Honda Recon brake trouble

[mthomas]

I have a 2000 Honda Recon and the front brakes are very weak! I just put new fluid in them and bled all of the air. I installed new brake shoes and adjusted the brakes per the service manual. The brakes are still weak. I not able to lock them up. Any ideas on how to improve them? The only thing left is to replace the rubber lines with steel braided lines. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[bayou boy]

check the piston that pushes the shoes outward. sometimes one side of the piston does not work causing only one shoe to push out. i had to change the pistons on the front of our recon for the same type of problem

[zeus54]

Originally posted by mthomas
I have a 2000 Honda Recon and the front brakes are very weak! I just put new fluid in them and bled all of the air. I installed new brake shoes and adjusted the brakes per the service manual. The brakes are still weak. I not able to lock them up. Any ideas on how to improve them? The only thing left is to replace the rubber lines with steel braided lines. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.





AFTER DOING ALL THAT IS THE BRAKE LEVER "SPONGEY". AND ARE THEY DISC OR DRUMS

[mthomas]

The front brakes are drum brakes. I just installed all new piston/cylinder assemblies on both sides, because the left side was leaking. I have bled the brakes several times and have adjusted the brake shoes. After I pump the brakes about three times, I get a pretty firm feel at the lever. After riding it, I was again disappointed. I can still pull the lever all the way back to the grip without locking up the front brakes. I think the next step is a new seal kit in the master cylinder (at the brake lever) and steel braided brake lines. I recently servcied a Honda Rubicon for a friend of mine and it has the same hydraulic drum brake system on the front. I was able to bleed and adjust the shoes to the point where I got a firm feel at the lever and the brakes would lock up. So, there is hope...

[Aceman]

If the brakes firm up after pumping, it sounds like air is still in the lines. Another option is your rubber brake lines are expanding under pressure, but I would think you'd still be getting better lever than you are right now. Have you tried reverse bleeding by pushing fluid up to the master? You can also try cracking the banjo bolt at the master too, it seems like bubbles like to get stuck in there sometimes.