Rear Brake Reservoir empty

I recently changed my brake pads all the way around thanks to the wonderful How-To on this forum. I had said on here before that I was uncomfortable flushing and bleeding my brake and clutch system. Well, now I am beginning to think that I should have attempted it myself instead of having someone else do it.

When I got to the rear wheel to do the pad, I just happened to glance at my rear reservoir. At first I smiled to myself because it was nice and clean. Then it struck me; my front reservoir has a light tea color to it already. Why doesn’t this one? Then I tapped it a few times and the damn thing was empty! I went ahead and changed the pad and cleaned my area up before I looked it this issue.

When squeezing the front brake lever, the front wheel is stopped, but the rear wheel spins freely. When the brake pedal is engaged the rear wheel is stopped but the front spins freely. So to my untrained mind, the brake are basically unlinked (albeit not properly) at the moment. My concern is this, could my riding around for the past several hundred miles caused any problem with them being unlinked?

I have already called the shop that I had done the work, and they want me to bring it back up for them to determine what happened. I would honestly be surprised if the guy just forgot to fill the reservoir since it took him 3 hours. He even left the shop to get the service manual. Best case scenario they redo the flush and bleed at their expense. I would feel better if they did that since the fluid is already turning brown after less than 1000 miles. Worst case scenario is… ? What do you guys think is the worst case scenario?

You caught it. That's good, and you paid bucks for service, so yeah, take it back.........

--- The front wheel has to be in motion for the rear brake to work as a linked system. There shouldnt be any "caused" problems with the system other than needing a totally and completely good rebleed.



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- - I did offer to help.....--

No big deal, as brakes just slow you down! :laugh:

Front linked brakes only work when moving!

BR

Thats what I thought guys, except for the front wheel needs to be moving part. Glad to know nothing is getting messed up.

Oh, and new brake pads make a huge difference in stopping power!

Because the rear reservoir is separate from the master cylinder, you can probably just re-fill it. You'll probably find that there is enough fluid in the line between the reservoir and the master cylinder to keep it working. If you add fluid to it, the air in the line (low pressure line remember) will just float to the top and everything should be good.

It's only if you get air past the master cylinder and into the high pressure line that your brakes will stop working.