I just got some work done on my bike and had the forks changed....so the front calipers were removed and reintalled. After that, I changed the entire right clip-on with master cylinder. I'm tring to bleed the front brakes but not getting anywhere with it. I bought a $7 bleeder from autozone and started by bleeding the calipers first one side at a time. I slightly loosened the nut, insert the bleeder tip, pressed in the lever, loosen the nut more and fluid starts to go through the bleeder, then tighten the nut and pump the brake lever once...repeated this until fluid is clearly through the bleeder line with no bubbles. I did this for both caliper and then the nipple next to the master cylinder. If the bike is standing still, I can pump the lever and start to feel tension after a couple of pumps, but once I start moving, it just dies, and there is no tension. I tried pumping the lever while going abt 5mhp and I could feel it starting to work, but after a while, it goes back to the same problem... This is my first time bleeding any brakes, any help would be appreciate. thanks,
Bleed the master first, make sure that there is plenty of fluid going through there and all the air is out. Then, once the master is fully bled, the fluid will pull through the lines quickly. Just do one line at a time, and once you do them both and get good pressure you want to zip tie the lever to the bar overnight to make sure you get all the little bubbles out. Hope that helps.
Front Brake Caliper: All But FLSTS/FXSTS
Remove the front master cylinder reservoir cap to be able to check the fluid level as the caliper pistons are pushed back into the caliper because the fluid level may rise more than the 1/8 in. (3.2 mm) from the top level and you may have to remove some excess fluid if it does so. THEN loosen but do not remove both pad pins with a 12 point one quarter inch socket. THEN remove both metric caliper mounting bolts and remove the caliper from the front forks and brake disc and pry the pads back to force all four caliper pistons into their bores. THEN once the pistons have been retracted, remove the pad pins and the brake pads.
Although the front and rear brake calipers except FXSTD models, use the same exact brake pad set the FXSTD does not and the FXSTD rear pads have a vertical slot cut into the pads. Be sure NOT to substitute front and/or rear brake pads for the other on these bikes. On the right side of the vehicle the pad with the two tabs installs on the inboard side of the caliper and on the left side of the vehicle, the pad with the two tabs installs on the outboard side of the caliper.
THEN install new pads into the caliper noting that the curved portion of the pad faces to the rear of the bike, and loosely install the pad pins until you hear an audible click from them. THEN re-attach the caliper to front fork, place the caliper over the brake disc with the bleeder valve facing upwards, loosely install the long caliper mounting bolt into the top hole on the fork leg, install the short mounting bolt into the bottom hole on the fork le, tighten the bottom mounting bolt to 28-38 ft-lbs (38.51.5 Nm) and final tighten the top mounting bolt also to 28-38 ft-lbs (38.51.5 Nm) and final tighten the two pad pins to 180-200 in-lbs (20.3-22.6 Nm).
THEN and whenever new pads are installed, before moving the bike pump the brakes until brake fluid pushes the caliper pistons and the pads out and verify that the pads are against the brake disc and then rotate the wheel to ensure there is not any excessive drag between the pads and the disc, check for proper fluid level in the reservoir and if necessary top it up with DOT 5 Silicone base brake fluid only, install the reservoir cover and tighten its screws to 6-8 in-lbs (0.7-0.9 Nm).
THEN and whenever any work has been done on brakes always test the brakes at low speed before operating on a roadway or at higher speeds. THEN test brake system light and if during the road test the brakes feel spongy at all bleed the system and after obtaining a hard lever or pedal road test the bike again.
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