Front brake very stiff

[Eng18ine]

Hey guys. My bike is having an issue. The front brake lever is impossible to pull. Can someone give me a place to start? Not sure what to check first

[pd350]

I'd guess a good place to start would be knowing which bike you'd be referring to .

[maim]

x2

 

most likely the master cyl needs a rebuild or the caliper is seized on.  when was the last time you replaced the brake fluid by bleeding the brakes?   could be just gummed up with old fluid.

[pd350]

Maybe if you put your bike in your sig , we wouldn't have to guess ... I did find this , but , we shouldn't have to search for it :

Eng18ine wrote : Hey guys. First post! I just got a 1986 xt600. Decent price, only 12,000 miles.

 

Knowing that ^ , I'd agree with maim .

[Eng18ine]

Ya I guess the bike info would be great wouldn't it? Major slip on my part. It's an 86 yamaha xt600. I took the brake caliper off and saw that the piston moves a little but won't retract at all. The resavour has some some stuff floating around in it. So my first course of action would be a flush.

[pd350]

There's a very small return hole just ahead of the bigger feed hole in the reservoir . If the thing has been neglected , that return hole is likely plugged .

[Eng18ine]

The return hole would spit out fluid when the lever was released. Is that the same one?

[pd350]

Two holes . One about 1/8" ( maybe a bit smaller ) . The second ( return hole ) is toward the brake hose about 1/2" and is about half the size of a straight pin used for sewing ( that would be about 1/64" ) . Like I said , very small .

 

The back flush you're seeing may be fluid being forced back through the feed hole .

 

There is also the possibility that the brake hose is collapsed , internally , and has created a dam , of sorts .

[Eng18ine]

Oh wow. That small. Ok I'll go look for it. The hose is deffinatly squished by the hose holder on the left side of the fork. But thank you. I really appreciate it.

[pd350]

 

The hose is deffinatly squished by the hose holder on the left side of the fork.

 

Definitely , un-squish that hose . It may be your only problem . Even if it is , fresh fluid would be beneficial .

[Eng18ine]

Ya. It's a 27 year old bike. The hoses show it too haha. Any chance you know what fluid to use?

[pd350]

Use DOT 3 or 4 brake fluid . No synthetic .

[Eng18ine]

Youdda man. Thanks