HELP - Front brake lever locking up!

Hello,

2012 SW ABS with less than 6,000 miles. Two times now the front (right hand) brake lever locked up on me. I am riding normally and I start applying the brake by pulling the lever and it is just like totally stuck. I let go, try again with more force and it gets unstuck and applies a lot of braking because I had to pull so hard. Needless to say, scary and dangerous! Any idea what is going one and how to fix it? I am about to leave on a 1,500 mile trip and I am very nervous about suddenly losing my brakes! Thanks!!

Sounds like either a sticking caliper slider or the lever fulcrum is seized.

I'd go for the sticking lever if the rear lever works ok.

Sticking sliding caliper if the rear is the same.

Thank you for the reply. What needs to be done to get it fixed?

Yes I agree.Clean and lube the caliper sliders.Cleaning of pistons would be great too

micbusathens wrote:

Yes I agree.Clean and lube the caliper sliders.Cleaning of pistons would be great too

The problem only occurred when operating the front (right hand) brake lever. Would that change your assessment? Thank you.

Our front caliper has 3 pistons.The central one works with left lever and the rest 2 with front brake(right lever).So braking is different for back and front.Of course all those pistons are pressing the same pad

micbusathens wrote:

Our front caliper has 3 pistons.The central one works with left lever and the rest 2 with front brake(right lever).So braking is different for back and front.Of course all those pistons are pressing the same pad

Got it! So there are 2 pistons activated only by the right lever, if I understand correctly, and that could explain why the problem occurs only with the right lever. Thanks!!

You repeatedly said the lever was sticking. Why all the attention to the caliper? If you can push the lever forward and it is just loose, then look at the caliper. The simple things should be eliminated first. There is a pivot screw that passes thru a bushing in the lever arm. Loosen the nut underneath and then loosen the screw. Spray some penetrating oil around the screw shaft and see if that helps the lever action. If you remove the lever, you have to fiddle with the switches. It is easier to just loosen and lubricate.

Jim Caudill wrote:

You repeatedly said the lever was sticking. Why all the attention to the caliper? If you can push the lever forward and it is just loose, then look at the caliper. The simple things should be eliminated first. There is a pivot screw that passes thru a bushing in the lever arm. Loosen the nut underneath and then loosen the screw. Spray some penetrating oil around the screw shaft and see if that helps the lever action. If you remove the lever, you have to fiddle with the switches. It is easier to just loosen and lubricate.

This can be easily done. However, to be precise - it was different from "sticking". It was totally seized and locked when I attempted to break! It did not move a single millimeter, like there was a resistance that would prevent the lever from being pulled. After I let go and pulled again, it was back to normal, except that of course I pulled harder by reflex and it applied a sharp, sudden brake to the front wheel that almost threw my off the scooter. This happened twice at several weeks' interval. Do you think that this behavior is compatible with a lever that need to be lubricated? Thanks.

As this if dangerous----stop/take to nearest Honda Dealer right away.

john grinsel wrote:

As this if dangerous----stop/take to nearest Honda Dealer right away.

Yes, I am planning to do that. Thanks.

My two cents.
Simple things first. Undo the bolt and nut that hold the lever to the handlebar. Pull the lever away from the handlebar to look at the lever to see if it's corroded or what. If it looks cruddy sand it with some fine emery cloth and put a very thin smear of grease on both sides. Then put it back and put the bolt and nut back on. Mine has lock nuts on them which don't usually work loose. Tighten the nut just enough to hold the lever properly but don't over tighten it. Then check to see if it works properly.
Not sure if this is the problem but it's the simplest and cheapest thing to start with.

Won't be a sticking caliper slider, that would happen on both brake levers, my best guess is a rust spot on one (or both) caliper piston/s which is seizing the piston in the caliper body.
But that is only a guess, if you're happy doing your own spanner work then investigate all suggestions made in this thread, or as John suggested earlier get an agent to look for you bud.

I think it's a front caliper pull down too. Either sticking piston, or the pad is stuck on the guide pin, maybe the "hold out" backing spring is displaced?

Only way to know for sure will be to take the thing off and have a good old fashioned look.

I had the same problem with my 2013 Swing at 5k miles and exactly a year old. Took it to Honda repair shop and the mechanic said that I had too much brake fluid in the reservoir. I was charged $200 for the repair despite my argument that I had done anything to change the fluid level and that was how I received the bike from a different Honda dealership. The bike was new with 5 miles when I picked it up. I think the mechanic flushed the front brake fluid. I never thought that the fluid could be over filled due to the air gap molded in the cover rubber gasket.
My 2¢.

Well, whilst riding along on the crest of a wave (it really has been raining that heavily over here) I had a thought...

The OP doesn't have heated hand grips fitted maybe?

If so, the wire that feeds the grips, it isn't "blocking" the front brake lever from moving is it? Because heated grips have a habit of moving around, just a thought that the cable where it goes into the grip can sometimes have quite a large protective sleeve on it. It wouldn't take much for the grips to be in a position where the connection blocks the lever by the pivot.

Met a similar problem before, where the grips would rotate around the throttle tube when they got hot.

Because the front brake isn't locking "on", just won't operate on initial pull.

Of course if it doesn't have heated grips, just ignore this post.

Good thought - no heated grips. I wish!

I have an appointment tomorrow, I will report what the service people say.

thought about this for awhile----after several new Hondas, riding in Europe/Japan/USA---in all weathers/salt, dirt.

Honda Front brake/brakes like to have brake dust, dirt, salt hosed off now and then to get the crud away from the pads/disk. Once I figured this out, never had trouble or had to take things apart. All of my bikes/scooters were purchased new (one left over 2013 SilverWing). Now that SilverWings are old/getting old, think attention needs to be paid to watching dust/dirt collection on front.

Note: on 2 Silverwings never had to replace front brake pads....and I am heavy front brake user.

FINAL UPDATE - They took apart both breaks and cleaned and lubricated them. They also disassembled the front brake lever and did the same. They did not notice anything visibly wrong. Right now it rides well and even a noise that was coming from the back is gone. I suspect that the inactivity caused some build-up in the brakes, and the front brake locked up (as described in the opening post), while the rear brake was making noise. If anything changes I will update. I appreciate very much all the thoughts and ideas!

Thanks for the update. Bit worrying they didn't actually find anytrhing though, just did maintenanace on them.

Would have been much better if they could have said "Yes, it was this that was causing the problem".

Lost it wrote:

Thanks for the update. Bit worrying they didn't actually find anytrhing though, just did maintenanace on them.

Would have been much better if they could have said "Yes, it was this that was causing the problem".

I agree. However, if the problem was due to built-up dirt or lack of lubrication it is possible that there was not much to see by the time they services the scooter, since they did the work after I used the scooter for several days and that may have solved (at least in part) the issue. Thanks!

Thats good news.