Bleeding Brakes!!!
 

Hi
Mot on Monday and I cant bleed my rear brake.

It stuck on the other day and released itself after cooling down again. I've stripped it and found it had some dirt in it. The seals and bore are perfect,so
I cleaned it, rebuilt it and now it wont bleed. Its pressurising the hose but wont suck in fluid from the resevoir. There is no blockage or leaks anywhere. Just dont understand why fluid isnt getting sucked back in.....?

Any ideas?

Andy

You have taken the diaphragm out of the top of the master cylinder reservoir haven't you? The very first time I bled a motorcycle back brake, many years ago, I forgot to do this and had exactly the same symptoms you describe.

Other than that you might need to bleed the master cylinder first by just loosening the banjo a crack, pushing the brake lever down, nipping the banjo bolt up again, releasing the brake lever and repeating a few times. Press the lever SLOWLY otherwise you'll spray nasty brake fluid all over your paintwork and make sure there's lots of absorbent rag stuffed near the banjo to catch any drips - and lots of muc-off and water to hand if there are any brake fluid fountains going off.

Hi Jools,
I removed the banjo bolt and put my thumb over it after releasing pedal and it started to suck fluid in to the cylinder. So now its bleeding as it should. After bleed through about 2 bottle of fluid - STILL no pedal. So I gave up before damaging anything through frustration, had a beer and started again.
I bled it through literally once more and would you believe.....perfect!!!

Whats that all about. I love my bike but GOD IS IT FRUSTRATING!!!!!!

If your rear caliper is an underslung unit it does help to disconnect the torque rod and slide it to the top of the disc so any air can escape more readily. But pleased to hear you were successful in the end.
Cheers, Rob