The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

I need some advice. My front left brake lever sticks open. By that I mean it fails to return all the way back in after applying the rear brake. I lubricated the cable, worked the lever a bunch of times, tightened the adjustment on the rear brake drum, then loosened it. It still sticks for the last half inch of travel, and the brake is dragging at that point. If I compress the lever and pop it (sudden release) it will go all the way. But normal press and release allows it to drag. Just wondering - would a heavier spring make that better? I don't know, and the shop manual doesn't seem to help.

Is this spring still in place? If it is and holds adequate tension to the brake arm I think time to change the cable as its possible strands have broken inside.

Might be worn shoes.

homie wrote:Is this spring still in place? If it is and holds adequate tension to the brake arm I think time to change the cable as its possible strands have broken inside.

Thanks for the picture! Yes, the spring is there, which made me wonder if I needed a stronger one. 3600 miles on the bike, garaged, never in rain. Should I still suspect broken cable strands?

There is a wear indicator tab on the brake arm and an arrow on the drum housing. You mentioned you have the service manual that gives location and details on sighting if the shoes are worn beyond recommended service by the alignment of these indicators. Let me know if you can't find these and I will picture it for you.

I was trying to imagine where a cable might be most likely to fray inside and I think it would be where the chrome bolt and bracket by the oil strainer mounts it to the motor. That's a slightly aggressive bend in the cable

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homie wrote:I was trying to imagine where a cable might be most likely to fray inside and I think it would be where the chrome bolt and bracket by the oil strainer mounts it to the motor. That's a slightly aggressive bend in the cable

I think that's a bingo! I recently did a full oil service, crankcase and transmission. I had to remove that bracket and push it up in order to unscrew the bolt for the transmission to drain. Never had a problem with brakes/cable/lever before that. I've only put on about twenty miles since then, and may not have noticed it till yesterday. But that certainly makes sense.

Going out of town tonight and won't return till Sunday. I'll loosen that clamp up then and see if by moving it a bit if I can tell any difference at the lever.

Thanks for the suggestion.

3600 miles is nothing on a PCX. My wife's bike (2013, like mine) has 13,000 miles on it and everything works great. I have around 5,800 miles on my bike and it is running great as well. There is plenty of brake left on both too.

So let us know what the problem turns out to be, and I hope everything turns out to be OK. I love my bikes, and one reason is because of Honda quality.

Fixed! I loosened the aforementioned clamp next to the oil drain, sort of shook the cable, tightened it back up, and all is well. The lever literally snaps back in place upon release.

Thanks everyone for your input and support. I love my PCX!