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just finished the rear brakes, now the front brakes are acting up. i needed to pull the front wheel off to service the tire, i put the wheel back on and walked away. i came back today and spun the front wheel and hit the brake lever and it went right to the throttle grip. but then after a pump or 2 it was back nice and hard.

the brakes work excellent ,should i worry about the brake lever going all the way down? or is it okay since i had the tire off?

also i refilled the master and pumped again and some fluid shot out of the master. should fluid surge up like that while pumping?

I wouldn't think you should get a giant surge out of the master like that when you pump it with the cap off.

I would bleed the system if it were me. Sounds like you have air in the lines.

i was bleedin them for a loooong time, probably for 20 mins and still getting air, ill try more tomorrow.

Assuming you spread the pads apart when reinstalling the front wheel, the reason the brake lever felt soft until about the 2nd pump was it took that many pumps to bring the pads back in contact with the rotor - totally normal and nothing to worry about.

To answer your question on the fluid surging from the reservoir, did the fluid level at any time get low enough to allow air into the system?
If not, you're ok.
FWIW, if I drain half of the fluid from the reservoir on my bike it will do the exact same thing yours is doing. At full it won't surge quite as much, I guess since the fluid is thick enough to slow it's flow before it reaches the top. It will make a slight "swirl" in the fluid though, which means that the master cylinder is working as it should.

Oh, and use caution when creating the "brake fluid geyser", as that stuff will to ruin a pretty paint job in nuthin' flat!

i agree with these guys. when you removed the wheel you pushed the pads back into the calipers. as far as the geyser yup i did that a few times when i was bleeding mine too!! just pump a little slower. these things are a pain in the butt to bleed for sure....just keep at it. i ended up using a vacuum pump to finish the job...my hands were gettin tired..ever get out past 495 look me up. steve

I had to bleed the clutch on my ZX1100. Itook me 3 hours. Pumped and pumped and pumped and then all with in 5 minutes lever stiffened right up and worked fine.

As the other guys have pointed out, the pads will normally separate some when you're trying to reinstall the wheel so it takes a couple pumps to move the pads into position. The large surge of fluid back at your master cylinder is normal too. Never pull the brake with the cap off unless you want brake fluid all over everything.