FTE master cylinder problems

Hey guys/gals.

I am having some problems with my FTE radial mount master cylinder on my motard (FS650e).

My problem is that there is excessive free play in the lever before the brakes start to work. My master cylinder has been like this since new, I have replaced the fluid with new Motul DOT 5.1 and bled repeatedly. I still can not get the brakes to how they should be, my friends have Brembo master cylinders and they are 100% better than my FTE, as they have almost no lever travel before the brake starts to work.

It mentions on the FTE website that "Minimum free lever travel due to precise factory setting of set-screw, producing almost immediate pressure build-up". Unfortunately this is not the case in my master cylinder. What can I do/what can be done to improve the feel of my Master cylinder?

It is only 4 months old and I have never been happy with it, unfortunately my Husaberg dealer is not very keen to help me out and I would like to be able to go to them with a solution and tell them to fix it, so I have good brakes for racing.

The brakes will also need to be bled 1/2 way through a track day, as the lever travel has extended so far that I can almost pull the lever into the bar. Once it is bled, it improves it to the level it was to start with, but never perfect.

Thank you.

One of the racers here thinks that it is the caliper and bad design. So more investigations. I have contacted FTE and they have replied, refering it to the tech dept. Stay tuned.

After an email to FTE, they have replied and said that they want me to send them the brakes and they will send me out some replacment ones, so that they can diagnose the problem.

So in less than a few days, I have a solution, as I think they will send me a perfect perfectly machined set of goodies to save face. I have whinged to my Berg dealer about this and they have apparently contacted berg....but too many thumbs up arses and no new brakes.

So the moral of the storie, complain loud and to everyone one you can, untill you get some sort of response you feel comfortable with.

My replacment FTE entire front brake assembly arrived from FTE germany today. I have not picked up the bike and brakes, but the shop guys have been for a spin on it and said it is much grippier than the original one.

But I am off to the track this weekend, so I will give you a bit of a write up next week.

New FTE brakes fitted and track tested. Much better, no fade, no change in lever position, just good strong brakes all day. I am finally happy with my brakes.

So I am still waiting to hear back from FTE to what the problem was with my old ones was, but I can now worry about other things, like trying to ride fast!

Also a quick note to all thoes that have FTE radial calipers, check your pads and backing plate for clearance of the disk rotor buttons (rivits), as the backing plate can hit the rivits on the inside of the disk when the pads get down to about 2mm.

To avoide this, you need to space out your caliper a touch with slightly thicker spacers between the fork leg and caliper.