250WR Caliper deforms when braking, normal ?

Hi,

On a Husqvarna 250WR year 2003 the front brake was not hard enough, as if there were bubbles in the system. Today I've unmounted the brake caliper and noticed, using a caliper (measuring tool), that there are no bubbles but that the brake caliper deforms when I press the brake lever.

The deformation between the piston and the opposite part of the caliper is about 1 or 2 millimeters. At this moment, the brake lever touches the accelerator.

I suppose that with a greater lever clearance the caliper would deform more.

Any idea ?
Can the caliper's material have aged and not be so hard as originally ?
Have the 250WR reputation of having soft calipers ?

Material will not "age" in such a manner. It either is the same as it always was, or there are cracks in the unit allowing it to spread (unlikely).

But then, is it normal that the caliper deforms 2 millimeters making the brake lever so spongy ?

I had the same on an old KDX250, the caliper would spread under load. As said above aluminium doesn't 'age' but can it become more flexible after 10 years of use? Not sure as I'm no metallurgist but I do know when I changed the caliper for one from a newer bike the new caliper didn't spread like the original.