I went out to play on my foreman 450 yesterday and i noticed that threw out the day the front breaks got more and more goushy. I started riding at 9am and they worked fine, by noon they needed to be pumped a few times to grab, and by 2pm i had nothing at all. I thought, "o well i just need to bleed my breaks." cleaned her up this morning and put some more fluid in the reservoir. Then i tried to manually breed the breaks. tried about 6times per wheel, but i could get no air to come out of the lines, no bubbles like you would expect. And the best i can get my break lever to do is to pump it about 3-4 times for decent stopping, thats it.

cant detect any leaks from the lines, and i only put more fluid in because i was going to bleed the breaks. otherwise it was at the top of the sight glass.

whats going on?

 

Sounds like the master cylinder is by-passing to me.
I don't know if they make a kit for it or not? If not, and I'm correct, it's new master cylinder time.

 

would that be a master cylinder rebuild kit? they make them, $35.00. which isnt bad. its basically just a piston with inner and outer seals. should be an easy fix, i just hope thats the problem..... last break problem i spent $100 chasing it down, and it turned out to be $0.30 of hose.

 

Pick up a bleeder kit. It's a handy tool as you can use it to bleed brakes and clutches.

Check for leaks too. Clean it up real good and fill the master cyclinder. Have someone pump the system and check all the lines, wheel cylinders/calipers, etc. If it is not leaking and you do not have to add any after using the brakes, I am betting it is the master cylinder.

 

Continuing on this tread. I purchased and installed the master cylinder rebuild kit, bled the lines but still have some problems. The brakes get hard after three or four quick pumps of the handle. It felt like air in the lines but it is not. As a temporary fix I installed a small washer between the handle and the master cylinder piston. This keeps the piston pressed about 3 sixteenths and the brakes work beautifully on the first squeeze. They let off nicely and work like they are supposed to. As far as I can tell I am not at the correct distance with that seal ring and as a result without my temporary fix the piston is not maintaining a small amount of pressure in the lines. Any of you out there who have installed this kit, can you give me some clues as to the placement of that second seal ring? Thanks

 

installed the master cylinder kit, correctly, and still have 0 break.