So I rebuilt my master cylinder on my pilot front brakes, adjusted the brakes out, and bleed the system. Does this seem normal for the lever?

Mine is kind of like that. Since you are sure you've bled the system completely, I suggest adjusting the front shoes next. Doing so will help take up SOME of the slack. Read and the following completely and you'll be happier. Each shoe has a cog that can individually be adjusted - so there are 4 cogs total. Once you do it a couple times you can do it without removing the drum as there is a small access hole which a screwdriver can reach in and turn the cog.

What matters most is the brakes function well and stop the pilot quickly moreso than how far the lever gets pulled. Drum brakes suck but if you get them to stop/lock you'll be happy.

http://www.pilotodyssey.com/brakes-front.htm

They’re adjusted well and lock the brakes up no problem, I just wish the handle was a little tighter

Yea I wish mine was too. I have a set of high pressure brake gauges which I forgot about. Maybe next itch I get I'll hook them up to the bleed ports on the slaves and report back what I find.

Do you think there might be air in the slave cylinder? I know it sits horizontally. I've been wondered about that.

Also a little trick we played with street bikes is - you can force/ziptie the brake lever in the compressed position as hard as you can, and store it that way. What this will do over a 24+ hour period is force any air past some of the seals (and possibly some fluid too). Even some of the banjo bolts may show off a leak when you do this. The next day<s> check for any leaks anywhere and fix what you can. The brake lever always felt very strong and awesome after doing this - again on street bikes. Or it might show you a leak which needs some attention.

I like to just open the bleeder and pump away, seems to move more fluid and air. A clear hose on the bleeder lets me see the air bubbles.

Looping the hose keeps air from going back in. Air rises while fluid falls.

I was looking through the forum this week and found a post about bleeding brakes, so I did what they suggested which was to connect hoses to the bleeders and run the hose into the master cylinder. I did that for awhile and would periodically close one bleeder to get a bubble out of one line or the other. I wasn’t able to find any large bubbles in the clear line after awhile. I Teflon taped the bleeders to avoid air leaks. The only thing I noticed was a couple extremely small bubbles, like bubbles from foam. I figured that was from maybe a slight leak from where the hose was hooked up to the bleeders.

I rembeer a few years back rebuilding a master cylinder on my other pilot and if I remember right it seemed that the brakes began to get better over time, I don’t know if this rings true or not.

Brake fluid is cheap, better to pump it into a water bottle, rather than pump it back into the master. That way you get nice clean and fresh fluid through the whole system.

The brakes getting better over time could be the shoes seating, or there was still some air in the system. Air can sometimes make it's way back to the master reservoir, kind of a self bleed.

Yeah I should’ve done it that way. The brake shoes are older, the only reason the master cylinder was rebuilt was because it was leaking and the leaver would go down halfway before I could feel any pressure so I think a seal was blown.

Someone on here used 2 rear dirt bike masters. Can't remember where the picture was.

I can't speak for the Pilot brakes but the FL350's are a real pain. On our machines they did get better after a ride and re-bleeding. Also the FL350 the front brake system has an issue. The slave cylinder mounts for the top of the shoe are not adjustable if I remember right. The only adjustment is at the bottom of the shoes on the main adjuster. In other words the top of the shoe has a ways to go to grab the drum. This causes the long travel on the lever because the FL350 master cylinder don't push much fluid. I think a guy could shim the top of the shoe on the slave cylinder and that way you get full contact on the whole shoe. This will prevent the long travel on the lever.
The FL350 also has adjustments on the cables to the master cylinder, adjustment screws at the back of the steering wheel and you can reset the lever on the splined shaft. All of which I have done by the way. Lots of adjustment on the FL350 front brakes but very limited on the Pilot. You can still shim the front shoes though once you know how much shim you need.

Hmmm, most of my issue is just air in the brakes I think. They seem to be adjusted well

Did you try the zip-tie overnight strong hold suggestion?

Not yet, I’m out of town until the 17th but Once I get home I will

http://www.pilotodyssey.com/brakes-front.htm

Front brake adjustment site:www.pilotodyssey.com

Front brake bleeding site:www.pilotodyssey.com

Good reads. Thanks!