Brake bleeding (again) arghhh help.

[rowdy]

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 .

[timwilky]

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

[rowdy]

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

[flymo]

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.

[rowdy]

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.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by rowdy

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.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by rowdy

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...

[rowdy]

flymo, how does the line set up sound to you, do you think they are in the right order?

[flymo]

Originally Posted by rowdy

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.