Speed bleeders make it easy

[dbeardslee]

I just finished putting new brake pads on the old girl, and I have to say that was the easiest brake job I ever did. I took the calipers off, cracked the speed bleeders a little more than 1/4 turn, and put a little hose on the end. I compressed the piston with a c-clamp. with one of the old brake pads up against the piston. The excess brake fluid comes out the speed bleeder, but with the one-way valve, no air gets back in. Tightened the speed bleeder back up, reinstalled the caliper, and topped off the reservoir. Squeezed the brakes a couple times. Done. Man, I love those little things.

[79XS11F]

I just finished putting new brake pads on the old girl, and I have to say that was the easiest brake job I ever did. I took the calipers off, cracked the speed bleeders a little more than 1/4 turn, and put a little hose on the end. I compressed the piston with a c-clamp. with one of the old brake pads up against the piston. The excess brake fluid comes out the speed bleeder, but with the one-way valve, no air gets back in. Tightened the speed bleeder back up, reinstalled the caliper, and topped off the reservoir. Squeezed the brakes a couple times. Done. Man, I love those little things.

I hear ya on that. Speed bleeders are the cats meow ...
Rob

[dbeardslee]

I love 'em. Thought maybe a pic and a link might be in order for anyone going 'wtf is a speed bleeder?' Here's the link - Speedbleeder.com.
And here's the pic -

[b.walker5]

The speed bleeders in my house are 17 and 21, with two legs and bad attitudes. They could would win awards for the speed at which they bleed me dry

[dbeardslee]

Brian - lol

[Ivan]

I have them too, but have found that they really need to be conventionally bled for the final couple squirts. I was never able to get them to seal well enough to not let some air through. But for bleading lots of air out, they rock.

[dbeardslee]

Ivan - I wrapped mine with teflon tape before I installed them. They come with that red stuff on the threads but it wears off. I removed it all the way and subsituted the teflon and it works great.

[Rubin]

Speed bleeders in Metric??

Just wondered if anyone knows a place to get these in Canada. Would rather not ship to the US and pick them up there if I can avoid it. Any store carry them? I have looked with no luck so far.

[dbeardslee]

I followed the link from the third post in this thread, added an SB8125L to the shopping cart, and proceeded to checkout. There's a field there for country, so I assume they will ship to Canada. Have you tried e-mailing them? They show up on ebay too - here's a link.

Also, on the speed bleeders be thee aware - if you're working with an empty brake system (no fluid) you may have to bleed it some with regular bleeders (I use a vacuum bleeder), and then finish off with the speed bleeders. For some reason they can be a little uncooperative when the system is dry. If you're just taking the old ones out and putting speed bleeders in, you should be able to just change them out, open the speed bleeders 1/4-1/2 turn, and pump the brakes a couple times to expel the air. Keep an eye on the reservoir while your doing it as it will pump it through fairly quickly.

[dbeardslee]

Rubin - I was in Advance Auto Parts yesterday, and they had a bunch of 'em in stock. Advance's store locator show's a bunch of locations in the Detroit area, so if you can tear yourself away from those clubs downtown you could probably take a ride through the tunnel and find some. They also had a nice selection of blind plugs (like the ones that go on the carb hanger taps) - a package of 5 for $1.98. I paid $2.00 ea. for them at Mikes XS.

[79XS11F]

I use mine with a brake bleeding vac pump and it's a peice of cake.
Rob

[Crazcnuk]

http://www.xs650direct.com/products-50.html

xs650direct.com has rhem for $5.98CDN.

They are Mikes Canuck branch.

[Rubin]

http://www.xs650direct.com/products-50.html

xs650direct.com has rhem for $5.98CDN.

They are Mikes Canuck branch.

Thanks Crazcnuk, that is exactly what I was looking for. Time to go shopping!

[tdeir70]

I hear ya on that. Speed bleeders are the cats meow ...

Highly Recommend Speed Bleeders - WOW
...Just bled the front brake; astonished how frickin easy that was with the Speed Bleeder; got rid of some nasty grunge in the MC and spooge too. Rear/Front next.

[dbeardslee]

They make it really easy to change to brake fluid too. Just plumb them into a convenient receptacle, crack them open, take the top of the master cylinder, and keep pumping the brakes and adding fluid until it comes out clean on the bottom. Don't even have to put the top on the master cylinder, but you do want to be careful. It's a good idea to put a piece of 2 X 4 between the brake handle and the handlebar during that operation so as not to unseat the plunger seal in the mastercylinder. I love those little things.