Leak diagnosed, brake failure

You may recall that we talked about a fuel leak on my Enfield that healed itself. Well, yesterday it reappeared again and I could now see what was happening. Fuel was spilling from the line connected to the tank. When I tried to tighten the hose clamp, it skipped. It had somehow gone defective. I did not know clamps sitting in place would just quit to work. But a replacement from Home Depot quickly put an end to the problem. So I guess I learned something new: clamps can fail in place.

With the leak diagnosed, I decided to go for a ride to eat beignets. When I exited my neighborhood into the main road I discovered to my horror at a stop sign that I had no front brake! The usually tight squeeze was all mushy and it led my hand to accidentally rev the engine! Panic! I was able to control the bike but obviously something was wrong. I figured out somehow air must have entered the line. I bought a little one person bleeding kit in Autozone and it did the trick. The brake is strong again. But something must have been the reason for this. So I will have to monitor the situation. New lesson: check the brake before riding!