Why would you be able to pump them up? If you have air in the line (a little or a lot), here’s what happens:
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you squeeze the lever; piston in master cylinder seals off the bleed port and pushes fluid (or more air?) toward slave cylinder.
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air the line compresses. If you’ve got a lot of air, then you won’t develop much pressure before the lever bottoms out.
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you release the lever; piston in master cylinder retracts, uncovers bleed port, and things (i.e. the amount of air and/or fluid in the line) are exactly as they were before #1.
If you’re able to develop some braking force near the end of the lever stroke, then obviously the pistons are moving. The problem is either air in the line, or the pistons are far from the rotor (requiring a lot of movement before they start squeezing the rotor).
Is there zero lever resistance (except for its own return spring) until late in the stroke, or is it a progressive, “spongy” feel?
If the former, then the slave piston seals may be bound up in their bores in a position with the pistons held slightly away from the rotor: you squeeze the lever, the pistons move freely until they start gripping the rotor, then when you release the lever, the slave pistons’ stuck seals tug the pistons back away from the rotor.
If the latter, then you’ve somehow gotten air in the line, though I’m not sure how this would have happened while the bike sat in storage.
You might get a more definitive answer on an R1 forum or on a general motorcycling forum with other riders from your area. If it’s something that happens to R1’s or to any motorcycle in the Pacific northwest, then someone out there will have seen it before.