came on without me touching the brake lever at all. It eased on and then braked harder and harder until it stopped the bike completely in the middle of the lane. I tested the brake lever and it was totally as hard as a rock with no play/pull whatsoever. I had to put the bike in first gear and power my way to the shoulder by skidding the front tire.

It turns out that there was a bit of water in the system (in the brake fluid and in the calipers.) The front pads were new at the time and were very close to the rotors or even dragging slightly on the rotors even though I wasn't touching the lever. The pads got hot which in turn heated up the calipers and rotors which heated up the fluid/water enough to cause the water to turn to steam which pressurized the system and applied the brakes. The episode was confusing and a little scary. Having the brake just come on for no reason and bring the bike to a complete stop locking up the front wheel solid was just hard to figure. The temporary fix was to open the bleeder on the side of the road and relieve the pressure. The permanent fix was to replace the brake fluid with nice fresh fluid thereby getting rid of the water.

I changed the fluid every 6 months thereafter and never had another problem.

astroturf52

[cuervo2274]

Interesting story.
Wow, glad that worked out safely for you! I can see were you would want to change the brake fluid that often.
Thanks for sharing that story.

[108625]

Cuervo,

I once had a similar experience to Astroturf's there, but on a disc brake equipped dirtbike...The rear wheel locked up on me, and it turned out to be a piece of debris in the rear caliper. It may have floated around in there for a while, until it got lodged in the orifice and blocked fluid from exiting the cylinder. As the pads got hotter from the friction, the fluid built up pressure and seized the rear wheel completely and making the pedal rock hard. Bleeding relieved the symptoms temporarily, but they returned and I had to take the caliper apart and clean it.
It's highly unlikely on your nearly new streetbike, but if the recall work and fluid change don't solve the problem, there might be a bit of foil from the cap liner, scrap of teflon tape, or other debris trapped somewhere in your system.

Good luck