Bleeding brakes

[Hipporider]

Well i bled front & rear brakes, with help from a mate, using the old tube immersed in jar of fluid.Rear brake works fine.Totally flushed the front brakes and rear ,yet the front lever still feels mushy and I can nearly pull the lever to the bar! Still brakes fine on the road ,I might add.

Any tricks needed??

 

[barbagris]

Well i bled front & rear brakes, with help from a mate, using the old tube immersed in jar of fluid.Rear brake works fine.Totally flushed the front brakes and rear ,yet the front lever still feels mushy and I can nearly pull the lever to the bar! Still brakes fine on the road ,I might add.

Any tricks needed??

Hippo - AIR.

OEM lines or after market? - that ruddy T-Piece is a PITA

Did you bleed upright or on sidestand? - it's really important that you final bleed with the lever end of the M/C assembly higher than the banjo-bolt end.

What Fluid? - it's by no means a show stopper assuming it was brand new fluid from a not previously opened sealed bottle/tin. But it's worth mentioning.

That or a worn seal ring on the M/C plunger. But that's something that only really wears if there's corrosion somewhere.

What did the OLD fluid look like?

 

[Hipporider]

Well thats interesting.I often notice that I get a feedback through the front lever as if one of the brake rotors is warped,which i thought it may be, without looking at it,but perhaps its the points where the discs float. I'll look into it.Thanks.

It sounds like you still have air in the front brakes. However, do they get very solid if you apply them twice quickly? It could be that one or both of the front disks are a little jammed up in their floating ability. This would mean that they push the disk pads back a little bit when the rotors rotate. The first pull on the brakes would then get the pads to the disk but use all the brake lever travel to do it. The second pull would then do what the first one should have been able to do. Cleaning out the points where the rotors float would fix that problem.

 

[Hipporider]

OEM lines.Cant see whats wrong with them.Why is the T piece a PITA?
Had bike on a stand with both wheels in the air but cant remember if I bled the brakes after I took it off as there was a bit going on in the shed at the time with the bike.Wiring bypass,fork springs,stebel horn installation.

I used brand new Dot 4 fluid.cant remember the brand,but i can check.

old Fluid look gunky! We flushed till it looked good and different colour as the new fluid was a different colour.

Hippo - AIR.

OEM lines or after market? - that ruddy T-Piece is a PITA

Did you bleed upright or on sidestand? - it's really important that you final bleed with the lever end of the M/C assembly higher than the banjo-bolt end.

What Fluid? - it's by no means a show stopper assuming it was brand new fluid from a not previously opened sealed bottle/tin. But it's worth mentioning.

That or a worn seal ring on the M/C plunger. But that's something that only really wears if there's corrosion somewhere.

What did the OLD fluid look like?

 

[barbagris]

OEM lines.Cant see whats wrong with them.Why is the T piece a PITA?
old Fluid look gunky! We flushed till it looked good and different colour as the new fluid was a different colour.

T-Piece. I distrust lumps I cant see into.

The problem is that GUNKY means there may well be corrosion deposits in the lines - and I suspect that T-piece. Unless you can really FLUSH - High volume and speed - NOT pressure those deposits may well still be there and bubbles will stick to it.

I had a hydraulic clutch that gave me similar problems. Albeit on a Volvo.

 

[Blastedbones]

Tie back the brake lever in the "brakes full on , lever to the bar" with a bungy cord & leave over night.This allows small bubbles to rise. The brake lever will ( when released) have some proper resistance after a couple of pumps. You will likely need to repeat this proceedure often.

 

[valmacmiami]

Bad analogy Ian
but still cant think of a better one.