Bleeding Your Brake

[Kaleigh]

I thought I would make Thread on Bleeding your brakes.. Its really simple.. But I have only done my rear brakes.. if anyone has done their fronts, let us know.. Cause Im not gona say anything about the fronts cause I have never touched them(dont know if there is anything different you have to do cause there are 2 calipers to one reservoir.. anyways here goes.

Remember I have only done this to the rear brake on a 400ex.

This might be easier with 2 people
1- remove the reservoir cap

2- go to the caliper and you will see a rubber nipple, remove it. Under that should be a metal nipple,.

ok now.. take a look at your fluid level.. make sure its full.. fill if needed with recommended fluid.. now, loosen the nipple just a little bit and press down on the brake lever. you should notice fluid coming out.. either its streaming out or spitting, if its spitting it means that you have air in your line.. now with the brake lever still in the down position, tighten the nipple and release the brake.

Repeat this step til you get a stream of fluid with no bubbles.. once this has been done. fill up your fluid level and put your reservior cap back on and you're ready to go..

Sorry if I missed anything.. its like 4 am here..lol... so add to this if i missed anything.. thanks

[bsjoe]

I recently took off my brakes, so that ment I will have to bleed them.


I bleed them until I got no bubbles and the front brake lever was firm, but when I'm riding it and I hit the front brake as hard as I can, I don't even get my front tires to lock up like they used too. When I squeeze the brake as hard as I can, the lever doesnt touch the handlebars, so im pretty sure its not that theres air in the line causing me from pulling the lever in farther...


I took some spray 409 stuff and sprayed it all over the calipers and disk rotor for any oils that might be on the brakes, and it did help a little, but I'm still with this problem.


Before I did this, my front brakes would like lock up immeditally after just tapping the front brake lever they were so good =(

[cals400ex]

Originally posted by bsjoe
I recently took off my brakes, so that ment I will have to bleed them.


I bleed them until I got no bubbles and the front brake lever was firm, but when I'm riding it and I hit the front brake as hard as I can, I don't even get my front tires to lock up like they used too. When I squeeze the brake as hard as I can, the lever doesnt touch the handlebars, so im pretty sure its not that theres air in the line causing me from pulling the lever in farther...


I took some spray 409 stuff and sprayed it all over the calipers and disk rotor for any oils that might be on the brakes, and it did help a little, but I'm still with this problem.


Before I did this, my front brakes would like lock up immeditally after just tapping the front brake lever they were so good =(

ride your bike normal for a while. it should get better. after taking the brakes off the pads won't be perfectly flat on the rotors. after they wear in you should be good to go.

[bsjoe]

Well, I had to service the front shocks, so while I was at it, I took off the A-Arms and brake calipier to clean it up, so there arent new brake pads on it.


I see where you would be going if they were new pads since the rotors dont have a flat surface anymore, but the pads should make contact in the way they made it beofre. Only thing I can think of that might have to do with your idea is that when i installed the caliper this time, it was less then a mm off from the location from last time, but the pads arent touching the rotor in the same place as before...


thanks for the tip though, didnt think about that...

[gotwarrior]

I just blead all of my breaks, and one of the front breaks lock up, but the other one dosen't. (yes its blead). Do you thing maybe change the pads and it will fix it?

[Sandgod4]

Okay here is a 100% succesful way of bleeding brakes. This will only work if you can feel pressure on the lever or pedal. This will not work if you have just replaced your brake lines UNTIL you get some sort of feeling first..

Break the seal on the rezzy. Leave the cap on.. Make sure the rezzy is level by turning your bars before doing this.. Pull the lever to the bars and strap the lever to the bars w/ a bungee, ziptie, whatever.. Let it sit overnight.. Come out in the morning release the lever. Pump it 5-10x and strap the lever to the grip again. Come home from work, school, whatever and tighten up the rezzy cap. You're done!!! You are reverse bleeding the brakes. The air will come out wherever it is allowed.. No waste of fluid, no two guy BS, and it's free on existing lines, and is 100% effective!! For the rear wedge a hammer or prybar between the brake pedal, footpeg and frame and follow above instructions....

If your brakes do not work now you have other issues to resolve then..

[Harbin_22]

Okay here is a 100% succesful way of bleeding brakes. This will only work if you can feel pressure on the lever or pedal. This will not work if you have just replaced your brake lines UNTIL you get some sort of feeling first..

That is an awesome method. It works extremely well.