Brake bleeding tips

I found these tips very informative. I will be bleeding my brake system possibly Monday and I m thinking of trying the reverse bleeding procedure found on this web page:

www.helusa.com/brake-doctor/index.php.57.html

I read a tread about someone who could not get the air out of his system no matter how he tried. I'm speculating that this reverse bleeding procedure will alleviate this problem. My wife already ok-ed the procurement of her turkey baster! She DOES love me! :woohoo:

I use this:

Vacuum Bleeder

works great, just keep refilling the master until all you get is clean fluid in the trap and all is good, no bubbles in my system, If you still have the stock splitter then you might want to take it loose from the tree and move it into different positions while bleeding to make sure there are no bubbles in there.

If the front brakes are giving me trouble with bleeding, I set up the bike next to a table, take the calipers off (with hoses still connected), put a piece of wood between each set of pads, then bleed the brakes with the calipers on the table. It's more comfortable, and the air moves horizontally, rather than down, so the airbubbles don't keep working their way toward the master.

I don't have one of those bleeders and cannot really justify purchasing one to bleed brakes one time. I ll check and maybe a neighbor may have one. Lots of farmers around where I m renting.

Thanks for the tips! I still do have the stock junction block between the forks. I m having my new lines made locally. I thought about eliminating the junction, but decided to keep things stock.

i thing to remember if u are having trouble.
u can remove any part that looks like it may trap air ,and try to position it in a manor that will allow the air to escape.
the new radial masters have a bleed nipple on top for this reason. this is a spot that is prone to trapping air. also on the calipers, some models dont have the bleed nipple on the highest part, so air can be trapped above the nipple.
i use a Vacuum Bleeder
as well. it saves u a lot of frustrasion for 50 bucks. and u realy should change the fluid every couple of years.

mark1122 wrote: i thing to remember if u are having trouble.
u can remove any part that looks like it may trap air ,and try to position it in a manor that will allow the air to escape.
the new radial masters have a bleed nipple on top for this reason. this is a spot that is prone to trapping air. also on the calipers, some models dont have the bleed nipple on the highest part, so air can be trapped above the nipple.
i use a Vacuum Bleeder
as well. it saves u a lot of frustrasion for 50 bucks. and u realy should change the fluid every couple of years.

I'm thinking I just might pick one up. I was gonna try to reverse bleed it like it says on that web page I posted(very last hint on the page).

Best $5-$15 I ever spent....

The biggest PITA with these calipers,is that the bleeders are not at a 12 o'clock position.They are off to the side a bit.You CAN"T get the air out of them without the bleeders straight up and down.I've used a big pair of Channel-Locks to hold the piston back a bit,while the wife squeeses the brake lever,and I open the bleeder to work the air out of each side.It helps to "Gravity bleed" each one first,and then work the lever untill the feel is good.But yeah,the bleeder HAS to be straight up to fill behind the piston,or you will never get the air out.

I just had a chance to use a little piston suction brake bleeder gismo I bought a while back, think it was from Harbor Freight. Works great, it basically siphons brake fluid out of the line, without pumping the brake lever. I'll see how it works when the front brakes are rebuilt but a quick trial session was very promising.

.

Before I purchased a vacuum pump, I used a small household oil can you can get at any hardware store and reverse filled through the break caliper.

I think the biggest issue with motorcycle brakes is the master cylinder does not move very much fluid, and this is why it can take a very long time to bleed the traditional way.

Gravity bleed.

Open bleeder, slowly apply brake, close bleeder, let off brake, repeat.

Works every time.