How to: Bleeding The Brakes

I do not have a M/C rebuild kit on the way. Could not find one in time. Fluid was low inside. It is not looking to pretty inside. Thinking once I remove the lines I will just soak it in break cleaner. Scrub it out a bit and hope that does it for now. When I start the bleeding process where should my lever adjustment be?
 
Don't do a scrub, use brake cleaner unless you do a strip down. In my experience I can usually get by with reusing the stock parts if the piston/bore isn't too bad, if it is bad you wouldn't ride the bike anyways, Would you?
Rubber parts are not compatible with being soaked in brake cleaner.There are chinese replacement MC's that "look correct"
 
Okay. No to scrubbing. I was thinking just a light tooth brush but yes Copy that. So when I pull the lines/fluid out of the M/C. Is it okay to spray revisor with a little brake cleaner? Or should I just blow some air into it? Bleed it and see how she feels afterwards? I would not ride the bike with a faulty brake that is for sure. (I have purchased caliper rebuild kit, pistons, pads and lines)
I am thinking to clean up the rotor with a clean rag and rubbing alcohol before I put it on the new pads. It may be worth tearing down the M/C to clean and put back together. Just don’t want to damage anything in the process.
Thanks a lot gggGary
 
Okay. No to scrubbing. I was thinking just a light tooth brush but yes Copy that. So when I pull the lines/fluid out of the M/C. Is it okay to spray revisor with a little brake cleaner? Or should I just blow some air into it? Bleed it and see how she feels afterwards? I would not ride the bike with a faulty brake that is for sure. (I have purchased caliper rebuild kit, pistons, pads and lines)
I am thinking to clean up the rotor with a clean rag and rubbing alcohol before I put it on the new pads. It may be worth tearing down the M/C to clean and put back together. Just don’t want to damage anything in the process.
Thanks a lot gggGary
It IS worth the tear down, the inside of the MC is always filled with hideous goopy spooge.
Brake cleaner, acetone, or carb cleaner on the rotor.
 
Yes, you really want/need to take the MC apart. As Gary said, they're usually full of crap. I recently renovated a couple for my 650s, used smaller bore models from other Yamahas. All they required was a good cleaning, no rebuild kits. I did hone the one a little as it had some pitting in the bore. It came out good and is working well so far.
 
Yes, you really want/need to take the MC apart. As Gary said, they're usually full of crap. I recently renovated a couple for my 650s, used smaller bore models from other Yamahas. All they required was a good cleaning, no rebuild kits. I did hone the one a little as it had some pitting in the bore. It came out good and is working well so far.
Okay this is good. Glad I can tear it down and clean it up with no rebuild kit. I take it I should have some silicone spray for the rubber (to keep it moist) brake cleaner etc. I am searching for a tear down photo or how to section guide. It doesn’t seem to have that many parts. Pretty straight forward I am thinking.
 

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I don't use any spray lube on the rubber parts. I clean them up using brake fluid mostly, sometimes a product called the Tannery. The Tannery is a rubber/vinyl/leather cleaner and preservative. I re-assemble with all the rubber parts wet down with brake fluid. Basically, for the MC piston, it and all it's associated parts are held in by a snap ring. There's usually a rubber boot on top of that that needs to be pulled off first. I have replaced a few of those. Luckily, I found a cheap source for them, Banggood .....

https://www.banggood.com/19_1-27mm-...p-buytogether-auto&ID=510657&cur_warehouse=CN
 
Generally just brake cleaner on the metal parts and lightly on the rubber parts. You can use brake fluid and an old tooth brush to gently scrub parts.
On rebuild kits for M/C's I'm batting about .500. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.
Calipers often don't need anything. Just tear down and clean. The groove the piston seal goes in is especially grungy. Stuff builds up between seal and caliper body. It can get pretty hard.
As someone on here recommended, Can't recall who, Old wiper blades have steel strips that hold the rubber on the arm. Pull these strips out. They come in handy for a lot of things. In this case one end with a 1/4 inch bent to 90 degrees make a good scraper to clean out the groove.
This build up pushes the seal out harder against the piston and can bind the piston.
On rebuilding the M/C's the circlip pliers need a very long nose. Most are too short. I picked up a set of small needle nose pliers from Harbor Freight. I then carefully ground the tips a bit to fit the holes in the circlip. They worked very well for getting down in to the circlip.
I have also picked up some of those speed bleeder bleeder screws. They have a spring loaded ball valve that lets fluid oput the seal right back up. No loosen, tighten, loosen, tighten to bleed. Just loosen, bleed the tighten.
I then replace with the stock bleeders.
Leo
 
XSLeo...lot’s of good in-site brother. I really appreciate that. I look forward to servicing the M/C. I have a few needle nose laying around that I will custom out for the repair. Those bleeder bleeder screws sound awesome. Going to add those to the tool set! Oh and good old Harbor Freight. Miss that place. Loved going there. Now being in Australia it really makes me appreciate that place. A place such as that doesn’t and will never exist. Everything out here is bloody expensive or dear as they might say. Haha

Now after having the caliper off the bike I understand you would never use brake cleaner on rubber parts. I sorta new that but it takes doing this to remind you. I haven’t wrenched on moto’s since I was a 16. Hard to retain a lot of what you learn when your a little shit kicker. Since I don’t have a rebuild kit for the master cylinder/ never have torn one apart before. As well I have a Australian moto license assessment Sunday to complete I decided to try a little experiment. Using the old brake lines still attached to the M/C I pumped fluid through the brake line out into a jar full of fluid to see how the M/C is pumping fluid. It cleared out old nasty fluid right away nice and easy. By the way my caliper rebuild kit, pistons, brake lines and pads have not arrived yet from Geoff’sXS! Should be here Thursday. So I was just keeping myself busy after dinner or Tea as they might say! Ha
It appears that things are functioning pretty smoothly considering that this hasn’t been apart for a while. Check out my pics and see what ya’ll think. Caliper got torn down tonight and cleaned up a bit with some brake cleaner. I will be taking this to my mates house to try and blow the pistons to space.
P.s some people were mentioning what jar they wanted to use or design something that won’t tip over. Check out my last picture of my JAR! Haha it should do!
 

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I don't use glass, I use plastic jars for my brake bleeding. I have several and bungee one to a leg on my mechanic's stool so it stays put. I also drilled a hole through the lid for the bleeder hose to snugly fit through. This holds the hose in place .....

ziNpcTN.jpg


LCiaGZW.jpg


The bleeder hoses get stored in the jars when not in use.

There are specialty right angle long needle nose pliers available. Expensive but they work like a charm .....

6FtBHCc.jpg
 
I begin by "bench bleeding" the master cylinder using a bench bleeding fitting and hose I saved after having replaced the master cylinder on a Toyota some years ago. If you've ever replaced a master cylinder on any car you've probably seen and thrown away those plastic fittings, clips, and fittings as they come packaged with new automotive master cylinders. I must have 15 different ones in the brake tools drawer of one of my tool boxes. If you can level up your master cylinder then you can "bench bleed" without removing it from the handle bar. Just blow the bubbles back into the master cylinder until the bubbles are no more.

(If you happen to have an extra banjo bolt you could saw the head off, lightly thread it in the master cylinder, and attach a rubber hose to the end. Then you can put the other end of the hose in the master cylinder. You know, for those of you who didn't save your old car parts.)

After you've bled the master cylinder then attach all the brake lines and tighten the bleeder fitting and attach a peanut butter jar and hose as recommended by 5twins. I have all those fancy tools, the pumps, the vacuums, the specially made bottles and all any of them ever got me was a mess.

Then do the normal bleeding procedure beginning at the banjo fitting closest to the master cylinder and work your way down bleeding every fitting until you finally get to the actual bleeder valve.

A tip I haven't seen mentioned is to run the freeplay adjustment screw on the brake lever (Under the black rubber cover) all the way in so that you are pushing the plunger in the master cylinder slightly farther than usual and thereby moving more fluid with each stroke. But be very gentle and use long smooth strokes.

And last but not least, be sure to reset and lock down the freeplay adjustment screw once you are done bleeding as failing to do so could get you hurt.
 
Last resort.
I was putting together the race bike on Wednesday before the 24 hours of Texas World Speedway.CRRC's ultimate endurance race. I had scrooged a second disk and caliper because even 8 laps in a sprint race would have the single disk setup so hot the lever would be at the bar. No matter what I did I could not get the air out. Found my spare MC, drilled a hole in the cap and installed a valve stem. Applied 30 psi and opened the far bleeder. Amazing amount of bubbles came out of the system. At the track had great brakes and a wicked speed wobble. We made 4 laps in 24 hours.
 
Last resort.
I was putting together the race bike on Wednesday before the 24 hours of Texas World Speedway.CRRC's ultimate endurance race. I had scrooged a second disk and caliper because even 8 laps in a sprint race would have the single disk setup so hot the lever would be at the bar. No matter what I did I could not get the air out. Found my spare MC, drilled a hole in the cap and installed a valve stem. Applied 30 psi and opened the far bleeder. Amazing amount of bubbles came out of the system. At the track had great brakes and a wicked speed wobble. We made 4 laps in 24 hours.


I don't have a spare master cylinder that actually works but I have been pondering adding a fitting to the cap that would allow me to pump brake fluid in the top. Or perhaps drill 5 holes in a piece of aluminum flat stock and thread one for the fitting. You racers know your stuff.
 
I begin by "bench bleeding" the master cylinder using a bench bleeding fitting and hose I saved after having replaced the master cylinder on a Toyota some years ago. If you've ever replaced a master cylinder on any car you've probably seen and thrown away those plastic fittings, clips, and fittings as they come packaged with new automotive master cylinders. I must have 15 different ones in the brake tools drawer of one of my tool boxes. If you can level up your master cylinder then you can "bench bleed" without removing it from the handle bar. Just blow the bubbles back into the master cylinder until the bubbles are no more.

(If you happen to have an extra banjo bolt you could saw the head off, lightly thread it in the master cylinder, and attach a rubber hose to the end. Then you can put the other end of the hose in the master cylinder. You know, for those of you who didn't save your old car parts.)

After you've bled the master cylinder then attach all the brake lines and tighten the bleeder fitting and attach a peanut butter jar and hose as recommended by 5twins. I have all those fancy tools, the pumps, the vacuums, the specially made bottles and all any of them ever got me was a mess.

Then do the normal bleeding procedure beginning at the banjo fitting closest to the master cylinder and work your way down bleeding every fitting until you finally get to the actual bleeder valve.

A tip I haven't seen mentioned is to run the freeplay adjustment screw on the brake lever (Under the black rubber cover) all the way in so that you are pushing the plunger in the master cylinder slightly farther than usual and thereby moving more fluid with each stroke. But be very gentle and use long smooth strokes.

And last but not least, be sure to reset and lock down the freeplay adjustment screw once you are done bleeding as failing to do so could get you hurt.
Thank you Recycle bill. Lot’s of great tips and info. I was assuming I could just bleed through the brake line and be all wrapped up. Did not know I should also bleed the master cylinder. I do that on my race bikes disc brakes to the mountain bike. I have not taken apart my master cylinder yet. Getting a seal kit soon. Left fluid inside it while I am rebuilding the caliper. Once I re attach the caliper and new brake lines is it a must to bleed the M/c?
I will have to bench bleed it on the bar with your hose trick. I just moved countries and don’t have a lot of old truck parts laying around. I love them 2nd gen Toyota's btw nothing like the 22re motor!
 
I begin by "bench bleeding" the master cylinder using a bench bleeding fitting and hose I saved after having replaced the master cylinder on a Toyota some years ago. If you've ever replaced a master cylinder on any car you've probably seen and thrown away those plastic fittings, clips, and fittings as they come packaged with new automotive master cylinders. I must have 15 different ones in the brake tools drawer of one of my tool boxes. If you can level up your master cylinder then you can "bench bleed" without removing it from the handle bar. Just blow the bubbles back into the master cylinder until the bubbles are no more.

(If you happen to have an extra banjo bolt you could saw the head off, lightly thread it in the master cylinder, and attach a rubber hose to the end. Then you can put the other end of the hose in the master cylinder. You know, for those of you who didn't save your old car parts.)

After you've bled the master cylinder then attach all the brake lines and tighten the bleeder fitting and attach a peanut butter jar and hose as recommended by 5twins. I have all those fancy tools, the pumps, the vacuums, the specially made bottles and all any of them ever got me was a mess.

Then do the normal bleeding procedure beginning at the banjo fitting closest to the master cylinder and work your way down bleeding every fitting until you finally get to the actual bleeder valve.

A tip I haven't seen mentioned is to run the freeplay adjustment screw on the brake lever (Under the black rubber cover) all the way in so that you are pushing the plunger in the master cylinder slightly farther than usual and thereby moving more fluid with each stroke. But be very gentle and use long smooth strokes.

And last but not least, be sure to reset and lock down the freeplay adjustment screw once you are done bleeding as failing to do so could get you hurt.
As far as bleeding it with your recommendation of using a extra banjo bolt and connecting a hose. How do I push Or pump fluid into the M/c to get any extra air out? Can I just use the lever?
 
I agree with Bill about bleeding the master on the bench first. As an auto mechanic for 45 years I have done more than my fair share of brake jobs, and bleeding the air out is sometimes a problem. As bill says, get the cylinder level, not the reservoir, then attach a fitting with a hose looped up into the reservoir. fill it half way with brake fluid and make sure the end of the hose is in the fluid. Slowly pull the lever in and out until all the bubbles are out of the cylinder. Disconnect the fitting at the cylinder, plug it with something, duct tape will work, so as to not leak too much fluid out. Stick your master back on the bars, connect the line to your caliper, and then bleed in the normal way, using a jar or bottle with some fluid in. Most guys have problems with air in the master cylinder and this should help with that. DSCN0258.JPG
 
I agree with Bill about bleeding the master on the bench first. As an auto mechanic for 45 years I have done more than my fair share of brake jobs, and bleeding the air out is sometimes a problem. As bill says, get the cylinder level, not the reservoir, then attach a fitting with a hose looped up into the reservoir. fill it half way with brake fluid and make sure the end of the hose is in the fluid. Slowly pull the lever in and out until all the bubbles are out of the cylinder. Disconnect the fitting at the cylinder, plug it with something, duct tape will work, so as to not leak too much fluid out. Stick your master back on the bars, connect the line to your caliper, and then bleed in the normal way, using a jar or bottle with some fluid in. Most guys have problems with air in the master cylinder and this should help with that. View attachment 152121
Awesome. Okay thanks for the picture and further detail. Easy. Makes sense. Just has to work. When I am done bleeding the master cylinder then remove the hose attached to my custom banjo bolt I assume the fluid would want to run out while trying to connect my brake line. Do I just have to act fast? Place a rag over the opening until the hose is fitted? Obviously not letting the m/c get low.
 
Awesome. Okay thanks for the picture and further detail. Easy. Makes sense. Just has to work. When I am done bleeding the master cylinder then remove the hose attached to my custom banjo bolt I assume the fluid would want to run out while trying to connect my brake line. Do I just have to act fast? Place a rag over the opening until the hose is fitted? Obviously not letting the m/c get low.

As long as you are not pushing the lever there will be no more than a few drops of fluid running out. I wouldn't leave the banjo bolt disconnected for days and days but there's no need to be hurried as stripping threads ruins your master cylinder. Be patient, it's still going to take a while. But as long as all the fittings and the bleeder screw is re-tightened you can take a break anytime you like.

A mistake I have made and probably others too, is to put in so many long hours working on the bike that our brains quit working and we start forgetting when we are supposed to be opening and closing the fittings. When you do that you have to start over from the beginning.
 
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