what make of pads have you got.harder the pads the longer they take to fully work. if o/k before must be pads,and as you sait the brake pedal is hard so you dont have air in it.

Before a trial at New Year I had a similar issue, pedal was hard, plenty force going thru it, umpteen bleeds, getting nowhere, til we released the banjo at the caliper....almost instantly I had brakes, air was trapped at the banjo/caliper....give it a try, you have nothing to lose

Before a trial at New Year I had a similar issue, pedal was hard, plenty force going thru it, umpteen bleeds, getting nowhere, til we released the banjo at the caliper....almost instantly I had brakes, air was trapped at the banjo/caliper....give it a try, you have nothing to lose

Thanks. Will check that too

what make of pads have you got.harder the pads the longer they take to fully work. if o/k before must be pads,and as you sait the brake pedal is hard so you dont have air in it.

The pads are 'braking'. Used these pads before and they seem fine before

Did you chuck your old pads out? If not, stick them back in and see if there is a difference. Your change in braking performance based on what you have said you have

changed seems purely down to pad material/break in.

If there is any lip on the edge of the disc, the old pads would have moulded to this, new flat pads may not be contacting the lipped disc over a large enough contact area.

Have a look and keep us updated to what you find.

I have had the same problem.

Back off any adjustment until there is plenty of slack on the push rod, the chance are the piston is not coming fully past the hole from the reservoir.

Try bleeding it again.

Worked a treat on mine.

A couple of points not already mentioned;

Always use fresh brake fluid from a sealed container - The hygroscopic nature of mineral brake fluid (it absorbs moisture from the air) will lead to a loss of hydraulic pressure and can cause the symptoms you describe.

Check the brake line (hose) for damage - a real pain if it runs through the swing arm but a defective area (not necessarily from physical damage) will 'balloon' and also cause this type of problem.

Lack of the 'spongy' feeling doesn't always indicate that there isn't any air in the system. Small amounts of air will absorb the energy that should be going to the caliper pistons. Are you 100% sure that no air entered the system when you bled it through?

Trials Tesco - every little helps

GJ

shouldnt be the pads,used them for years without any problems.they are about the best you can get.

Update. Checked with mate and he agreed that pedal felt good. He is a rider riding at a very high level. Braking pad removed and his old pad put back. Just to make this fair I put back a pad from his 2010 evo 250 which isnt a perfect match for my 08 rev4 disc but it still works. Brake worked well after a couple of pushes. So did my old pad afterwards. So to conclude, it was not air in the system , it was the pads. I work in anaesthetics and I realise that air where it shouldn't be can be fatal. Thankfully brakes are more forgiving.

Fancy a wee small wager on that ?

Which account of mine do you want to put that tenner into ? I can take paypal if that helps !!

Obvious then you still don't have the new pads firmed up. Requires the thermal cycling process. The things just simply have a fair softness and compressability off new.

Mine took a while, even using the shock cooling. Getting the pads warm without burning them up is the trick. If you try to accelerate the process too much too quick you can ruin things.

I put a $4000 set of Brembos on a car a while back. Instructions were something like 10 hard stops from 50-60mph, let them cool, do this 5 times, and if you don't get it right you will be buying a fresh set of pads and starting over!.

Gave the instructions to the owner, have not heard back so I guess he got it done!

OK, a soapy tenner says, you still have air in the system.

Which account of mine do you want to put that tenner into ? I can take paypal if that helps !!

A soapy tenner is was, so a soapy tenner it will be

Obvious then you still don't have the new pads firmed up. Requires the thermal cycling process. The things just simply have a fair softness and compressability off new.

Mine took a while, even using the shock cooling. Getting the pads warm without burning them up is the trick. If you try to accelerate the process too much too quick you can ruin things.

I put a $4000 set of Brembos on a car a while back. Instructions were something like 10 hard stops from 50-60mph, let them cool, do this 5 times, and if you don't get it right you will be buying a fresh set of pads and starting over!.

Gave the instructions to the owner, have not heard back so I guess he got it done!

You are dead right about over cooking them. I overdid the thermal cycling process by doing it on a padock stand in fourth gear. Plenty of steam. Did it 3 times. The pads disintegrated and literally turned to chalk. New pads on order. It is a learning curve.