bleeding the brakes!

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88vmx12

88vmx12

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Many of you don't know the rear caliper situation that we had done on my bike. I hope to have some pictures out soon.... ok so we did an underslung front left later Vmax caliper. Originally I had an R1 but changed it out for cosmetic reasons. The underslung mount usually hangs down a bit, but Sean had moved it up and looks way better. Then we ran the brake line inside the swingarm tube and hid the line. The line pops out the bottom of the tube to route it to the caliper for a nice clean look. Well so now you have a caliper that is lower than the master and pretty much no line to raise it above the elevation of the master when bleeding it. :bang head: Needless to say it made it a bear for Sean to bleed. Remove the rear shocks , lower the bike as low as you can go , to get the caliper higher than the master.... At this point I am thinking "what a bunch of morons" I am talking about me but might as well bring Sean into this to since he is doing the work :rofl_200:.
But hey it looks cool right :punk:. Sean is a real trooper, Thanks again Sean for hanging in there and for all the great work!

G
 
LOL, biggest problem on the bleeding for me was a plugged feed pilot in the freshly chromed master. FYI for anyone chroming (or having some trouble bleeding the rear) the smallest hole is maybe .015" in diameter or smaller and plugs easily - especially when freshly chromed lol.

Cleared that up and it bled in a matter of minutes. I had run into this before but forgot to clean that port hole up when I rebuilt the master.

Sean
 
one2dmax said:
LOL, biggest problem on the bleeding for me was a plugged feed pilot in the freshly chromed master. FYI for anyone chroming (or having some trouble bleeding the rear) the smallest hole is maybe .015" in diameter or smaller and plugs easily - especially when freshly chromed lol.

Cleared that up and it bled in a matter of minutes. I had run into this before but forgot to clean that port hole up when I rebuilt the master.

Sean
Click to expand...

You see a true Master!
 
makes sense. interesting info. sean do u use a mityvac at all or are you all old school?
 
Most of the time I use a vac but with stock lines on the front it's just about as quick to do it without and simply squeeze the air out by pinching the lines like stopping the flow of water out of a garden hose.

Sean
 
I'm having some issues bleeding the air out of my underslung rear caliper. I've got some feel in the pedal but its very spongy. I have a R1 caliper and the bleed nipple is pointing down. I'm planning to try to get the caliper up on top of the rotor so the bleed nipple points up instead of down. Hoping that will do the trick.
 
You want the nipple up and higher then the master cylinder (does not need to be higher then the reservoir). Use something in between the pads while you do the bleed work and it won't need to be in the mounting bracket.

Sean
 
one2dmax said:
You want the nipple up and higher then the master cylinder (does not need to be higher then the reservoir). Use something in between the pads while you do the bleed work and it won't need to be in the mounting bracket.

Sean
Click to expand...

Now there's a trick/tip I've not heard of before now.... thank you! ;)

-
 
Lifted the caliper above the master and started the ol pump n dump. Couldnt get a firm pedal. Blead at the banjo's and bleeder. Noticed a drop hit the floor and wondered wher it came from..... the caliper inserts!! ARRGH. Now im pissed. Those o rings were a bit brittle but im thinking the inserts just need tightened.
 
Made a tool to remove the inserts on my R1 caliper. Ugly, but functional. There were tight so that was not the problem. I removed them and looked inside. Not sure how i didnt notice it before but there is all kinds of powder inside the caliper. :bang head:

I tore the caliper down and stripped all the powder inside and out then painted. Will try to get it together and bleed again tomorrow. Hopefully that will do the trick.
 
So would raising the front caliper above the master help bleeding, too? I could almost hang it from an extra rotor so it had something to grab.
 
To bleed with just a hose and a jar for me works great only after I seal the bleeder threads. There are specialty sealants sold for this but I use the red 3M type gasket elimimator from NAPA on the bleeder threads. Without sealant, the threads will suck air. I'm gonna try teflon tape next time.

Just seat the bleeder and back off about 1/4 turn and add hose and jar on floor. Important to keep the hose end submerged constantly as thefluid expells. Just pump and pinch in unison until the bubbles stop.

I have back-bled tough situations like bleeding dry lines, by using a pump oiler full of brake fluid.. After getting all the air out then I would bleed and flush well the normal way to eliminate any possible dirt contamination from the back-bleed.

P.S. The red gasket eliminator stuff is great for new or used gaskets. Never dries, peels eaisily and will not ball up and clog tiny oil passages if any gets loose.
 
I guess I am to hi tech after working for Harley for a while and having to change fluid on a regular basis and always working on other stuff. I have a really nice air bleeder that gets the job done quick.
 
This is what I used on the vmax if you have easy access to the bleed valve.
You just push the brake fluid up in to the master cylinders. Rear brakes, clutch and front brake master cylinders.

I have 4 stainless steel 1's that work much better the plastic 1 in the pictures but this work only takes about 30 mins on all 3 master cylinders. It don't matter if the calipers up side down master higher or lower.

I used this on cars trucks for years. I don't have picture of the stainless steel 1 it's at the other house.

"O" to when you push the fluid up all the air go's up and out.
 

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one2dmax said:
LOL, biggest problem on the bleeding for me was a plugged feed pilot in the freshly chromed master. FYI for anyone chroming (or having some trouble bleeding the rear) the smallest hole is maybe .015" in diameter or smaller and plugs easily - especially when freshly chromed lol.

Cleared that up and it bled in a matter of minutes. I had run into this before but forgot to clean that port hole up when I rebuilt the master.

Sean
Click to expand...

Hmmmm , I'm wondering if I may have the same issue on my Blue '90 , with the chromed brake master cyl. Plugged feed pilot eh ? Could you see it plugged or just started ramming a small wire in and out to check it ?
 
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