rear brake lever locks up ?

The rear brake lever has been working normal for the last 18 years, but now over night it is very hard to pull/use. It was fine last week, both wheels turn very easy so something is causing it to be
unusable , The front brake lever works normal.
I replaced the front pads about a year ago and the rear pads about 6 months ago, Every thing has been working fine until now.
I need to get this fixed soon, Right now I am using only the front brake.

This sounds like a weird one to me. The first thing I would do is look for anything which might be physically obstructing the lever itself. Oddly enough, my rear lever has been putting up more resistance lately. It feels like I'm pushing against a dry master cylinder piston. If I squeeze the lever hard a few times in quick succession it frees-off. The problems occurs at random. I intend to have a look at the piston (without removing it), I just want to look behind the dust seal to see how it looks in there.

This could be just one possibility but you might need to see what the brake fluid in the rear reservoir looks like; gunge in the fluid could be swelling the seals. Further on from there it could be problem at the rear caliper. Have another look at the new rear pads in case they are not 'returning' properly. Also, the rear caliper pistons could be sticking through corrosion or gunge.

Besides assuming that brake fluid was replaced/bleed periodically (every 3-5yrs) and your system is not contaminated, etc. You either have blockage/ bad seals at master cylinder, or maybe you got dirt/dust into caliper seals when you pushed piston back in, binding the pistons, it doesn't take much to do it. Most owners usually just collapse pistons and slide pads in, but cleaning road grime, etc., from exposed chrome is almost a requirement IMO. A trick you can try, with caliper removed, is to push pistons out slightly 1/8 in./3mm by pulling brake lever, then clean exposed area of piston, etc. with a toothbrush and some alcohol, mild degreaser, etc. BTW, is always better to open bleed screw when collapsing the pistons, because moisture/crud always collect at lowest point (calipers), especially after brakes sit/cool down, no point on pushing it back into system, IMO.  

Sometimes you have disassemble/clean/overhaul the calipers to free them up, BTDT, years of road grime and corroded pistons could be the culprit. Since you have combined brakes/CBS on rear lever the rear caliper is suspect  

I think the post by rvtips is in reference to a 2002 Honda reflex with a rear brake problem.

Be safe, be seen!

JohnyC wrote:

I think the post by rvtips is in reference to a 2002 Honda reflex with a rear brake problem.

Be safe, be seen!

Maybe that "Need to know info" when asking advice , he did post on "Other Scooters and Motorcycles",

In any case most previous info still applies, the main difference is that the Reflex 250 uses a single piston rear caliper for both the hydraulic and mechanical parking brake, so there's a mechanical auto adjustment feature, so basically before you install new pads you must reset the caliper, turn piston in clockwise until it stops and position as shown in figure below, piston should turn smoothly, otherwise there's and issue.  BTW, you cannot compress/collapse this type of caliper like traditional ones, it will not move, may brake or damage it.

Well done zrx212, sorry about the poke but I figured you would probably know about a Reflex to.
Clarity wins the day.
I've never seen a live one.

Be safe, be seen!

Thanks for the "Poke", the rear caliper setup is not common, although similar system is used on Burgman 400, BTW the Reflex 250 is a good/well designed scooter, they are very easy to service, had combined rear brake and some had ABS, just a little underpowered, for highway use, etc.  the Forza 300/350 that kinda replace it does not have a parking brake, same goes for XMAX 300