i have a 500 auto & i get an intermittent brake fade with the hand bar brake. it will work awesome for a while then all of a sudden you pull on handle & it will go back to the bar. the dealer has checked it several times & seem to come up with nothing. my rear brakes also dont work very well at all, they have been adjusted many different times also. they have also installed a new master cylinder.
i'm wondering if any else has ran into or heard of this problem. other than that i love this bike.
i have no problem keeping up with the full 4x4 polaris's, 500's & 700's.

 

never had that problem, kinda sounds like that their is air in your system or you pads are gone and possibly you have a rotor that is groved, Check your pads and rotors and replace them if needed. Then I would drain the system ang pu in new fluid, bleed the breaks, if that does not fix it you might have a small pinhole is one of the lines or some other leak, wish I could be more help.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

it does feel exactly like air or a master cylinder bypassing. but the master is new & the brakes have been bleed many times, i'm sure there is no air now. my machine is new, i only have 230 miles on it. i havent checked the pads, but i hope they arent worn out yet.

 

hey momma i have a 2003 400-i some times i grab the brake it goes to the bar let off and grab it again i have a strong brake.some reply on here says it could be the wheel bearing havent check mine yet not really sure how to .maybe you can have your dealer do this hopes this helps.

 

My 375 used to do that, but after 400 miles it stopped. The brakes are excellent now and the mushy brake handle has not returned. It is possible that the dealer adjusted it when I had it in for valve-clearance adjustment, but they didn't say they touched it.

 

Loose wheel bearings or a warped rotor can cause this. The side to side movement pushes the pistons back into the caliper causing the lever to bottom out when you first grab it. Usually you can pump them back up by pulling the lever a few times.

 

The rear foot brake just plain sucks. I had a warped rear rotor that made the first pull one the lever go the the bar, second pull brought me to a stop. To determine witch rotor is warped lift your machine up get the brake lever firm, turn the rear tires, pull the brake, if it requires a second pull, look at the rear rotor it should be the warped one, repeat on each individual front tire.

 

I have the same problem on my 03 400i. I called my dealer today about it. He said at first that maybe I had a loose fitting. When I said that I haven't lost any fluid, he hinted that artic cat has seen alot of problems with "fading, spongy" feeling brakes. Iam calling corporate artic cat tomorrow.

 

My 300 has done that since day 1. Same response from the dealer. They must talk to eachother!! Keep us posted.

 

i get this feeling when the brakes are wet. then they sqeek for the next 5 minutes, i have gotten used to it. my dealer said that it is normal