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Brake bleeding advice
Brake Bleeding Tip
by Marty Ambrose
Do not squeeze the brake lever too far when bleeding the front brakes. The rubber plunger inside the master cylinder will unseat. Once the bleeder is opened and there is no back pressure, if the lever is overextended, the plunger WILL unseat. After that, no amount of pumping will allow the brakes to bleed, since the fluid is not being pumped.
Before you start to bleed your brakes, tape a block of wood to the throttle grip, behind the brake lever, to prevent over-extending the lever. Use short strokes. If you find your pumping does not push fluid through the bleeder, and you think you have overextended the lever, you will have to dis-assemble the master cylinder and re-position the plunger, if it survived the movement. Clean the master cylinder well prior to disassembly.
Also, I had trouble getting all the air out of one side of the fronts, but I let it work itself out. This works sometimes, but sometimes there is just not enough brake action. Check the brake action at low speed, and if they do not react properly, if it takes too much effort, bleed them again. Always test your brakes at very low speed just after bleeding. Above all else, brakes are something with which you should NOT treat lightly. [Remember, if you can't stop yourself, something will ultimately find a way to get in front of you and stop you - unfortunately it's usually something hard.
See how to reseat the plunger elsewhere in the XS11 site.
by Marty Ambrose
Do not squeeze the brake lever too far when bleeding the front brakes. The rubber plunger inside the master cylinder will unseat. Once the bleeder is opened and there is no back pressure, if the lever is overextended, the plunger WILL unseat. After that, no amount of pumping will allow the brakes to bleed, since the fluid is not being pumped.
Before you start to bleed your brakes, tape a block of wood to the throttle grip, behind the brake lever, to prevent over-extending the lever. Use short strokes. If you find your pumping does not push fluid through the bleeder, and you think you have overextended the lever, you will have to dis-assemble the master cylinder and re-position the plunger, if it survived the movement. Clean the master cylinder well prior to disassembly.
Also, I had trouble getting all the air out of one side of the fronts, but I let it work itself out. This works sometimes, but sometimes there is just not enough brake action. Check the brake action at low speed, and if they do not react properly, if it takes too much effort, bleed them again. Always test your brakes at very low speed just after bleeding. Above all else, brakes are something with which you should NOT treat lightly. [Remember, if you can't stop yourself, something will ultimately find a way to get in front of you and stop you - unfortunately it's usually something hard.
See how to reseat the plunger elsewhere in the XS11 site.