Stuart1, does the manual state that?

Does the rear brake pedal go to the floor?

Hi there,

I don't understand the question my brake pedal connects the hydraulic cylinder to the manifold which as two feeds coming from, one to the front brakes and the other to the rear ........ do you need a photo ?

My manual states that the left lever and foot pedal only operate the rear brake whereas they actually operate both. Well at least they should as the rear brake is not working at the moment and there is no resistance to both pedal nor lever when pressed. The pedal has always gone to the floor and I wonder whether the rear brake has ever worked. The parking brake is ok though.

Local mechanic bled the front and rear brakes with a suction pump and installed a new rear master cylinder to no avail.

Hi Ger,
I too am a Welshman, from Ogmore Valley, sadly I left Wales many decades ago, I am now located near Tidworth in England, very close to military tank training grounds where the public can take their quads on non-training/firing days across the tank track proofing grounds i.e. the formal byways "BOATS"
I love your image of your quad in the Beacons with the snow it reminds me of the many times I spent there training with the military Cwmgwdi, and many more place like it the Beacons. I also miss other places around the dams such as the Clarewen valleys. We do hook up the trailer and take the our quad bike off to Wales see attached image on top of the mountain near Pentrefelin overlooking the Conwy estuary in the background in North wales, there is also another image from a trip to the National Park mountains in Northern Spain. 


I am driving a heavily modified C Force 800 X8 Euro 4 spec beast, one day I will discuss the modifications with you if you are that way inclined. Ok let's talk about your brake bleeding issue, I am not sure where you are with it, resolved or not as the original post is from Aug this year?

The CFMOTO manual is as clear as mud, this is the case with most foreign vehicle imports, translation is always an issue, technical translation coupled with grammatical issues is a nightmare. The UK importer and dealers are also poorly supported by CFMOTO with zero technical training and after sales customer support in place. So get use to stabbing in the dark, you must be living where you are and doing what you do, my Welsh farming mates are some of the best improvisers on the planet, they have to be as you know. 

Ok sounds like fluid is not getting through to the rear, firstly check that the master cylinder pedal is set at the correct height from footrest i.e. 120mm in height. This will ensure that the master cylinder piston is getting its full travel in the master cylinder bore and sending fluid to the four wheels. The piston can sometimes partially seize especially under the conditions you operate your machine, check it is moving its "Full travel" in the master cylinder bore, its located just behind your right foot. The right handlebar lever operates front axle brakes, the left handle bar lever operates the rear axle brakes. The left also operates the handbrake via a cable and some levers on the rear callipers.

A pressure pump or "Pressure Bleeder" can be used to bleed the brakes, I am sure one of your farmer buds will loan you one however they are not too expensive to purchase. Whoops sorry I forgot Welsh farmers have no money, well that is what my Welsh farmer buds told me, no wonder I ended up buying all the rounds in the pub!

Take care enjoy Wales and you ride............Grandmaster Splash & His Furious Ride

Grandmaster Splash - That is one hell of a beast!

I have "retired" after many decades of IT work so am not as mechanically minded as many others around here. However, typically of people of my age, I know quite a bit about engines and especially two-strokes having had to fix bikes in the past. The local agri mechanic is rather stumped on the rear brakes as he tried his suction pump and failed dismally. Indeed, I bought a new master cylinder as originally that looked knackered. When he first replaced the pads on the front brakes they were pretty crap too. After some searches I tied the right brake handle tightly to the handlebar and they were good again the next morning. How that would have worked has foxed him and me!

There is a box which distributes the hydraulic pressure between the front and rear systems. I wonder if that is knackered. The mechanic tried lots of things to no avail. His next plan is to blank off various joints and see if that helps. Apart from an annoyance with the carb - I suspect the float is sticking as overnight a lot of fuel comes out of the overflow pipe (which I have diverted into an old soup container so I can put the fuel back into the tank!) - I have had no other problems with the quad. It has a busier life here as we have more land. It was not so busy on the Beacons but the terrain was much rougher. I nearly came a cropper many a time as there are hidden ditches everywhere.

I am building up the courage to let the mechanic loose on the brakes again and for me to have a go at the carb. They have not made access to the carb very easy though and I do not want to be without the quad for a few days at the moment.

I must admit that the braking fiasco has put me off getting another machine of this make as it has already cost quite a few quid and still no rear brakes. At least the front brakes are very good now.

H again Ger,

Good to hear from you, I.T. another of my favourite subjects, I build and design my own meaga PC's currently running a Gigabyte Aurous water cooled with a Z390 intel chip, running i9 processor stock @ 3.60 GHz overclocked to 4.5GHz, too much spec for this email and I am in danger of sending you to sleep!  Spent the weekend fixing a problem with Intel Raid array drivers and a pair of wrongly specified legacy HD's on SATA ports.   

Your brakes should not be a difficult task to resolve, this easy basics in so far as hydraulics are concerned:
1. It became better in the morning after you tied the brake handle overnight because the air that was trapped bled through, we do the same tricks with car brake systems by holding down the brake pedal. However, if I am honest these are last resorts tips/tricks, you clearly have a blockage in your system preventing fluid from reaching the rear brakes.
2. Pleased to learn you have a new master cylinder.
3. The box you mention that distributes hydraulic pressure, send me an image please?
4.Not sure what it may be, could be a simple pressure or load distribution valve ensuring pressure is evenly distributed between the rear and the front. Is it connected to any form of lever that connects to the chassis. It ensures that under heavy braking the highest pressure goes to the front wheels due to weight transfer under braking, if the same pressure went to front and rear brakes under heavy braking the rears would lock up and put you in a spin.
5.  If this is a pressure distribution valve your problems as you suspect may be with this, it could be seized preventing any pressure from getting to the rear wheels. Hence any amount of bleeding with or without a pressure bleeder will have zero impact.   
6. Hydraulic brakes on this level quad bike is basic stuff, its not rocket science and is very easy to resolve.

I am surprised to learn that your Techie bud is struggling with this, is he formally trained and qualified in this field?

Take care ...............Grandmaster Splash & his Furious Ride

Ok the Carb,

I wanted to separate this one from the brakes, too important the brakes as it impacts upon your safety along with other road users, hence the carb in a separate post.

Like the brakes the carb is once more basics and very simple to resolve.

Your assessment to date is good, but remember if the float sticks closed zero fuel flow will result, if it sticks open you are likely to get the problem you have. However, it is designed to default closed.

So more than likely to have a hole in the float or the float level is set wrong i.e. to high in your case, prone to a fire of course so please fix this ASAP before you next ride your bike

Do not waste your time and money trying this that and the other, firstly ensure you have an overhaul manual on the carb with all its settings and specifications, remove the carb completely, get a carb overhaul/service kit and do a complete overhaul. Its easy stuff and like everything else in life do it once and it will be fine from that point.

If you concerned about time off the road and your time to take to overhaul, get a spare second hand carb, overhaul that and fit it, then overhauls the carb on your bike and refit, do the same to the other carb and now you have spare.

Take care.................Grandmaster Splash & his Furious Ride

Welcome the forum

Hello again, Grandmaster Splash (and others)

My hand has been forced on the carb situation as it now refuses to start. My little "adaption" of a pot to store the excess fuel was full yesterday morning and the last time this happened it had trouble starting. It usually starts within a couple of seconds of pressing the start button.

I think that the fuel flow is stopped completely so I shall attempt to get at the carb.

Mine had a pissy little in line filter on the left side of the carb that blocked and would only let the engine run at about 1/3rd throttle. removed and cleaned the carb needle and passageways and fitted a car fuel filter and new lines to fit and have not had a problem since.
If your carb is dribbling fuel then the needle and seat are not sealing and you will have to remove the fuel bowl, floats (check for fuel inside floats) and remove the needle and blow compressed air through the fuel line into the carb to make sure there is no muck that would prevent the needle from sealing. Reassemble and ride. 

Thank you, Murdo!

I have downloaded the service manual - except that the UK version of the quad is somewhat different regarding at least the braking system - and I can see why later models moved to petrol injection! Carbs have become much more complex than my last attempt to sort out a carburation problem on my old Yamaha 250!

I left it overnight with the battery on charge and it has started again after a few turns. However, I think I still need to sort out the stuck float business. They have not made it easy to remove the carb on this model too.

When you take the float out remember to check the height as the needle may have worn a bit from use and letting the fuel level be too high and causing the dribbling.