The wife's recon's front brakes were really soft & the lever would come clear back to the grip so I assumed they needed bled. I cracked both front bleeders and continued to pour fluid into the master cylinder as it drained, then closed them & topped off,but now they're completely dead. Is this the improper way to bleed them? I hate to go buy a new master cylinder if it's not the problem. Thanx....

 

More than likely you just needed to adjust the brakes instead of bleeding them - Here is a diagram of the front brake setup.

Jack the front end up and remove the adjuster plug that is inside the wheel's "holes" between the lug nuts (red rubber plug) - use a flat blade screwdriver to turn the adjusting "stars" (you can see them with a flashlight as you rotate the wheel) - there is an arrow on the adjuster to indicate which direction to turn to tighten the brakes - tighten the adjuster until you cannot move the wheel, then back it off about (3) "clicks" - you have 2 adjusters per wheel located at the "bottom". Repeat this for the other side.

Now re-bleed the brake system (which you don't have to do to just adjust the brakes on these).

To bleed the brakes - fill the master cylinder with fluid - mash the brake handle and hold - open the bleed screw at the wheel cylinder to let pressure/air off - then close the bleed screw and release the brake handle - - repeat these steps until the system is bled of all air on both sides (watch the resevior level so that it doesn't go dry)

You should now have brake "pedal"

 

Lancester,
My Recon has the same problem. Its the way the brakes are designed (at least I think so). There are adjusters for how much the shoes stick out. Bleed the brakes and play with the adjusters until they have good braking power but the adjustment isn't making you work hard to turn the hubs.

Any questions PM me

 

Thanx for the help guys. I did pull the little red plug out & I observed no movement at all in the brake cylinder. There was a little bit of braking before I bled them. Originally I did bleed them by "pumping" them and opening the bleeder,then closing it before releasing the lever. This is what leads me to suspect the master cylinder as I just can't get anything. I will look at it again tommorow.

 

About 99.8% of the time, the master cylinder is not defective (usually a defective m/c will leak around the seal at the handle) - the biggest problem I see with the brake master cylinders is that foreign material gets into the holes in the bottom of the reservior - there are two holes down in the bottom of the reservior (under the rubber "stopper" with slits in it - it will lift out with a small screwdriver) - one allows the fluid to flow down, the other lets it "breath" to replace the displaced fluid. If both holes are not open, then the master cylinder cannot "pump" fluid.

Apparently Aggressive misunderstood the brake adjusting process - the reason for adjusting the brakes until the wheel will not turn is to set the brake shoe into alignment with the drum (the same as for drum brakes on automobiles) - then you back off this new "alignment" so the drum turns freely (maybe with slight drag). I have always used the "3 clicks" backing off theory, and have yet to have a customer have anything to say other than how great their brakes now work. Very rarely have I had to bleed the brakes unless the system has been opened. Frequent adjustments of the front brakes is just a trait you will have to live with until Honda finally decides to go disc brakes like all the others.