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Cruiser
Posts: 244
Fargo, ND | I have an '08 Tour Premium with only 2,000 miles. After sitting over the winter, I noticed the very same problem. Very spongy rear brake pedal, and it pushed nearly all the way to the floorboard before it engaged. My bike is stored in a heated shop, never under 65 degrees (f), and a steady 16% humidity for the entire storage period, so moisture is NOT the issue. When I found mine to be mushy, I went to my local dealer and tried all 5 brand new Visions on their showroom floor. 2 of the 5 had a very spongy pedal, and 3 of them were the way I remembered mine being last year. My dealer will be bleeding mine before I ride, and I'll have them notify Victory of the problem as well. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 20
Aberdeen SD | I also have had to have mine bleed yesterday it had a lot of air in the sytem. Got the bike last fall and put 3000 miles on before it went into hibernation for the winter
Edited by bruzer 2009-04-16 8:52 PM
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 43
CASHTON, WI United States | THANKS KEVINX FOR THE FRONT BLEED TIP!!! MINE WERE ALSO VERY SPONGY TODAY!!!
IT IS GREAT TO HAVE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE.
THANK YOU!!
ALWAYS RIDE SAFE!!
HWY27GUY |
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Cruiser
Posts: 247
| Just had mine bled while it was in getting the new gas cap. sam scenario. sat a few months and the brake was spongy. went almost to the bottom. isn't this supposed to be a closed system? |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | lol are you serious? about the close looped system? |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | 8)
Edited by Arkainzeye 2009-04-17 8:32 PM
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 12
| Just picked up my '08 Vision prem. tour, I thought it was my imagination until now. The rear brake pedal went all the way down to the floor board, the bike only has 18 miles on it, direct from the showroom floor. Thanks to you guys, now I know I'm not loosing my mind. I put a call into my dealer to see what they say, but it looks like I gotta bleed some brakes. Thanks for your help! |
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Tourer
Posts: 301
Buffalo Grove,Ill | Ive Always used LMA GTX brake fluid in the racecar and NEVER have i had a problem even after sitting all winter in an un heated garage in Chicago. The only reason i would bleed the brakes is if ive opened the lines or while checking the level in the Girling Master Cylinders, some dirt might get in. I am going to use this in my Vision once next winter comes and i have it down for a few months. It should solve any problems. Instead of looking at the system itself for the culprit, i would be willing to bet most of the problems stem from poor quality fluid.
The LMA can be bought at race shops and costs about 7-8 bucks a bottle. A small bottle. Maybe 12 oz or so. But it doesnt take much.
Edited by clubford00 2009-04-21 12:50 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 244
Fargo, ND | I reported my brake problems to the local dealer earlier this week. Checking the Visions on their showroom, the 09's had nice firm brake pedal. One 08 identical to mine (that had been on the floor since last fall with no temperature variation) had the pedal go straight to the floorboard. They have been in contact with Polaris, and one of their engineers will be visiting my dealer and doing a complete check of both that machine and mine to determine what is happening. They said they've been hearing about this probem but haven't actually seen a bike with the symptoms yet, so they're anxious to check these two out and get to the bottom of it. I'll keep you posted after they look mine over, hopefully within the next week or two. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | No Hawg thanks for that follow up to Polaris, that is what was needed. Despite all the technical explanations I do not feel that is normal at all and runs the risk of killing someone. Fortunately mine never ever has experienced this problem and the rear brakes were changed around 30K and were bled. I did not have problem before or after the bleeding so I feel mine are normal. I would expect to see a recall come out soon and I'm curious which serial numbers were affected, mine being 3114. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 61
| As for now, I"ve researched the issue in the service manual. While bleeding the rear brake, be sure to bleed the left front caliper also. This is due to the linked brake system. You could have all of the air out of the rear and pushed some to the left front. And have full front brake lever because the right caliper is not part of the linked system. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 127
OHIO | You can add me to this thread.  I noticed the pedal went down the first time I got it out this Spring. Bike was stored in my basement on a lift all winter around 65 degrees. I called dealer, but they said they have never had this problem before. I'm going to bleed them, and if this doesn't correct the problem, I guess I will be making the 2 hour drive to the dealer which I am not fond of doing since I do all my own work and they being far away!! This should not be happening!! Bike was under 300 miles when first noticed. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 244
Fargo, ND | Well Polaris decided they didn't need to visit my dealership. Apparently they are aware of the problem and told my dealer to simply bleed the brakes per the service manual instructions. The problem most likely stems from not all the air being purged from the system when initially installed. The front caliper brake line that is linked to the rears goes up from the brake reservoir and then back down to the caliper, and the high spot in the line is most likely where trapped air forms a bubble after sitting over the winter. My service tech was pretty sure the fronts were the culprit, but had to do the complete system twice before totally normal brake performance was restored. Now that all the air is out, it shouldn't reoccur. This was done as a free warranty service, so anyone having the problem should take it back to the dealer. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1117
Northeast Ohio | Mine sat all winter in a unheated garage, unless I am working in there, and then I fire up the torpedo heater. I don't have a spongy pedal, but this does make sense. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 27
| 09 vision i have the same problem now 22K |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 28
Mesa, AZ | Had the same problem with my bike and my son's 8 ball. Thanks to Dain I remedied the problem by bleeding the rear brake using the front brake, right side caliper. There are three bleeder ports top, bottom and middle. Use the middle port to bleed it. The reservoir is behind the front wheel inside the fairing and is a little inconvenient to get to but can be done. Takes about 5 minutes and solved my problems. Don't know why this is happening but seems to be quite prevalent. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 763
Anderson, IN (48mi NE of downtown Indianapolis) | I had this same issue on another bike. The brakes were fine until I stored it. Then they got mushy. I would pump the lever and pedal 100 times (or so it seemed) and the braking power would come back. Everything would be fine until I let the bike for more than two weeks. I was convinced it was air, but could not figure out why the brakes worked fine as long as I rode at least once per week. Any longer time between rides and the brakes went mushy.
Here's what fixed it:
I took the caps off the master cylinder reservoirs. I pushed the pistons all the way in on all calipers while watching the reservoirs. I saw bubbles in the reservoir when I pushed one of the front pistons. I put the caps back on and never had a problem again. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 244
Tucson , AZ | There is a problem with the brake system on these bikes.. i have completely replaced all the fluid 6 months ago . We bleed the entire system ... brakes were good. My bike has been down for around 4 months.. Just checked the brakes and the same problem ... pedal goes to the floor. somewhere in the system there is an air leak, allowing moisture and air to enter the system. |
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| Just received speed bleeders in the mail. I had a spongy rear brake pedal after the bike sat for 10 months while i was deployed. Replaced the lower bleeder on the front right caliper, pumped about a pint of fluid through the system, and now have a pedal stiffer that when it was new. Very simple and very effective.
Anyone flushed the DOT4 out of their system and used DOT5? Or is that a bad thing to do? |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 9
East Bridgewater, Ma. | I bought an 08 Vision from a private part in December. The bike had been sitting for 4 months and I had the same issue. I purchased a pneumatic brake bleeder from Harbor Freight for $22 bucks. The dealer said it is very common on the 08 Vision with the rear brakes and the only solution is to dont let it sit to long.
The fluid change took 30 minutes. I stick with what the manufacturer recommends with the Dot4. Why take the chance with different different engine oil, oil filters and such. The price of the ride just is not worth the chance. One thing you may want to invest in is an item called a Filtermag (www.shopfiltermag.com). clip it to your oil filter and it collects small microns in the oil. My last oil change on my Kingpin had 5k on the oil and the oil was still pretty clean. Now I have one on my Vision.
Hope this helps |
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Cruiser
Posts: 79
Memphis,Tn. | My '08 sat for about two months. No pedal. Purged the air using the right brake caliper center bleeder screw.
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Cruiser
Posts: 64
St. Louis, MO United States | Add me to the braking debacle. Went out today just to go up and down the driveway and start getting ready for riding season...
Go down the driveway and press on the rear brake. NADA, ZILCH, NOTHING... No rear brake at all...
So after changing underpants and cleaning up I have to admit joining the no rear brake club. |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| they say break fluid is only good for 4 to 5 years. So how old if the fluid Vic puts in the bike.
All air will go to the highest point it will not get trapped in the middle any place. So if you opened your handlebar master cylinder and just barley squeeze the lever and see bubbles then you have air in line. Just wait 30 seconds and just barley squeeze lever again. Now your done from now on every time you apply breaks if there is air it will self bleed.
Like the man said it doesn't happen during riding season so I'm thinking next year take some axle grease and put nice a mount where the line meets the crimped metal sleeve. If no problems then you know air is leaking in at one of the fittings.
By the way auto parts store sells brake fluid test stips to see if you need to change the fluid.
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no rear brakes
