front brake lever sticks on

[racinrich]

its weird sometimes the lever does not return all the way off ,it can even stick to the point of holding the brakes on, tried spraying stuff to try to free up lever ,it feels free but you have to manually push lever forward to get brakes to release , is a master cylinder overhaul in my future???

[johnny]

mine was doing that kinda... lose lever causing brake light to flicker... i took some black foam and stuck in the void area between the grip and the lever which forces the lever to stay off the switch and has no negative impact on the squeeze...

j o

[Inge K.]

@ Racinrick: If it's the lever and not the piston that don't return fully......
It could be a idea to check the pivot screw for corrosion, the screw turns together with the
lever inside a stationary bushing.
If screw have started to corrode inside the bushing it won't move/turn that easily as it should.
When you remove the screw the bushing would come out together with the screw.
The screw should be secured to the lever with Loctite.

@Johnny: If you are shure that the piston return fully, the play between the lever and piston
should be adjusted.
It's a adjustingscrew at the end of the plunger (front of the lever) which is secured with Loctite.
Remove the screw, clean the threads and add new Loctite.
Correct adjustement, according to BMW: turn the screw untill it touches the piston and then a
additional 1/2 turn....done.

[racinrich]

the lever seems to be free with no binding,but correct my logic ,the lever is not physically connected to the master rod right? so it sounds like its the lever not getting out of the way of the master rod returning,BUT isn't there a return spring in the master itself to return pistons to rest  position allowing fluid to return to reservoir ???

[Inge K.]

,the lever is not physically connected to the master rod right?

If it's the rod that pushes on the piston you have in mind?......it is connected to the lever with a ball joint
which is a part of the adjusting screw I did mention to Johnny.

,BUT isn't there a return spring in the master itself to return pistons to rest  position allowing fluid to return to reservoir ???

Yes, it is a spring behind the piston which pushes the piston back to it's rest position, the same spring must
also push back the lever to its outer position.

Just guessing.......it could be that the ball joint has become dry and almost don't move...you also have a kind
off ball joint also in the other end of the rod which have a rounded end and a seat in the piston...which also
should be lubed turn easy and minimize wear......but we only speaking of just a few degrees of movement here.