I tried this on my 916 last year,the same method as rockhopper and it was just the most frustrating thing I think I've ever done,it really dented my confidence in doing those little(so called) simple jobs that almost anyone should be capable of.Perhaps those brake bleeding devices are the way to go,or in my case a mate to help. I think the real problem is you just dont have enough hands to do it properly. Strangely enough I replaced the front lines and bled them on the ss in less than half an hour.
not taking the mick here but how can you have a problem with this. ido mine quite often and have never had a prob. slacken that brake nipple off, pump brake, keeep resovoir topped up and retighten nipple jobs a good un.
I don't normally have a problem just bleeding the system when it's just a bit soft at the pedal (even though I hardly ever touch the back brake). Just when you change the line, all the fluid disappears from the caliper as well (well mine did) and you get air locks everywhere that stop the fluid pumping through sometimes. Once you've got the fluid pumping it's easy peasy
Jools I reckon I must be Ya Man on back brakes having replace mine twice in a month. Bleeding I found to be a pain until. First prime /bleed the master cylinder by releasing the actual brake hose, take it of completely. pump the lever with you finger over the hose hole feeling the pressure build up as the air is forcedout.Tighten up the hose to the cylinder once its primed. Next thing is to clear the air from the hose itself. Slowly slowly catch a monkey pump down on the lever to push out the air in the hose ,hose should now be free at the caliper end. Top up the fluid ressy as reguired, once the fluid comes out the end of the hose thats then full. The caliper I found a pain as well as its at the lowest level ,so I took of the caliper and raised it, cause air rises as we all learnt at school. Having raised the caliper it was easy to bleed it in the usual way. Pump, bleed, close valve etc: So now my brakes are as good as before apart from changing the Disc when it arrives from Ducati Coventry. Sounds a bit long winded but it works for me (Which an't saying much) 4D