Welll front calipers rebuilt n fitted n bled or so I thought ..the lever comes right back to the bars tho the calipers are full on ..they still feel spongy do I have to bleed the abs unit too?
Bleeding R1100GS front brakes
- Thread starter West coast gser
- Start date
beemer pimp
Registered user
Yes it could be airlock too.
ABS or Non?
I always had this if the fluid levels went down
The ABS units have bleed valves on them but in all honesty the best way to get the air out is to back bleed
From the calliper to the ABS unit and then from there to the master cylinder ()On ABS II "VR" on the alloy by nipple is Front Wheel circuit and HR is Rear Wheel circuit)
Go to a Vets or Farm supplies place and buy/get a 60ml syringe and and an aquarium supplies place and get some of that 6mm ID clear plastic hose (or nearest size to fitting a std bleed nipple without being very loose)
Take syringe plunger out and coat with rubber grease (Means you can use it again rather than just once) and attach maybe 20cm of the hose to the nozzle
Suck up FRESH brake fluid from a clean container but leave an inch of travel at the end, BE careful and try and make sure that your tube is as full of brake fluid as you can make it on the syringe or you may just inject air into the system
Make sure your hose is a snug fit on the Bleed nipple at the calliper and use another length of the hose on the bleed nipple at the ABS unit (If it is ABS II) (Start with furthest away calliper I think Left side is longest run)
Place the hose on the abs unit in an old jar with an inch of clean fluid in it (just make sure that the end of the hose is below the surface of brake fluid) and open both nipples
FIRST having the syringe vertical with Plunger at top,. Pull the plunger that inch and see if you extract air bubbles, then once any bubbles have settled up into the syringe Press on the plunger "fairly forcefully (Making sure your little pipe doesn;t blow off the nipple) and hopefully you will get a load of bubbles at the jar
When the bubbles stop close both nipples and go to the right side calliper and repeat the process including the Pull plunger first action
When it gets to the master cylinder I always take off the pipe from below and stick it in the jar
and just back flush GENTLY fresh fluid to the open hose end Which you can have below the fluid level in the jar again When the bubbles stop Close the abs nipple reconnect to master cylinder
Once you have expelled any air from above the connection point at the headstock its normally very easy to bleed the last bit between hose and master cylinder
If the bike NON ABS then just miss out the ABS Nipple bit but do remember the first action is still to suck that inch out first before plunging
To protect bikes if I might have a spill I lash a good spray of MrSheen on to tank and panels and just spread it evenly about
Any brake fluid (and the Mr Sheen) is easily got rid off by a good wash of warm soapy water and a good rinse
Be careful with the brake fluid spill or containers its deadly to animals and wee uns!!
(P.S. I hope I am not teaching my Gran to suck eggs here and its helpful)
I always had this if the fluid levels went down
The ABS units have bleed valves on them but in all honesty the best way to get the air out is to back bleed
From the calliper to the ABS unit and then from there to the master cylinder ()On ABS II "VR" on the alloy by nipple is Front Wheel circuit and HR is Rear Wheel circuit)
Go to a Vets or Farm supplies place and buy/get a 60ml syringe and and an aquarium supplies place and get some of that 6mm ID clear plastic hose (or nearest size to fitting a std bleed nipple without being very loose)
Take syringe plunger out and coat with rubber grease (Means you can use it again rather than just once) and attach maybe 20cm of the hose to the nozzle
Suck up FRESH brake fluid from a clean container but leave an inch of travel at the end, BE careful and try and make sure that your tube is as full of brake fluid as you can make it on the syringe or you may just inject air into the system
Make sure your hose is a snug fit on the Bleed nipple at the calliper and use another length of the hose on the bleed nipple at the ABS unit (If it is ABS II) (Start with furthest away calliper I think Left side is longest run)
Place the hose on the abs unit in an old jar with an inch of clean fluid in it (just make sure that the end of the hose is below the surface of brake fluid) and open both nipples
FIRST having the syringe vertical with Plunger at top,. Pull the plunger that inch and see if you extract air bubbles, then once any bubbles have settled up into the syringe Press on the plunger "fairly forcefully (Making sure your little pipe doesn;t blow off the nipple) and hopefully you will get a load of bubbles at the jar
When the bubbles stop close both nipples and go to the right side calliper and repeat the process including the Pull plunger first action
When it gets to the master cylinder I always take off the pipe from below and stick it in the jar
and just back flush GENTLY fresh fluid to the open hose end Which you can have below the fluid level in the jar again When the bubbles stop Close the abs nipple reconnect to master cylinder
Once you have expelled any air from above the connection point at the headstock its normally very easy to bleed the last bit between hose and master cylinder
If the bike NON ABS then just miss out the ABS Nipple bit but do remember the first action is still to suck that inch out first before plunging
To protect bikes if I might have a spill I lash a good spray of MrSheen on to tank and panels and just spread it evenly about
Any brake fluid (and the Mr Sheen) is easily got rid off by a good wash of warm soapy water and a good rinse
Be careful with the brake fluid spill or containers its deadly to animals and wee uns!!
(P.S. I hope I am not teaching my Gran to suck eggs here and its helpful)
its a 99 r1100gs so has switchable abs .. might get my big syringe an reverse bleed it from the calipers up..
West Coast, cable tie the brake lever back to the bar overnight, quite often works. Failing that re-bled.
If its ABS do the Back flush first and if its still spongy then do the tie lever back thing
Changing pipes or rebuilding calipers on ABS bikes is a total pain to get the air out
What intellectual fucking numpty designs a "hydraulic " unit that the pipework goes through a radius to enter a block valve in a vertical aspect!!!
P.S. If you changed the brake pads its unlikely that You will get a really rim lever for a hundred miles
At least it should get rid of that two pumps at the lever thing to get brake pressure that they all seem to do when you rebuild them
Changing pipes or rebuilding calipers on ABS bikes is a total pain to get the air out
What intellectual fucking numpty designs a "hydraulic " unit that the pipework goes through a radius to enter a block valve in a vertical aspect!!!
P.S. If you changed the brake pads its unlikely that You will get a really rim lever for a hundred miles
At least it should get rid of that two pumps at the lever thing to get brake pressure that they all seem to do when you rebuild them
Hi thanks for the detailed procedure..Thats the way I do it tho I don't disconnect the hose from the master cylinder...mite try that ..cheers
No Problem I disconnect as it means you can't blow shit in through the MC also once its clear of bubbles lock off the ABS nipple and Once you have the hose back on and fluid in the reservoir
only flick the lever a couple of mm fairly rapidly You will be impressed with the bubbles that produces
only flick the lever a couple of mm fairly rapidly You will be impressed with the bubbles that produces
No Problem I disconnect as it means you can't blow shit in through the MC also once its clear of bubbles lock off the ABS nipple and Once you have the hose back on and fluid in the reservoir
only flick the lever a couple of mm fairly rapidly You will be impressed with the bubbles that produces
So will I have to bleed the abs unit or just bleed like normal brakes ???
From Wheel to ABS unit and then from there to the front hose That way you are blowing any air up hill and hopefully around the pipe bends
Ffs...grrr seems there is one piston sticking..
I'm not forking out for new seals again so gonna give the caliper another clean .. can jus pop out the offending piston n reuse the seals ??
I'm not forking out for new seals again so gonna give the caliper another clean .. can jus pop out the offending piston n reuse the seals ??
Yes you can! Did you clean out the grooves where the seal fits into???
You may find white deposits I use a wee bent screwdriver and just scrape them out and blow the dust and bits clear and regrease seal and stick it and dust seal back in
Its usually salts which press the seal against the piston making it stick
beemer pimp
Registered user
Did you split caliper ? It's easier that way?
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