Too much brake lever travel

I have an 05 GSXR 600 and I have to pull the brake lever about halfway before I get any braking. At the track im almost smashing my fingers between the lever and throttle. The brakes stop fine but the lever doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. I put on a new master, bled the brakes, and the pads have plenty of life but nothing made a difference. Any ideas?

 

I'm thinking maybe it's the actual lever, did you use the old lever with a new master or is the whole assembly new?

 

Yes, whatever ebay levers that were on it when I bought the thing. The brake lever pushes down the little plunger on the master though like it should. I wouldnt rule the lever out though.

 

Does the travel reduce if you pump it up?

If so it might be warped rotors.

 

Nope. Pumping the brakes makes no difference.

 

I think you found your problem

 

What master cylinder did you put on? '05 was included in the massive gsxr brake recall. Putting on another used master cylinder from the same year probably wouldn't make any difference. In my experience even the post recall master cylinder wasn't great. I had similar symptoms on my '07, all solved by a Brembo master cylinder.

 

I think you should borrow a proper master and try it since that seems to be the root of the problem.

 

I fought a similar problem on my SV last season. Tried swapping everything (calipers, master, levers, lines...etc).

What ended up fixing it was new pads. My pads seemed to perform well, had 90% thickness left. However, changing them resolved the travel problem, and it's been good this whole season.

I wish I could explain why, but I can't.

 

The 04-05 was not known for good brakes. Like stated, an aftermarket master will more than likely fix your problem.

 

I ordered some levers, the cheapos on it need to go regardless. More than one person at the track recommend a brembo master to solve the problem, ill probably just buy one.