I've searched this and other forums and found plenty of people who have had issues with the front brakes on their Recons similar to me. But have not really found anyone who seemed to thave the a-ha! solution. So if you have been successful at solving this please let me know. I have a 2007 which after a about two years lost the front brakes. I replaced the pads, adjusted and bled them but still the handle goes all the way to the grip and I have very little stopping power. I tried bleeding several times and am pretty sure I have the original fluid flushed out. Someone suggested zip tieing the lever in the fully squeezed position over night which I also tried but nothing. Appreciate any help.

 

I had the same problem w/ my 05 recon. It always had fluid and I bled it. Nothing worked. It took a hit on a tree from one of my son's friends riding it. I assumed it was because of the wreck. I never got them to work right. I sold it last week to get another one for my daughter. (yes, I told them about the brakes) Good luck

 

I don't have the problem with my 99. I bought it used last year and went over everything. Here's a procedure to try. Raise the front and take the wheels off. Leave the drums on. Adjust the front brakes until they just drag, then tap the drum with a rubber hammer while turning the drum. This will recenter the shoes inside the drum. Then adjust them tighter and tap the drum again, etc. Do this until you can't get any more out of them and they are just slightly dragging. Not a drag really, but just a slight noise. Let me know if that helps.

 

Thanks Budedm, I'll give it a try

 

Update: Finally got things working better, turned out that I needed to get a better balance using the adjusters. So I went back and forth on each shoe to get a little drag on each. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Great.