[UNO_RIDER]

Well as part of my Race Tech tranforamtion and to remain in compliance with the maintenace schedule, I decided to bleed the brakes/clutch and change the air filter.

The Brakes were a PITA, and it took two people to accomplish it. It wasn't that it was a difficult job, but it was time consuming because the linked brakes. You have to go round the bike and bleed the rear and front at least twice (I did three) to each lever to get all the air out of the lines. We even had a auto bleeder too..

We all know about the air filter and how time consuming it is. Living in the desert I would have thought the air filter would have been very dirty, but to my surprise, it wasn't all that bad. I could have blown all the air out and reused but I went ahead and replaced it.

We finally finished the bike around 8PM, but I didn't have a chance to ride it because all the other bikes were pushed in the shop behind the lift.

 

[Tryker]

Speedbleeders speed up the process, and their ease of bleeding makes it less painful. One man operation, although you have to get creative about setting the bleed container down, and watching for bubbles. Their value is directly related to the number of bleed points in the system.

 

[markh]

Speedbleeders speed up the process, and their ease of bleeding makes it less painful. One man operation, although you have to get creative about setting the bleed container down, and watching for bubbles. Their value is directly related to the number of bleed points in the system.

I second the speed bleeders.

 

[chalayko]

I found this be a great help as well http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0143 One way valve, no need to open and close the bleeder if you don't have speed bleeders.
Cliff.

 

[ChgoD]

Front brakes very straight-forward. Practically gravity bleed.

Found that a vacuum bleeder is good for pulling the old fluid out, but for getting the air out of the new fluid, pushing it through with the hand brake and the brake pedal works best.

Rears have to be done in proper order.

 

[Herbike]

Speed Bleeders:thumbup: Just what the name implies!!! Worked great for our first fluid change and now they are there for the next one.

 

[winghead]

One word....speed bleeders.

 

[SteveU]

Speedbleeders speed up the process, and their ease of bleeding makes it less painful. One man operation, although you have to get creative about setting the bleed container down, and watching for bubbles. Their value is directly related to the number of bleed points in the system.

After watching Fred's video on bleeding the clutch & brakes I ordered speed bleeders for all 8 spots. They sell a clear bag that looks like a catheter bag which is great for seeing when the bubbles are all out and what color the fluid is. With the speed bleeders in place you should be able to do the job yourself in under an hour not hurrying & don't have to be a contortionist, just make sure not to let your reservoirs run dry.

 

[Waldo]

See this thread for a simple inexpensive one man bleeder kit.

http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283850&highlight=bleeder

A bit of teflon tape on the threads of the bleeder will help. I did the VTX all alone (except for the cat) in less than 30 minutes.

 

[bluestreakrem]

Read post #47.

http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262459&highlight=speed+bleeder&page=2

 

[Too Tall]

I found this be a great help as well http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0143 One way valve, no need to open and close the bleeder if you don't have speed bleeders.
Cliff.

Check valve, what a great idea. If there's no leaks that should really work nicely.

 

[Waldo]

Read post #47.

http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262459&highlight=speed+bleeder&page=2

Just a note. 5/16 SAE and 8mm metric are largely interchangeable.

The math is: 5÷16 = 0.313 and 8÷25.4 = 0.314 with most tools within tolerance.

 

[bluestreakrem]

Just a note. 5/16 SAE and 8mm metric are largely interchangeable.

The math is: 5÷16 = 0.313 and 8÷25.4 = 0.314 with most tools within tolerance.

Not in this case.
While your empirical math is correct, the actual wrench sizes are about .005" different on average measuring my tools. That may not seem like much but on such a small hex size, it has a greater impact on wrench to bolt hex fit, as compared to larger sized fasteners. Trying to use an opened end 8mm wrench on a Speed Bleeder can or will round the flats of the fitting. If the 8mm doesn’t round the flats, at a minimum it will mangle the fitting and revel a hack mechanic was at work. I found this out when I forgot to use a 5/16" by mistake and picked up an 8mm I had laying in the wrench pile next to the bike. Speed Bleeder (by their own admission) uses plain carbon steel hex stock to make their standard fittings and 300 series material (even softer than their carbon steel fittings) for their stainless applications so they can drill and machine them easily. Both of these materials are softer than the OEM bleeders I have encountered on bikes. I have found they are not as hard as OEM fittings and the flats can round off if a correct size and tight fitting wrench is not used. Keep in mind you need to tighten the fitting enough so that it will not leak or suck air, so it requires some torque. Using a loose fitting wrench can spell disaster for the fitting. While the size difference between the wrenchs is not numerically large, it makes a difference on such a small wrench size. It becomes even more critical to use the correct wrench on thier 6mm thread fittings, found on Brembo calipers, because they are REALLY small. Speed Bleeders are not made of unusually soft steel, they are just made from plain hex stock material that has not been hardened, so using the correct wrench is a must to insure they are not damaged. I don’t see this as a slam against Speed Bleeders because you should be using the correct wrench anyway. Do to the soft nature of the steel and small size of bleeders in general, I now will only use a six point box end wrench on ANY bleeder, OEM or otherwise.
As you can proably tell, I’m anal about wrench marks on my bikes because I believe it’s a tell tale sign of a hack mechanic. I came from a mechanics back ground and learned a long time ago to use the correct wrench for the task.

 

[SCPO]

Speed Bleeders

 

[Waldo]

Working on metric bikes and sae for forty years, I never had an 8 or 5/16 give me trouble on either. Had speedbleeders on my Valkyrie and never even gave it a thought to use anything but m8 on them. Rounding them off suggests too much torque or quality bad enough that I would doubt the longevity of the business end it being so soft.

But, that debate is for another day. For the wing a set of speedbleeders can set you back a bit, rather buy gas.

 

[Rapidray]

Love the Motion Pro and I always use my 3/4 SAE socket on the lug nuts on the rear wheel. Of course, as discussed, it's a bigger size so a small tiny minute difference isn't as big a difference as on a 5/16. YRMV.

 

[JDBRIDER]

I used a mighty vac. Worked good. I didn't empth the system. Just vac out the reservior and refill with fresh fluid then kept reservior filled as I vac out the fluid from each valve in order til it came clean.

 

[Ed Z]

Anyone ever tried one of these type bleeders... Seems like it would make quick work of completely changing the fluid...

http://www.harborfreight.com/brake-fluid-bleeder-92924.html

 

[ChrisE]

Yes, I bought one of those from Griot's and it didn't work that well.

I've been searching for the ultimate brake bleeding system before I came across Speed Bleeders.

The neatest setup, I have ever seen used, was at a bike shop. I was in the service area when the mechanic was servicing my bike. He was doing something else to my bike and just squeezed the front brake lever, "Oh, we can make that feel better".

So he brought this device out that was clamped to a board, with a motor and a switch. There were two hoses, coming off the tiny motor, one going into a bottle, the other loose. He attached the loose one to my bleeder nipple, loosened the bleeder nipple and turned the switch on, the motor just sucked the fluid out while he topped up the reservoir. In about 10-15 seconds, new fluid started flowing out the hose. He turned the motor off and tightened everything up. It was the simplest brake bleeding method I have, still to this day, ever seen.

I didn't think much about it at the time. When I started doing my own brakes, I searched the internet for a similar device. Having no luck I figured he must have made this setup himself. Then one day the light went on, he made his pump outfit from a small aquarium pump.

 

[Ed Z]

The fish tank pumps I've seen only have an outlet hose on em (no good way to draw a vacuum)... What I was thinking was more in the line of a windshield washer pump (one of the type that's not internal to the tank)...
In any case, it has my mind rolling and I belive there is a device like you described in my future... This should keep me out of trouble for at least an hour or so... Thanks for sharing the idea...