Spongy front brake lever

Instead of having a nice firm stopping point my front brake lever feels spongy, like the brakes need to be bled. If I squeeze reasonably hard, it depresses to the grip (!). Bike is less than a month old, so I mentioned to dealer and was told, "that's just Triumph." I checked a couple other rockets in their showroom, and they were kind of spongy as well, though maybe not as bad as mine. Are all rockets really like this??? I know not all _Triumph_ bikes are because I checked some other models and found they weren't nearly as bad.

From the R3 service manual:
"When both calipers have been bled, ensure the brake lever has a firm resistive feel it, does not feel spongy and that the lever cannot be pulled directly back to the handlebar. Take remedial action as necessary."

So rather than bother w/dealer further, I went ahead and purchased some brake fluid and am going to try manually bleeding brakes and see if I can get a better result. Should have probably posted before--am I wasting my time?

Went to a rocket meet , about 10 bikes , majority were spongy feel , mine are very sharp , not spongy at all , the only difference is hh pads , and pazzo levers neither should make a difference .

Seems to be an inconsistent triumph thing .

I bled the front, after several month new, and gained a bit more lever. Although spongy remains. Cud bee the difference between hydrogenated and virgin vegetable oil

ratpick said:

Instead of having a nice firm stopping point my front brake lever feels spongy, like the brakes need to be bled. If I squeeze reasonably hard, it depresses to the grip (!). Bike is less than a month old, so I mentioned to dealer and was told, "that's just Triumph." I checked a couple other rockets in their showroom, and they were kind of spongy as well, though maybe not as bad as mine. Are all rockets really like this??? I know not all _Triumph_ bikes are because I checked some other models and found they weren't nearly as bad.

From the R3 service manual:
"When both calipers have been bled, ensure the brake lever has a firm resistive feel it, does not feel spongy and that the lever cannot be pulled directly back to the handlebar. Take remedial action as necessary."

So rather than bother w/dealer further, I went ahead and purchased some brake fluid and am going to try manually bleeding brakes and see if I can get a better result. Should have probably posted before--am I wasting my time?

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Be very careful what brake fluid you put in the master cylinder. There are very distinct types now and none mix with the other. Just like anti-freeze. Mixing one with the other will cause untold grief.

There is a trick or 2 to bleeding brakes, especially on bikes. I use a MityVac and power bleed them, sucking the brake fluid through the system from the highest point on the caliper. That means if the bleed port on the caliper is in the middle of the caliper (no, I didn't go out and look at my Rock)(and I've never bled the brakes on it, my lever is solid), you need to dismount the caliper and physically position the caliper so that the bleed port is the highest point (not higher than the master cylinder, just the bleed port is the topmost point on the caliper casting). Make sure the master cylinder is full. Have a friend keep tabs on it. This is really a 2 person job. Cover your paintwork with good absorbent towels as brake fluid does nasty things to paint. Suck the fluid through with a MityVac, you'll see the air bubbles going up the hose into the cannister. When you get no more air, close the bleed valve (at the same time while you are cycling the MityVac) and you should be good to go. Spongy levers are caused by air, which compresses. Brake fluid has no compressibility. Because so little brake fluid is displaced by the master cylinder piston, it takes only a minute air bubble anywhere in the system to cause a spongy feel in the lever. Because it takes so little air in there and the fluid displacement is so little, it may take a couple of times to get all the air expelled from the lines and caliper.

Spongy brakes were pretty common with speed triples and daytonas also (which share the same brakes). Bleeding them seemed to help.

I always thought my head was somewhat spongy....

Mine feel spongy too, but I had no problem locking up the front tire on the Interstate highway yesterday from 90 MPH. The deer seem to be out everywhere this weekend, today too. I have new confidence in my R3 brakes even if they do feel a little spongy. I stopped right there, no problem. My heart almost stopped, too.

BanjoBart said:

Mine feel spongy too, but I had no problem locking up the front tire on the Interstate highway yesterday from 90 MPH. The deer seem to be out everywhere this weekend, today too. I have new confidence in my R3 brakes even if they do feel a little spongy. I stopped right there, no problem. My heart almost stopped, too.

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I thought you were riding sanely? 2285 miles and I never exceeded the speed limit more than a few times. Of course I was following 2 potato bikes most of the time too.

I had the same problem checked the pads only half worn, tried bleeding the brakes no difference, orderd new pads and hey presto spongy feeling gone front brake feels like new again:bch:

oops forgot to mention use only DOT-4 brake fluid