Tips for brake bleeding

[Cigaro]

Right, I've been bleeding my brakes on the GN for half an hour now and I can't seem to get anywhere.

When I open the bleed nipple with the lever pulled back, fluid comes out and it seems to be bubble-free. However, no matter how much I pump, I can't get a firm lever.

There are no leaks anywhere. Yesterday I tried tying the lever to the bar overnight to get any extra air out. Still not getting anywhere.

Why would there be fluid coming out of the bleed nipple but no pressure on the brake lever? Help!

(I've also tried loosening both banjo bolts to try and get the air out of them).

[Cigaro]

Sorted it - loosened the top banjo bolt with the lever held in and retightened, straight away the lever went firm. Think there must have been some air trapped

[Bishbash]

Glad you got it sorted, just a little tip for you, might help you and others in the future.

If you have had the calipers off and there is absolutely no fluid left, fill the reservoir up and remove the hose from the caliper and place the hose in the brake fluid bottle or a cup of brake fluid, pump the brake lever until there is no air left, then place the cap on the reservoir to stop the fluid running through and then bolt the hose back on, then open the bleed nipple and pump again until you have a brake.

Should take 5 minutes to do!

HTH
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My current bikes are - YZF-R1 & GS 500 E

Trackday videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/bishbash13

[the grim reaper]

Another tip, if you suspect that there's air at the high point of the hose, unbolt the brake assembly from the bar and simply tilt the whole mechanism, saves getting nasty brake fluid everywhere and has the same effect. Should only be two 8mm bolts on most jap bikes.

Cheers

Grim
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Adverts don't always work: Remember that advert, where the army are running across the desert and they have a wounded man on a stretcher. They get to a ravine, the bridge is down and a caption pops up that says, 'What are you thinking?'. I don't know about you but I was thinking, 'Christ, I'm glad I'm not in the f***ing army'.

[acid drop]

Oh and another tip take the bike to the dealers and pay for someone else to do it, it's less ''Stressful''

[Cigaro]

[buddy]

i was bleeding my brakes today and ive got a fair bit of pressure but the lever isnt as firm as i would like it

is it a good idea to tie the lever to the handlebar. there is a fair bit of firmness but if i squeeze hard i can get the lever to touch the bar

what im saying, is will i damage anything?
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When this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.

[DazHornet]

ive heard of alot of people doing this.

just leave it for one night tied to the bar and it should firm up.

but you wont get any major gains from doing this to be quite honest.

[buddy]

well i did it for about half an hour(before you posted, i didnt wanna damage it)

and it helped slightly, but i then read back about the banjo bolt and again it helped slightly, tbh theyre now at an acceptable level
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When this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.

[bazza]

Get a vacuum pump kit.

Approved for use by mechanical numpties like me.
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"That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college."
'98 Ducati 750SS, '08 Suzuki GSX650F ©2004-2014, Bazza's Harmless Banter

[ms51ves3]

[That_Hornet]

Is this the weekend for working on brakes or something?
I fitted some braided hoses on the hornet yesterday.

Bleading them i got myself one of these.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-5010559373161-37316-Bleeding-Kit/dp/B0001K9TTM

Top bit of kit. Took 15 minutes, at most, for the 3 calipers.

[Vincent]

[DazHornet]

dont see the point in someone else doing such an easy job

like the previous said, it costs money

no mechanic bills FTW!!!

[ms51ves3]

I found a pipe in my toolbox with a 1 way valve in it. Works wonders.

[Vincent]

I seemed to have managed perfectly well for 30 years with just a jam jar and a pipe with no valve.

[Stelmer]

I put a fuel filter on the end of a hose attached to the nipple, a clear hose on the filter and sucked the fluid into each caliper.

Then proceeded with the traditional method which worked well. Took about 30 mins.

[Vincent]

It can take a long time to start to get some "feel" on the lever when bleeding from scratch sometimes, I think some people when doing the brakes for the first time get put off, not realsing it can take a lot of pumps on the lever to start to get some resistance. Sucking fluid through the system with a large syringe can help. AFAIK, the reason people tie the lever to the bars is to let any air trapped in the top part of the system to escape through the return valve on the master cylinder which is only open when the lever is pulled in.

[bazza]

[Vincent]

[Velopete]

Hi Everyone.

I have just spend a number of hours over 3 days trying to get my brakes bled after overhauling the master and slave cylinders on my CB250RS. The problem I was having was that there was so much air in the system that I could not get it out using regular bleeding methods. The small motorcycle master cylinder just compressed the air in the systme only pushing out a few bubbles at a time. I came across your forum in a search for a solution. I tried the vacuum approach to get the air out that someone suggested but this only sucked air in through the bleed valve threads.

In the end I tried pushing the slave cylinder back into its housing with a wooden wedge leaving the reservior cap off. This successfully ejected a lot of air back into the reservior and eventually I was able to get the brake working again and completed the job by bleeding the last few bits of air via a tube and jar with fluid.

Many hours wasted here so I thought I would share my discovery for anyone struggling with this problem.

[Barry_M2]

[Barry_M2]

[Kickstart]

[Barry_M2]