View Full Version : Brake bleeding (again) arghhh help.
Trying to bleed the brakes, but am only getting a trickle through.
Now, I know how to bleed them, but I have fitted HEL (HELL) brake lines (sv race set up two line) and k3 gsxr750 calipers.
I know torque settings are fairly important, but I don't know if
a) I've got the lines in the right places, I have the slightly shorter line on first at the master cylinder going down to the right hand caliper (straight banjo fitting at master cylinder, slight bend at caliper) and the longer, obviously on the other caliper (this has bends on both banjo fittings, with the more prominent bend at master cylinder end).
b) What the torque settings for the bolts should be
c) whether the above even matters if I haven't even got the banjos situated in the right angle when butted up against the caliper.
d) anything else obvious that I might have missed.
I have bled the m/c and get a steady flow coming out of the banjos.
I have cracked the banjos on the caliper slightly to see if fluid is making it this far, and am getting a fair amount dripping out of the banjos.
I don't know whether it's just a case of persevering or whether I have got something fundementally wrong :mad:.
timwilky
02-09-09, 10:51 AM
I have a Sealey vacuum brake bleeder, I connect it to the air line and bleed nipple, crack the nipple, press the trigger and it sucks fluid out. operate the lever a couple of times and it sets my brakes up nicely.
Well recommended piece of kit
Thankyou Tim, that makes me feel a lot better.
Seriously though it's not so much the knack to doing it, last time I bled a system from dry it took 10 minutes, if that (once I had everything as it should be mind) but that was standard brake set up.
I am just not sure everything is in its right place.
ive fitted loads of hel hoses over the years with no probs....fitted some to the sv a few months ago, when i fightered it and it took ages to bleed em, the torque values for the banjo's were no way near enough, causing slight weeps at the banjo's..i reckon there quality control aint what it used to be( probs just too much work nowadays)...obviously a slight weep will pull air in thus making em hard to bleed....i really really up the torque settings and eventually sorted em...so id check each banjo/crush washer is fine m8
fit the bleed tube to the nipple, open the nipple and wait. Keep the fluid topped up and it should eventually appear through the tube.
Then bleed as normal to expel any bubbles.
lee67, yeah I noticed that at the m/c so had to tighten it considerably.
Cheers flymo, guess its just going to take a while. I take it you mean tie the lever back and leave it till it starts to bleed through, it's already trickleing through under normal bleeding but it is only a trickle.
lee67, yeah I noticed that at the m/c so had to tighten it considerably.
Cheers flymo, guess its just going to take a while. I take it you mean tie the lever back and leave it till it starts to bleed through, it's already trickleing through under normal bleeding but it is only a trickle.
No, leave the lever alone and just let gravity do its thing until you get a decent amount of fluid in the lines to allow you to bleed it properly.
With mine, I fill the res and leave it open, fit a tube to the nipple on one caliper and then open the nipple and wait until I see fluid in the bleed tube. Should only take a few mins. Do the same on the other caliper and then bleed as normal using the brake lever.
Dont worry too much about the torque settings, just nip each one up enough to slightly crush the copper washers.
lee67, yeah I noticed that at the m/c so had to tighten it considerably.
Cheers flymo, guess its just going to take a while. I take it you mean tie the lever back and leave it till it starts to bleed through, it's already trickleing through under normal bleeding but it is only a trickle.
the master cylinder is blocked off when the lever is pulled back.
EDIT: I meant the master cylinder blocks off the reservoir with the lever pulled back... obviously...
flymo, how does the line set up sound to you, do you think they are in the right order?
flymo, how does the line set up sound to you, do you think they are in the right order?
Sounds fine, you only have two lines right? One to each caliper direct from the m/c? Obviously the longer one should go to the caliper thats further away but wont make any difference to the bleeding.
Other things that help; (I'm assuming you have a faired bike)
1. put the bike on its side stand and turn the bars fully to the right to level up the master cylinder as much as possible.
2. give the rubber link tube between the res and m/c a gentle squeeze now and again to help the big bubbles out.
3. A gentle tap up and down the brake hoses with a spanner can help move air bubbles up the system quicker.
Yeah two lines, longest to the caliper left side of bike.
Yep faired bike. It's on the side stand.
With regards the rubber pipe to the res, the reservoir on my bike suffered platic fatigue where it mounted to the reservoir mounting bracket, so I got one of ebay. However, it was listed as an 05 sv but is not, so I made up a bracket and mounted it. Thing is the outlet on the res is a bigger diameter than the inlet on top the m/c. Not sure if this would have any effect though.
Yeah two lines, longest to the caliper left side of bike.
Yep faired bike. It's on the side stand.
With regards the rubber pipe to the res, the reservoir on my bike suffered platic fatigue where it mounted to the reservoir mounting bracket, so I got one of ebay. However, it was listed as an 05 sv but is not, so I made up a bracket and mounted it. Thing is the outlet on the res is a bigger diameter than the inlet on top the m/c. Not sure if this would have any effect though.
Should be fine then, the main issue would usually be an obvious place for air to get trapped. If the rubber hose has a high point that is higher than the res connection for example. Air rises upwards so you need to ensure an upwards path for it to follow unless you are using bleed pumps etc to feed the fluid under pressure.
Should be fine then, the main issue would usually be an obvious place for air to get trapped. If the rubber hose has a high point that is higher than the res connection for example. Air rises upwards so you need to ensure an upwards path for it to follow unless you are using bleed pumps etc to feed the fluid under pressure.
But air trapped above the master cylinder would not affect braking - unless through bleeding or thermal contraction, the air gets sucked into the m/c.
But air trapped above the master cylinder would not affect braking - unless through bleeding or thermal contraction, the air gets sucked into the m/c.
Thats totally true, it can just slow down the bleeding process sometimes.
Luckypants
02-09-09, 12:30 PM
I too recently had a brake bleeding issue, never had one before. The pads were pushed out against the disc but could get no resistance at the lever. :( I tried everything including taking off the lever and holding it up in the air to ensure it was highest point in the system.
In the end I pushed the pistons back into the callipers, which forced brake fluid back up the hoses. That brought out what I can only describe as pepsi brake fluid, it was so aerated! You might try that or using a syringe to force brake fluid up from the bleed nipple. It worked for me. :D
Ta very much, all done and dusted now.
Tried your method flymo but after 10 mins no sign of fluid drop in the res or any coming through the bleed nipple so thought I'd crack on with the usual method.
Got some good feel through the lever very soon after, don't know if this was down to your tip or whether it was coincidence and it was nearly there already or not, but cheers for your input folks.
vBulletin® , Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.