Too much play on front brake, 2002 road king

There should not be a great deal of lever travel.

I would
1. Check brake pad thickness.
2. Check brake disk thickness.
3. Check and bleed the brakes, making sure you open and thighten all fittings in that system.
4. When you bleed the brakes, look for a good squirt when you hit the brakes with the top off.
5. If there isnt a squirt, rebuild the master cylinder.

I bet its one of those issues, but, do the easiest first.

The master cylinder seals are worn and will have to be replaced. The reason the lever alowly comes closer to the grip is brake fluid is leaking past the seals back into the reservoir. No amount of bleeding will solve this.

Have you checked you brake fluid lately? Turn the front wheel all the way to the left and remove the top from the master cylinder reservoir. If it's low, make sure you put the correct type of brake fluid in it. I think it's DOT 4 on your bike but it will tell you what type of fluid goes in it on the top of the master cylinder.

Now, you may have to bleed the brakes. If so, leave the top off the master cylinder and open the bleeder valve down at the brake caliper. Allow the brake fluid to run out of the bleeder for a short time. Usually, the front brakes will "self bleed" themselves doing this. If they don't, I'd take it to a dealer and let them service the brakes. Brakes are the one thing that you don't want to "skrimp" on. Make sure your brakes are right.

Good Luck
Steve

you may need to check the switch that the lever presses to...it has a small wiring connection to it and you cannot miss it.Now I assume that you mean you have to push the lever back then the light goes off...If this is the case then you caliper or braking needs to be looked as the spring mechanism that brings the lever back into rest position is not working..

This is by design. When you have new pads on the bike and a rotor within limits the lever has very limited travel before engaging.
As these parts wear the position of which the lever engages changes. Unless you know that at the last brake pad change the caliper was "centered" this could account for the travel and will result in premature wear on the components.

JP

Possibly 2 problems m8.
If the brake-lever travel has increased then it either wasn't bled up properly or it's allowing air past the seals in the master-cylinder.
Try tying the lever back to the bar overnight to bring any air in the system up to the top (resevoir) and see if the brakes stay good, if not they'll need bleeding again.
Check for any leaks around all the banjo connections, up at the bars and down at the calipers, plus have a close inspection of the master-cylinder piston area for leaks.
The juddering might be down to a warped disc or two, get the front wheel off the ground and spin the wheel to check for this visually or with a stick and pointer.

It should be one screw on top and one on the bottom, once you have these, the top should come off. this should expose the throttle cable, disconnect the cable which should let the bottom drop down and you can now slide the grip off of the bars and install your new one. It may be necessary to move the front brakelever/ master cylinder to allow access, for the couple more screws move it out of the way to make life easier..

Don't forget to put a small wedge in the front brake lever, to prevent damaging the brake switch on reinstall.

Hope this is of some help.
Ed

Seems like your caliper is going bad. The pistons inside there that drive the brakes in and out seem to be stuck and not wanting to release when you release the brake

anyone have any ideas as to which is the best way to do it seeing as though it now has a new brake line on the front. Any suggestions or taking the **** much appreciated.pump and shut is the way i do it takes about 15 minutes for front and rear with fresh fluid. ie Pump the brake three times then open the bleed nipple wait until the lever softens up to the grip tighten without letting go of the lever and pump again and so on etc... As for the vacuum i use a large vets syringe and some pipe ( robbed from the wifes lamb reviving kit ) Please note : No lambs died during the making of my Bleeding kit.,,,