The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

There is a lot of play in my rear brake lever compared to the front, when pulled on it very nearly touches the grip and doesn't stop that quickly, I only have 500 miles on the clock, does it maybe need adjusting.....

Yes

There's an adjuster on the lever at the wheel end. If itsnt obvious what do do let us know.

Thanks you you for your prompt reply, just had a look, would it just be the case of tightening the nut at the end of the brake cable beside the rear wheel.

I was just figuring this out myself.

They covered it in the spiel they gave me at the dealer, just before I rode it away.

But I forgot and had to look it up in my (US) owner's manual. It's on pp. 73-4.

Cheers DailyRider just had a wee look at owners manual, managed to adjust, now to try brakes on way home, thanks for your help.

The rear and front brakes on a PCX are never going to feel the same because they are entirely different types of braking system.
Don't adjust the left lever to feel like the right one, adjust it so the lever free play is within the correct limits and the rear brake shoes release properly.
If you adjust the rear brake too tight the shoes will drag, potentially causing damage through overheating.

willie5094 wrote:There is a lot of play in my rear brake lever compared to the front, when pulled on it very nearly touches the grip and doesn't stop that quickly, I only have 500 miles on the clock, does it maybe need adjusting.....

Should never have left the dealer like that - they did not do the basic checks before selling on.

It seemed like my rear brake cable loosened up a bit in the first few hundred miles of riding,
unlike the front brake cable, which may be self-adjusting (?)

I had same problem.
After almost 2300 miles I have noticed that rear brake does not play right (rear wheel was doing weird things after braking before cornering like on roundabouts)
Ok so I have used adjuster at the rear wheel (it is now in the middle of it's range)
Does that mean that during next service there must be something replaced?

I do not remember now but does both Levers should make "click" when pressed lightly or only right one?
Left seems very soft...

lightpower wrote:I had same problem.
After almost 2300 miles I have noticed that rear brake does not play right (rear wheel was doing weird things after braking before cornering like on roundabouts)
Ok so I have used adjuster at the rear wheel (it is now in the middle of it's range)
Does that mean that during next service there must be something replaced?

I do not remember now but does both Levers should make "click" when pressed lightly or only right one?
Left seems very soft...

I bet nothing is wrong or needs to be replaced but it dosent hurt to make a point of this to the service department when you go in. The front and rear brakes are two completely different mechanical systems that will never feel the same at the levers as you might know. The rear is a drum brake and the front is a caliper disc brake with some clever features to help you maintain even and smooth braking. Point is you will always have more braking performance from that front disc brake lever than the rear drum on PCX.

It looks to me like adjusting the "rear brake lever freeplay" is one of the responsibilities of scooter ownership.

It is listed on p. 73 of my owner's manual between inspecting the wear indicators on the front brake pad and on the rear brake shoe.

It gives you specs on what the freeplay should be adjusted to, tells you to check the brake cable for kinks or signs of wear, tells you to have the dealer replace the cable if you find them, then tells you how to adjust the freeplay to spec.

DailyRider wrote:It seemed like my rear brake cable loosened up a bit in the first few hundred miles of riding,
unlike the front brake cable, which may be self-adjusting (?)

The front brakes on the PCX are hydraulic and operate using tubing filled with brake fluid, a master cylinder, and a caliper with pistons and pads, rather than a cable. There is no real way to adjust them as such, though the fluid should be changed periodically (when the color changes from its original state to a darker tone), which isn't really that difficult but involves bleeding the air out of the system once completed which can be time consuming. You also do not want to get any of the brake fluid on any paint or plastics as it will damage them. There are plenty of YouTube videos on the subject.