Bleeding Bloody Bleeding Brakes

[actungbaby]

Hi Guys,I,m having a real hard time getting my front brakes bled.
My brakes were dragging a little bit so I pulled the callipers apart ,cleaned them and when I bled them I couldnt get
decent pressure ,you could pull the lever back to the handlebars.
So I pulled em apart again and put in new seals, boots and new pads.
Spent 6 hours trying to get good pressure...
If I clamp off the hoses or even just 1 side just above the calliper...hey presto pressure .
If I clamp off hose from master cylinder....pressure.
I cant see it being a master cylinder problem.
I have bled many brake systems on cars and never had such problems.
I,d be ripping my hair out if it wasnt so short ,just got a number 3.
Hoping someone might have some clues for me
Thanks in advance
By the way its a gsx 1100f suzi

Join the club dude had this same problem with my vfr 750 i dont remember being that hard to do

Anyways when to local bike shop and he told me to keep going and to loosen banjo bolt of the top master cylider (where fuild is filled) to let trapped air there , i keep getting bubbles out the bleed hose, but strangest thing was i have tp pump the lever like 4 times with bleed nut closed then release to get fulid moving aghhh , 20 years ago sure was like what books say , pull lever just b4 u realse the fuild valve didnt work for me .
I ended up replacing the seals in the master , left the slave , still had few bubles but finally got okay pressure passed the wof brakes are strong enough, l cleaned the calibers and used rubber grease (little) on the pisten seals after getting them out fully this made them move isteed just sitting there as b4, my right rotor gets hotter than the left but am leaving it for know cause such pain in the bum to do.

[actungbaby]

Speed bleeders are teh shizz, I'll be buying some (thanks for the reminder)

I generally do it as Drew has said, I also move the brake spliiter around on my Kawasaki as it sometimes gets bubbles sitting in it and the master... and the calipers.
Pricks of things

Ur got that right on my cbx 400 it was easy well maybe it wasint was so long ago

But that was just one disc system so maybe why. (mind you brakes where shit ) cast iron

Iboard ventaled indeed felt like sqweezing a block of wood modern brakes pads much better

[imdying]

Speed bleeders are a waste of money. Perfectly good bleeders come on every caliper. Keep the end of your bleeder hose submerged (make the hole in the lid of you jar slightly undersized to hold it in place) and you have all the advantages for none of the money.


btw I do not think of Buell owners as fashion victims, more anti-fashion victims. Getting the spinning weight as far away from the centre of the hub as possible is always awesome.

[gwigs]

Still fucking around with these brakes,I,m going to start buying brake fluid by the gallon.
I,ve tried all the different methods you guys have suggested plus things from other forums except a vacuum pump,cant afford one.
Tying the lever back to the bar overnight works but after a few minutes its back to mushy.
Had the callipers apart twice,put thread tape on the bleeder threads nothing seems to work.
if I clamp off the hose from the master cylinder I get a rock solid lever,if I clamp off either of
the calliper hoses I get a reasonable firm lever.
I really cant see it being the master cylinder but I,m thinking about putting a kit in it
but I really cant afford to just keep throwing money at it.
I,ve just splashed out and painted the tank and the fairings,would love to put the body work on so
I can see how it looks but not going to fit it till I have brakes ,not with all the brake fluid all over the show.
Really had a gutsfull of it....
Any how thanks for all the imput..

[Bikemad]

hey gwigs...........i have a nifty bleed pump thingy that might be of some help............have used it on multiple bikes and cars........don't lend tools as a rule but happy to pop round with it and help ya out for an hour or two............PM me if ya keen

[AllanB]

Sounds like a air leak somewhere .........

[Laava]

Tbh sounds like take it to the shop time and just get them to put their bleeding gear on it.

[Bikemad]

this is the gadget i use............. http://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-MV8000.../dp/B00265M9SS

bought it at the old motomail 15 years ago.........probably the best $120 i have ever spent on tools...........works a treat

[_Shrek_]

Still fucking around with these brakes,I,m going to start buying brake fluid by the gallon.
I,ve tried all the different methods you guys have suggested plus things from other forums except a vacuum pump,cant afford one.
Tying the lever back to the bar overnight works but after a few minutes its back to mushy.
Had the callipers apart twice,put thread tape on the bleeder threads nothing seems to work.
if I clamp off the hose from the master cylinder I get a rock solid lever,if I clamp off either of
the calliper hoses I get a reasonable firm lever.
I really cant see it being the master cylinder but I,m thinking about putting a kit in it
but I really cant afford to just keep throwing money at it.
I,ve just splashed out and painted the tank and the fairings,would love to put the body work on so
I can see how it looks but not going to fit it till I have brakes ,not with all the brake fluid all over the show.
Really had a gutsfull of it....
Any how thanks for all the imput..

all I did with the XT600 after stripping & cleaning front calliper, was put a clear hose on the bleed nipple & in a bottle with some fluid to stop sucking air up the hose & just kept pumping the lever & filling the mc as it went down untill the line had no air, have had no probs since

[sugilite:Me]

I had the same issue with one of my race bikes. Brakes were awesome when the overnight tie down system was used, then soon as I started using them, they went away within 2 to 3 laps, or less. I know this sounds weird, but it turned out to be warped calipers. (I also have a file cabinet draw filled with warped discs from the same bike, I may have been a bit hard on them. )

[gwigs]

hey gwigs...........i have a nifty bleed pump thingy that might be of some help............have used it on multiple bikes and cars........don't lend tools as a rule but happy to pop round with it and help ya out for an hour or two............PM me if ya keen

Thanks for the offer Bikemad ,my sons mate is going to come around with his pump sometime soon. Cheers.

[madandy]

With a simple bottle and clear hose on the bleed nipple I've used the same, left hand on spanner to lossen n tighten the nipple while right hand pumps brake lever on all my bikes: RF400, YZF600R, GSXR750, 900SS and just done the VTR1000f plus a mates ZXR400. Made sure the resevior was at its highest by turning the handlebars accordingly and never let the fluid level drop too low. They each had either Nissin, Brembo and Tockico brakes and all were straight forward to do. There must be something wrong with your technique or more likely the hardware...it must be very frustrating!

Good luck with the pump!

[gwigs]

Well my brakes are still crap but I have at least pinpointed the problem.
A mate of my sons came around with a vacuum bleeder and out of 4 bleed nipples
one just kept on sucking air so I know its a leaking piston or seal and
better still I know which one......so at least I,m not running around in circles....
Thanks for all the advice...
Nice bit of kit the vacuum bleeder,ran off my compressor,easy to bleed and no mess..

[Bikemad]

have you found evidence of brake fluid on the back of the disc pad on the caliper in question........should be there if the seals are shot i would have thought .....did you take the nipple right out when using ya gadget....if not are you sure its not just sucking air past the nipple thread.......i fell for that one first time round using similar gadget

[erik]

Did you get it sorted?
Something I tried recently that seemed to work was to remove the callipers and hold them so the banjo bolts are at the highest point, tap the callipers and lines etc (in the hope of getting any air bubbles to rise to the top), then push the pistons back into the callipers to force the fluid and hopefully any bubbles back through the lines to the master cylinder/reservoir at the top.
You have to be a bit careful to make sure the reservoir doesn't overflow when you push the pistons all back into the callipers. When I did it I left the pads in the callipers and used a piece of about 4mm x 20mm steel with rounded edges which I could twist between the pads to push the pistons back.