bare limb advise

Hi all, The tree in question here will be a Red Sunset maple that is about 14-15 feet tall and approx. 2-1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. The tree was planted in early Dec. of 2013 so it has been in the ground for one full year and 6 months. The first summer the tree did OK, but not great. As with a lot of newly planted trees it lost some of its leaves early and just didn't look real good Now that the second season is underway it looks much better but there are still a number of bare limbs. Some of the bare limbs have healthy looking leaves on them, but not many but I assume those limbs should stay. The problem is that there is one limb approx. 5 feet long that has no leave at all. Its at the top so reaching it to see if it is brittle isn't going to be easy. If we can't confirm that it is dead is there any harm in leaving it on another season or two to see if theres any hope for it, or would it be best to assume its dead and take it off. Sorry...know this is kinda a crap-shoot question....but any help would be appreciated. Thanks

bare limb advise