Bleedin' Brakes!

Oh how I hate these most hated of things that I now hate so much, I just can't express enough hate towards them. I hate them now even more then my hate of mushy peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and swede.

They are evil and must be burned.

Why all this hate, cus I have stripped down, cleaned, renewed the seals and then rebuild the brakes on my 'build' SV. Yet every time I try to bleed them it just fails... the only thing left is to strip out the master cylinder seals, but they where working before I did this, just the dust seals where toast.

Don't worry mate. You're not alone. I've just went through this ordeal and it's a real pain. Some advice I can give you is to bleed the master cylinder alone first by pumping the lever a few times then opening momentarily the banjo bolt at the master cylinder end whilst squeezing slowly inwards. Don't release before closing banjo. Put plenty of rags so you don't spill over the nice paintwork. Next do the same at the other end of the lines doing the left side (gear lever side) first, then the right. Then bleed as per normal releasing the fluid from the bleed nipples using a piece of rubber pipe with it's other end submerged into a jar with some hydrolic fluid. Tap the calipers gently with a plastic mallet from time to time whilst bleeding to release the air bubbles.

Before doing this procedure I bled for more than an hour without any feel from the lever, so I can feel your pain friend.

[dizzyblonde]

YC has just taught me how to service my brake calipers and bleed the brakes.........we did it very quickly indeed......but it ain't half a faff
Not sure if I'd like to do them again

Oh I forgot to tell you, press the caliper pistons fully in before installing. It's very tricky to fill the empty calipers with hydrolic without letting air in but this helps. Some guys even resorted to pump hydrolic through the bleed hole into the calipers first using an oil can in an attempt to reduce air bubbles. I tried but only managed to spill hydrolic all over, franticly washing everything with soapy water afterwards in fear of the etching hydrolic. Again, be careful, use plenty of rags.

I cheated when I had braided hoses to fit, I got a garage to do them

At the end of the day my free time and biking time is limited, so the extra xx £ was worth it More time on the road for me.

I just had a nightmare when I changed my read pads. The good old pins wre rusted into the caliper so I had to pay to get them out (limited time and facilities). The new pins, pads etc went in fine but spent a hour trying to bleed them. Turns out that the top end of the system had drained while the caliper was off. I wedged the lever down with a brick (technical!) over nignt and bled the system the following day and all is now fine.
Good luck. Fingers are crossed for you.

[dizzyblonde]

It took aprox a half hour to bleed my brakes........and that included help off a six year old

I could suggest you hit them with a hammer...

... but I kinda get the feelign you perhaps already have!

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by K

I could suggest you hit them with a hammer...

... but I kinda get the feelign you perhaps already have!

Why do I have this mental image of you choosing from a sized array of hammers according to the job at hand


Cheers Mark.

Originally Posted by rictus01

Why do I have this mental image of you choosing from a sized array of hammers according to the job at hand


Cheers Mark.

Mmmmmmmm, now I have the mental image of my garage wall displying everything from a Sledge to a dainty little Jewelers hammer.