Bleeding Brakes (cars & bikes)

[BudgetBoy]

I have done this so many times on cars and it works on bikes as well. The tool is easy to make and save you shelling out for those bleeding kits..

Cost is about £1.00 for the tubing..

All you need is a Jam Jar with or without lid..(lid will stop spills.. Put hole in top for pipe)

And a piece of clear tubing (2-3ft) to fit over the head of the bleed nipple.

Fill the jam jar 1/4 full with brake fluid

Attach pipe to bleed nipple on bike

Place other end in the jam jar making sure it is below the brake fluid.

(make sure the jam jar is LOWER than the caliper)

Open the bleed nipple and start squeezing the brakes.(no need to shut it off agin until its done)

The air you will see come out of the clear tube into the jam jar.No air will get back into the system either.

Keep the master cylinder topped up as you do this..

Keep pumping until there are no more air bubbles.

Hope this ok..I learnt lots of trick's whilst doing cars and some apply to bikes as well..

If anyone wants photos i can put some up..

[Harry Muff]

Nice one mate.

Am thinking about putting braided lines on, which of course means starting from scratch with the fluid. Some say it's easy, some say it's right ring-piece to do.

Any guidance would greatly appreciated.

Harry.

[BudgetBoy]

Nice one mate.

Am thinking about putting braided lines on, which of course means starting from scratch with the fluid. Some say it's easy, some say it's right ring-piece to do.

Any guidance would greatly appreciated.

Harry.

I gather you mean you want guidance on fitting braided lines??

I have these on my project bike i have nearly done.. and yes they are a pig. The easiest way i found was put the line in the master cylinder first.. Then with the caliper OFF the bike connect it up and turn the caliper rather than the nut on the braided hose..Once it is tight put the caliper back on the bike.. You might do it first time, but have patience.. it took me 2-3 times to do it on the first go..And i still had to take them off again due to sticking calipers..

You will know if you have it right because the hose should NOT kink in anyway..

Deffo worth doing them though, it will improve the feel of the brake..

Take note of how the old brakes pipe go on the bike,before you remove them.. So easy to forget and route them the wrong way and then wonder why they are snagging...

If you get stuck give us a shout.

[uggiebear]

Route one cable then the next, so you dont get confused.

Have two jars of brake fluid.

Use some tube length to attach on to your bleed nipple (you can do the jar method as described earlier)

Slacken ONE nipple off quite a bit and pump through fluid using lever(so it pisses through) then do the next and so on depending if its one caliper bike one nipple or 6 for a linked system etc. Once you have a good flow tighten nipple slightly. If possible use partner/mate small child or well trained advark to pump the lever as you move nipple 1/4 of a turn from tight to slack and back again repeatedly to get the pesky air bubbles flowing.

Ride round for a day or so, then useing the spent fluid container as a receiver bleed again this time topping up with what was in the system. That should do the job properly.

Or you can go out and fork out £50 on a decent kit.

Dont reuse brake fluid after ditch as its hydroscopic and absorbs water, i know some do and some dont but its not worth keeping.

Car bleeding is no where near like bike bleeding the tinyist air molecule can be a right pain.

Oh yeah make sure that you tap wiggle any funny hose runs this includes up to the resivoir bubbles get stuck anywhere they can.

[Harry Muff]

I was on about the putting fresh fluid in and bleeding bit of it.

Cheers lads. Going to be ordering some Goodridge or HEL lines forthwith.

[matbmx100]

To be fair bleeding fresh lines can either be really easy or a royal pain in the arse.

Ive used this:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/...tegoryId_165469

For years bought it about 8/9 years ago and used it so many times. Its a bit neater than the jar option, very little chance of spilling etc etc. The hose clamps really well to the nipple etc. if your lucky the fluid will push through easily if not you can bleed through the master cylinder. Basically just pumping the lever and air come up through the reservior at the top.

Can take a while, these kits are well worth £6 and i reckon mine will last for another 10 years. Just patience really with bleeding brakes they will bleed but can take a while.

[Harry Muff]

Nice one. Cheers.

[Gobert23]

Cheers lads. Going to be ordering some Goodridge or HEL lines forthwith.

Sorted that for you...

No, seriously, as you'll see in 'this we trust' threads, HEL Performance comes out tops, if only for first class customer service.

[Harry Muff]

Much appreciated. Decision made then.

[yanto]

just to add some times its best to bleed the master cylinder first pump it up and undo the banjo bolt

you will see the air coming out

also you will love this if your brakes feel sponge pump them up

tie(cable tie etc) the lever back to the bar leave over night and they will be rock solid the next day just gets the last bit of air to the reservoir

also if you get the chance use Dot 5.1 not only dose it have higher temp but you can throw it over your paint and it wont harm it like others

(my ex done it to my bike and i just washed it off )

[Harry Muff]

also if you get the chance use Dot 5.1 not only dose it have higher temp but you can throw it over your paint and it wont harm it like others

(my ex done it to my bike and i just washed it off )

Now that I didn't know. Useful info indeed. Going to try the cable tie trick, but won't it affect the discs to have the pistons pressing against one spot all night?

[yanto]

Now that I didn't know. Useful info indeed. Going to try the cable tie trick, but won't it affect the discs to have the pistons pressing against one spot all night?

no if it worries you dont pull back to hard

we found it when putting recoverd bikes in the van as we used to use a rubber band on the lever to stop it rolling about

some times the bikes would be in there for days on end with no problems

but the brakes were great

[Evilchicken0]

To bleed new lines in I leave the top of the resavior and slowly squeeze the lever, bubbles come out throught the res. Eventually the bubbles will stop then I bleed at the calipers in the usual way.

I use one of the cheap car kits you can get for about a fiver, they have a valve at one end and soft tube at the nipple end.

I always have the jam jar higher than the caliper,, use some masking tape to hold it on the fork leg, then there's no need to put any fluid in the jar. The fluid gets pushed up tube and you can see the bubblesas they rise through the fluid. I squeeze 3 times open th nipple and then close it.