Spongee brakes.. any ideas?

[Derrick Adams]

I changed the brake pads on the 250R and now their real spongee. I have to push the pedal down real far on the rears and the front I have to pump up for it to work. I bled these brakes heavily to try to get them working but still no good results.

[Howdy]

Did the caliper slide pins move freely? These are the pins that allow the caliper to slide as the pads wear.
Howdy

[Yamahondaman]

I Made some of those pin thingy's ... the ones that the rubber grommet thing's attach to .... there hollow ... made from NITRONIC-60 ....NASTY .. GOOD Stuff !!
But.................... i have ( ONE ) Left ....you want it ... it's your's Derrick !!
PM Me you Addy ............. i'll send it ............

[Erics350x]

drain the fluid and put in DOT 4.

[3 weelin geezer]

Ok, you have a master cylinder right? Did you bleed it when it was on the trike or did you take it off and turn it so the outlet/bleeder valve was at the highest point? I think it still has air in it most likely there.

[Kintore]

Took me FOREVER derrick. I spent a good 6+ hours on it no joke. I finally walked away cause they didnt even work, came back a day later. Kicked the tire and said one more time you ........ Then I guess all the bubbles had flowed to the back, and the LAST time I did wola, it worked!

Thats my guess, still got air in there. Good luck trying to get her all out!

[Mosh]

derrick,i noticed on casper you had the stock front line.dump it,get a braided line and rebuild both your front and rear master cylinders. after you do that,the levers will be hard as a rock.if there is still sponginess,you might have caliper piston seals not holding.but do make sure your slides move freely first,like howdy said.it is easy to check.but i would definately get a braided brake line.they are far more superior in pedal feel.

[Derrick Adams]

I'm already running a braided line up front. It's the factory one off the CR500. I cleaned and lubed all my slides when I changed the pads, so I know they're working. It just seems odd that they went south when I changed the pads.

I'll try the dot 4, but I think that's just the difference in boiling point. Keep bleeding Derrick, keep bleeding! Seems like I was just telling you that Josh.

[Mosh]

then maybe you need to rebiuld the master cylinder.sometimes when you compress the piston back in,dirty fluid nicks the rubber seals and cuases a pressure loss in the master cylinder.it happens on cars.we get in the habbit of cracking the bleeders loose to compress the pistons back in.that way the old fluid just shoots out the bleeder instead of backfeeding across the seals.in any sense,i flush all my bikes brake fluid 2 times a year.break fluid attracks water big time.so evrytime i change pads,i flush the systems.it is cheap insurance.barring that, what type of pads are you using? ebc gold series? i have tried all kinds of brakes and the ebc gold ones seem to be the best for me.

[Billy Golightly]

This may sound stupid but make sure the lever is adjusted so that you have the maximum pump for each pull.

[ChrisD]

You've got to have air in there somewhere. What I do is open the bleeder valve and the top of the reservoir. I continue to fill up the reservoir and let it bleed freely. Gravity usually works well on them. Steel braided lines may help as you already have them, but even the stock lines won't make them spongy.

[Kintore]

Bleed Bleed Bleed till your dead, wait that came out wrong haha.

Keep at it, Hours for me with a total dry system, It was dry for over 2 months.

I just re did it, took me like 3 bleeds and she was good to go. Hope you get it Derrick!

[Derrick Adams]

I did some agressive bleeding this afternoon and I think I got them working good. I'll find out tommorrow.
Instead of the normal crack the bleeder-depress lever-close bleeder. I went with the non traditional, pump the crap out of the lever till it's hard and hold it down- crack bleeder- shoot fluid half way across garage- close bleeder. I kept repeating that thru 3 master cylinders full of fluid, then closed the bleeder. Both brakes are rock hard now!