No front brake '86 R80RT

[Hawk Hawthorne]

The front brake on my R80 wants to depress all the way to the handle bar without giving me any brake.:eek When I open the bleeder valve and depress the lever, virtually no fluid comes out. If I "pump" the lever, I will get some brake. My guess is the brake cyclinder in the lever needs to be rebuilt... fluid is leaking past it. Anybody got any other "maybe's"..:confused:

Hawk
VP BMWMOA

[jdiaz]

Sounds like total seal failure! You probably should not ride it. :)

[flash412]

Open the master cylinder reservoir cover. Is the reservoir full? Is the fluid clear? If not, you need to REPLACE your brake fluid before you go off buying new parts.

To bleed brakes, you open the bleed screw, squeeze the lever to the bar and HOLD IT THERE while you close the screw. THEN release the lever, maybe pump it a few times. Repeat until CLEAR brake fluid comes out the bleed screw. (This is LOTS easier with a helper.) Be sure to keep your eye on the level in the reservior and top up ONLY with Dot 4 fluid from a fresh, sealed container. (Brake fluid goes bad by absorbing water from the air.)

After you have renewed your brake fluid, if your brakes still misbehave, THEN look into new parts.

[kioolt]

I recently bought a rebuild kit for my 82 R100RT. It was relatively inexpensive at under $30. They're easy to repair. I would try bleeding the brakes first with clean new brake fluid.

[Hawk Hawthorne]

Kioolt: Did you get the rebuild kit at the dealer (off the shelf) or did your order it? If so, from who?

Hawk

VP BMWMOA

[kioolt]

I got the rebuild kit at Bob's BMW. They had it in stock. You may be asked what size you need. It's stamped underneath in mm.