soft brake lever R1200R ABS

[dbrick]

Thanks. That suggests to me that the issue in the K was air in the lines, which was somehow allowed to percolate up and dissipate because the lever was held. I remember my K75S (non-ABS) with steel lines had, when correctly bled, a really hard lever.

I suspect that the R12R may be different, perhaps because of the ABS, perhaps because of the caliper piston seal design. Don E reports that this technique firms up the lever on his R12R, but it eventually returns to soft. The bike stops just fine, lever never gets near the bar on the street, but I just don't care for how it feels.

[dbrick]

Keeping the handlebar cranked to the left on the sidestand encourages the air bubbles to rise to the highest point: the MC at the "top" of the cranked handlebar...keeping the lever squeezed allows air bubbles to flow through the valve into the MC and will then meld with the air above the brake fluid level in the reservoir.

This is mysterious to me. If the issue is getting the MC high, so that a bubble can flow upward, why squeeze the brake? Besides, squeezing the brake moves the master cylinder piston and causes the piston to cover the feed hole down from the reservoir. With the piston moved, no fluid or bubble can rise from the system into the reservoir.