Soft Brakes

The brakes on my ZX-7R have been feeling a little soft lately. They
still work well, but it requires a little more lever travel, and the
lever can be pulled back almost to the grip. I'm just trying to figure
out what the problem might be.

Initially, I thought I'd boiled them at my last track day and just the
fluid was screwed. I flushed them last Sunday with Motul 600 and the bar
is slightly firmer, but it's not a huge improvement. If I didn't do the
work myself, I wouldn't know it was done.

I've got SS lines already, so it's not that. I'm also running EBC HH
pads.

The bike stops fine (on the street) once the pads have picked up some
heat.

Does anyone have suggestions of what to look at to firm things up? The
bike is 6 years old, so I doubt there could be anything significantly
worn in the master cylinder or calipers. But it's a good excuse to put a
Brembo radial master on...

There's also the possibility that it's just "a Kawasaki thing", since
the lever on my 10R and on a friend's 9R are both somewhat soft.

-B

 

Done last sunday with Denise's help. The old fluid was less than 6 month
old.

Doing it as soon as I get home.

Done.

I already tried the obvious stuff, that's why I'm asking.

-B

 

Try pressing the pistons back in the calipers, like you
would when replacing pads. Then pump them back out
with the lever. Sometimes the pistons just get
in the wrong position and need to be reset.
Sometimes this indicates caliper pistons that need cleaning.

Eric