Bleed Your Motor Bike's Brakes
Usually when working on a vehicle it is best to follow the manual; however, conventional information about bleeding the brakes by using a plastic tube and pumping the fluid into a jar may not work as they suggest. You can read about this method on wiki as well, but here is an alternative way to bleed your brakes of air.
Steps
- This is not the conventional method, but it does work for those who have found that trying to force air down a brake line when it just wants to flow up is virtually impossible!
- Undo the bolts that secure the caliper unit to the forks.
- Slide caliper unit away from the wheel.
- Remove brake pads and retaining pins etc.
- Pump the handlebar lever slowly until the piston has been pushed quite a way out of the unit (a couple of centimetres max.)
- Slot a G-Clamp over the caliper unit and position the screw end over the piston.
- Screw down until screw end makes contact with the base of the piston.
- Remove cover from reservoir on the handlebars.
- Continue screwing G-Clamp and watch the little air bubbles rising to the top of the reservoir.
- When there are no more air bubbles and the piston is right back where it started your job is done.
- Replace cover of reservoir; slide brake pads back into place and replace retaining pins; secure caliper unit back onto fork.
- No messy fluid, no hopeless pumping of the lever, no hassle, as long as you are confident with a spanner and know when to stop pumping the piston out of the caliper unit.
Tips
- It is still useful to have a manual to hand even if you don't follow its instructions for bleeding brakes. It will show you where things go and all bikes are different in design.
- Although you will find that this method doesn't make as much mess as the conventional way, you MUST be careful that you don't push the piston too far out of the caliper unit. Such a mistake can be rectified but it will be very messy!
Warnings
- Brake fluid is a great paint stripper so avoid spilling.
Things You'll Need
- Set of socket spanners (for removing the caliper unit)
- A G-Clamp (for screwing the piston back into the caliper unit)
