Brake Bleeding Questions

Forum rules
Please can you post items for sale or wanted in the correct For Sale section. Items / bikes for sale here will be removed without warning. Reasons for this are in the FAQ. Thanks
Post Reply
User avatar
Man_Named_Dave
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 359
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 5:41 pm
Bike owned: NC30(K)
Location: Nairn, Highlands
Brake Bleeding Questions

Post by Man_Named_Dave »

Today I re-fitted my front brakes with new hydraulic seals and new pads, coating the hydraulic seals in brake fluid and the dust seals with red grease. I appeared to successfully bleed the system- not much joy with the old-fashioned way, but it seemed to work when I reverse bled it with a syringe, pumping back into the lines.

But when I put it all back together, the brake discs were dragging horribly. I took the calipers off and half the pistons were going in-out with a squeeze of the lever as you'd expect, but the others were barely moving. As I'm reasonably confident that the calipers were put back together properly, does this suggest that the system wasn't fully bled and I just need to take a bit longer on that process, or something more tricky?

Cheers,
David
User avatar
Davez29
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Posts: 1268
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:38 pm
Bike owned: NC29 forever
Re: Brake Bleeding Questions

Post by Davez29 »

You may have a bubble or two. What i would after a reverse bleed is now do a proper bleed the normal way. Keeping your master cylinder topped up of course.
Neosophist
Moderators
Moderators
Posts: 8172
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:01 pm
Bike owned: CBR954
Re: Brake Bleeding Questions

Post by Neosophist »

The pistons with least drag will always move first, unless you stop them moving the others wont move.

There will always be some drag on the brake disk, have you tried riding it yet?
xivlia wrote:i dont go fast on this bike so really do not need a rear brake.. /
vic-vtrvfr wrote:Ask xivlia for help, he's tackled just about every problem u could think of...
tigerclaw
Familiar Member
Posts: 290
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:52 pm
Location: South Africa
Re: Brake Bleeding Questions

Post by tigerclaw »

Agreed, reverse bleed then normal bleed
marti
Settled in member
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:13 am
Re: Brake Bleeding Questions

Post by marti »

Hi I usually soak all seals in brake fluid.
Build caliper. Reverse bleed. tighten bleed screws
Cable tie the brake lever to the bar (keeps system under pressure and forces air to top)
Go to bed
Next day cut cable tie. Pump lever a few times
Ride away!
m4rkymark
Settled in member
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:40 pm
Bike owned: cbr600f zx6r nc24
Re: Brake Bleeding Questions

Post by m4rkymark »

i had a nightmare trying to bleed my nc24 brakes after doing the seals in the front calipers spent £20 on a vacumn bleeder from ebay and brakes were bled in a few minutes best tool i have bought this year

Post Reply