Front brake quit working!! HELP...

When I bought this bike the Master cylinder had just been resleeved. It seemed to be working very well but a few weeks ago, the day after a 200 mile ride I had no brake pressure. It seemed there was a leak at the hose so I thought it had just sucked air. I have since replaced the hose with a new steel braided one and the switch from Fred @ Oldbritts. I changed the pads & caliper end cap/seal and the pistons in the caliper move & push fluid. After repeated bleeding it still won't build any pressure at all. I did not change the lever on the master cylinder so thats not it. Does anyone have a clue? I'm stumped. Thanks, Glenn.

I'll bet it's the Oring on the MC piston. I had exactly the same thing happen with a sleeved MC about a year ago. I had to send it back to Al Miles who re-conditioned it. I tried to replace the oring myself but the normal orings I could find were not suitable for brake fluid and I didn't want to take any chances with the brakes. I got it back from Al and it worked perfectly though I have since replaced it with a Brembo MC from CNW (a superb improvement in braking over the sleeved oem and several light years beyond the standard oem cylinder.)

Try the big rubber band between the lever and grip overnight before hitting the panic button. I suspect it did suck air. Sometimes they do not take kindly to bleeding but the rubber band trick worked for me and others.

Thanks guys for the advice, I talked to Al Miles who did the MC & he suggested using compressed air to make sure the new pads were brought in contact with the disc, seems the re sleeved MC's don't move as much fluid & can't take up the slack there. I did that & bleed the whole thing again with the MC in a more vertical position to help the air rise, still no pressure. I left it with the handle commpresed (ie rubber band, thanks Batrider) and vertical over night and bingo, a brake once more! Still feels just a bit spongy but I'm on the right path at least. What a pain. A modern MC is definetly in this bikes future.

The bungeeing the lever in the on position overnight helps a lot. Also, if you can do this while suspending the caliper higher than the master cylinder (another bungee!), with the bleed valve up, it works even better.

Got it, juggle a small dog in one hand while drawing a perfect copy of Mona Lisa with the other, use my left foot to tie the shoe lace on my right & pray to the god's of Nortondom for my soul's salvation while huming my favorite Leonard Cohen song. Or was that sing to the Queen while %{**+>£€¥•|'!!!!!!! GOD it's a good thing I love this bike!

The CNW solution worked for me.