Mushy Front Break Lever
Harley Brake IssuesDiscuss Mushy Front Break Lever in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; I had the same problem on a 03 road king. did some research, found out harley changed the master cylinder on 04 later bikes.it was a big hit to the ...
I had the same problem on a 03 road king. did some research, found out harley changed the master cylinder on 04 later bikes.it was a big hit to the wallet but no more mushy lever.hope this helps
I had the same problem on a 03 road king. did some research, found out harley changed the master cylinder on 04 later bikes.it was a big hit to the wallet but no more mushy lever.hope this helps
They didn't actually change the master cylinders,just the fluid (DOT 5 to the cheaper DOT4) the internals are exactly the same.And it's 05 & later.
Well, I'm so used to the mushy breaks, I may not try to fix the problem. I can see me fixing it, then needing to hit the breaks!
More searching and I have also read that 03's had this problem. Also, some people mentioned pumping the lever until you have good resistance, and tieing it down over night.
I also found a siet, build a chopper, I believe, that sells videos, he has a 10 minute video that has 3 tricks to cure this. Cost..... 420.00 ! Ouch!
__________________ 03 Ultra Classic Electra Glide, stock, trying keeping it that way..............but loosing.
go to the april 2009 american iron magazine page 154. it talks about that same problem.check the part numbers for the master cylinders for dual disc. i dont know what was changed but it worked. as to dot 4 or 5, like was said earlier it was cheaper to use dot 4 it had nothing to do with mushy brake levers .if it did, all 03 bikes would have the same problem. the only bikes affected were front dual disc.
This is going to sound crazy, but a bud owns a bike shop and he tells me he had a similar problem with a customer's bike. The fix was to cut a piece of sponge and put it in the master cylinder! I asked if the sponge wouldn't deteriorate and he said no. He said he got this tip from a BMW website. Apparantly the sponge dissapates the micro bubbles that build up in the small resovoir.
A dime to a doughnut,, if the sponge worked it's for some other reason as there are No Micro-bubbles formed in the Brake Line,,, otherwise we'd be bleeding our brakes every week..
Plus, if there is No leak allowing air to get into the Line, there won't be bubbles in the line, unless, the air was Not purged in the first place..
It doesn't even matter if there is an air pocket in the Reservoir from a Low fluid level as long as all the air is purged from the line between the In-put Piston to the Out-put Piston..
You might be able to check that for yourself..
Remove the top of either Master Cylinder, rear is prob easier..
Just by chance there may be an air pocket between the rubber gasket and the fluid level,, you'd be able to see that..
Umm, since your brakes are prob functioning good,,, having air in the rez meant nothing at all..
__________________ "Fill your hands you son of a bitch"
Rooster Cogburn
Re: Mushy Front Break Lever 
Does that mean you can put a saaltine cracker in the reservoir to keep moisture out
Linear Mode
