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Hi all i need your help as i just cant seem to bleed my front brake
the story so far new Goodridge braided stainless brake hose a rebuilt master cylinder new fluid and dust seals in the caliper fresh Dot 4 fluid and new pads i just cant get any feel at the lever at all must have spent 4 hours doing this

do it for 4 more hours ;) .

Seriously. It takes forever. If you bleed using tiny little pulls at the lever with the MC cover off you should see some small bubbles coming up from there. Some people take the caliper and MC off and hang the whole deal upside down. I just try to bleed it out from the MC.

i'll have a go tomorrow thanks julien ive got some good news it now runs i'll put up some pics soon its looking good well i think so

There is no substitute for a power bleeder. Consider what four hours of your time is worth, besides the hassle doing it...and get a vacuum/power bleeder.

I wouldn't do without one. Bleeding hyd systems using the actuator part of the system (lever, pedal, whatever) is a silly waste of time and effort.

....and generally doesn't work for diddle, either.


...considering that nothing is wrong with the seals, the MC, etc.....

I use a syringe from McMaster-Carr and a short length of vinyl tubing. The syringe is cool because it sucks AND blows- you can pull fluid from the master, and also force it backwards, eliminating the need for a bench-bleed.

Take care not to inject air, naturally.

Yeah...but you have to physically mess with the syringe all the time. They work, but having a resevoir that you can pressurize/evacuate and leave alone..you have enough to do fussing with the bleeder and keeping the MC full.

A syringe certainly beats using the lever/pedal.

Well thanks for all your replies i think im going to get a mityvac

Not that many do it, but the brake fluid should be replaced from time to time. Kaw recommends every two years.

You'll get a lot more use out of a bleeder tool than for a brake cylinder repair or line replacement.

How do u bleed the brakes with the syringe?

from the bottom, I push fresh fluid into the caliper and if it's stubborn I also draw liquid out. Keep an eye on the master cylinder to add / remove fluid

thanx it worked!

ever heard of gravity bleeding? it works, and works well. just fill the resovoir up, crack the bleeder, and wait on fluid to come out of the bleeder......... tighten the bleeder, and your ready to go.

Never seen it work... how long do you have to wait? 6-7 months or so?

I had the same problem, get the bend right off the master brake cylinder to press down, get the bubbles out there, tap the whole line a lot gently with something, bleed it to container on calipers. Takes a while, but the bend at the top of the line where it comes up after the clip on the forks is the culprit. I also adjusted the forward/rearward angle of the master cylinder, as usually when you ride it is on an angle. Don't need any pumps etc. Think of where the air is, eliminate.

Indawoods wrote:Never seen it work... how long do you have to wait? 6-7 months or so?

no, you have to wait for a few min....... this is how i do cars, {this is my job}.......and bikes. when you crack the bleeder, the fluid is going to run downhill{hense....**** always runs down hill} ......... the fluid will push the air out on its own. when you get a steedy sream of fluid{no air bubbles} tighten the bleeder and your done! dont take my word for it, try it.

Indawoods wrote:Never seen it work... how long do you have to wait? 6-7 months or so?

hey inda.........your not still waiting on those brakes to gravity feed, are you? ........... na, really..... have you tried it..... im telling you, it does work!

I just push it up through... takes about 10 seconds and I'm done.

the problem with that is your pushing the old fluid and junk back up into your master cylinder.

Up... down... it's all the same.... never had a failure.