Brakes again 1100GS 97

[Big Den]

Well spent all day Saturday bleeding brakes (supposed to be fitting shower in the afternoon !) used 3.5ltrs of new DOT 4 and they are still shite.
The bike has had all new goodrich with full strip of front calipers (new seals and pistons) rear caliper is brand new.
I have bled the ABS units 1st then calipers, tried syringing out the air, tried conventional bleeding with hose and 1 way valve till i have blisters.
I also put battery on and switched on ignition, nothing happens so suspect that is servo only. I have downloaded all the docs and read all the posts, cannot think of anythink else to try.
So to recap i have tried pushing it in pulling it out and conventional method, by pumping front and rear i get braking front and rear after 10 or pumps of the lever (watch out for the pistons returning as the fluid jets out of the master cylinder covering yer face and eye )
I can hear a swishing noise in the ABS unit which would indicate air but how i get that out is currently a don't know.
I also changed the fuel filter in the tank, what a pain.

 

[Big Den]

anyone have any knowledge or used one of these : DRAPER PNEUMATIC UNIVERSAL BRAKE BLEEDING KIT ?
Looking for any options as this is holding up the re-build

 

[DrFarkoff]

Den I've found after you mess with brakes you need to go out and have a wee toodle around to settle pads and stuff into their groove etc etc etc

Failing that (or even just do it) Bike on sidestand, turn bars to go left, pump up front lever and elastic band or cable tie the lever back to hold the pressure on, Go to bed and leave overnight!

Also one other place!! Where the lines join at the headstock I had one of these that did similar I slackened the banjo and spun it round till it pointed uphill then took the callipers and hung them from the rafters with the left one being highest and left them there under pressure ovenight lower them down and you may find your last air in the left one!

Be careful when slackening the banjo to turn it down you just want the slightest wee bit of slack so ya can just spin the fitting back downhill without letting air in again

Goes without sayin wash th ebrake fluid off you and the paint work, plenty of water is fine no fancy cleaners needed, as it's just a form of antifreeze

 

[Big Den]

I will try it as i am out of ideas and can't keep pumping fluid for Britain, does anyone else have any system / ideas for getting the air out before i exhaust the remaining stocks of DOT 4 ?

 

[matt1]

hi,had the same problem on my 97 1100gs a while ago,solved by cable tie round the lever overnight then riding the next day,took a few miles but the lever is excelent now.

 

[Big Den]

I will pump it up and zip tie it up overnight, could do with a rest to let the blisters heal. cheers

 

[Big Den]

Zipped up the lever last night so see what i get when, think i will invest in a proper bleeding kit for the weekend as i will have to take it to a dealer if i can't sort it.

 

[Stewart H]

Part of the factory bleedin kit is some blocks to push between the pads/pistons to put them all the way into their bores, this ought to make bleeding simpler, I cannot understand the trouble you have had, i get the feeling I must have been lucky when I did mine.

Stewart

 

[Big Den]

good point though, they started in their bores but have moved after all the bleeding, will shove em back in. Also ordered a pneumatic bleeding kit, see if that works.

 

[nunesaf]

good point though, they started in their bores but have moved after all the bleeding, will shove em back in. Also ordered a pneumatic bleeding kit, see if that works.

Hi Big Den,

I had all the problems you had and done alllll the stuff in the world, including buying an expensive bleeding kit, replaced the master cylinder kit, cleaned and greased the pistons - bla bla bla. My brakes always felt spongy.

1) Yes, go for a spin with the bike so the pads go back to the right/exact place
2) Yes, leave the leaver strapped overnight. Then take it for a spin and leave it over night again
3) I took it to the dealer as i didn't know what else to do - they just adjusted the leaver (that round knob). It solved the problem!

The trouble is these old systems are not as efficient as the new brakes around and therefore the leaver requires a bit more of travel.


I will check out this thread later to see if you drop by with any more news.

Good luck

 

[(RIP) ugg]

get yer sen a good lenght of clear pipe, put wrench on nipple , fit pipe to nipple...open up nipple as far as possible ...here is the yaky bit ...
put pipe in mouth n suck realy hard wen nipple open , then try to pump leaver whilst suckin on pipe...watch pipe brake fluid tastes yaky....

ye will end up with pipe stuck on ye tounge for a bit ....
wen fluid is drawn through keep pumpin leaver and sucking...you will see bloody great big bubbles comming through ...

if you use synthetic dot 4 fluid and drain it back into bottle (new stuff that is ) ye can reuse it...

i blead full abs system and rear master cilinder in 10 minutes or so..

its a durty way of doin it , but works every time i use it.....

splellin crap , but i can bleed barkes....

ugg

 

[Big Den]

Thanks guys, given me some more ideas, didn't do any brake work last night apart from snipping the cable tie to see if i had any brakes (nothing) need to get something before i try to ride as 10 pumps of the lever would be dodgy, thats if i could get it off the drive (slopes) in one piece.
I spent last night trying the Loctite freeze and release donated by the RS rep, no joy on the exhaust manifold studs and managed to snap another Snapon easyout , they are shite better off with £5 ones from Screwfix.
Also spoke to a very helpful dealer (Clarks) he put me through to their Technician (spanner spinner extraordinaire) he mentioned something i had missed, the pistons need to be pushed in and held in the bores else the air gets stuck behind them. Now they stared off pushed in but after a few pumps they have moved out. I need to take out the pads and push em back then make some wood chocks to hold then in place while i then try all the bleeding methods mentioned above.
Pads out, Chock making and have another go at the head studs tonight.

 

[nunesaf]

Thanks guys, given me some more ideas, didn't do any brake work last night apart from snipping the cable tie to see if i had any brakes (nothing) need to get something before i try to ride as 10 pumps of the lever would be dodgy, thats if i could get it off the drive (slopes) in one piece.
I spent last night trying the Loctite freeze and release donated by the RS rep, no joy on the exhaust manifold studs and managed to snap another Snapon easyout , they are shite better off with £5 ones from Screwfix.
Also spoke to a very helpful dealer (Clarks) he put me through to their Technician (spanner spinner extraordinaire) he mentioned something i had missed, the pistons need to be pushed in and held in the bores else the air gets stuck behind them. Now they stared off pushed in but after a few pumps they have moved out. I need to take out the pads and push em back then make some wood chocks to hold then in place while i then try all the bleeding methods mentioned above.
Pads out, Chock making and have another go at the head studs tonight.

Hummm... having air in the pistons will certainly not help you at all.


But it you need to pump the lever so you have brakes, I would take a look at the master cylinder. I will look for a document showing the procedure (I have it somewhere...). But you done that already...

Are you sure you don't have a leak somewhere?

 

[Steptoe]

and managed to snap another Snapon easyout , they are shite better off with £5 ones from Screwfix.
.

All easyouts are shite.

The only people who recommend using them are people who've never used them or had any experiance of using but have read a library full of manuals.

 

[Big Den]

nunesaf, I have downloaded several docs on the brakes and have haynes and Clymer manuals, think with the advice on here and Clarks i am forming a cunning plan, will keep you updated.

St toe, you are correct i should have learn't from last time, i did insist snapon geezer replaced all the broken ones from the week old set i bought from him but he did say snapon class the kit as consumable so not all snapon tools are guranteed for life, arse kicked again
Downloaded loads of stuff off tinternet on stud extraction and will try some.

 

[Big Den]

Made chocks for calipers last night, decided to wait for bleeding kit to arrive (today hopefully) before i have another go.
I think when i crack this i will do a big writeup with photo's just like my nemesis does

 

[nunesaf]

Made chocks for calipers last night, decided to wait for bleeding kit to arrive (today hopefully) before i have another go.
I think when i crack this i will do a big writeup with photo's just like my nemesis does

Hi,

Why don't you try bleeding the system without the kit but with the calipers back into the bores? As someone said already, you can reuse the oil so you have nothing to loose.
I once used a hose directly from the bleeding nipple to the oil expansion tank... good stuff , made sure there were no bubbles at all (kids, don't try this at home).

 

[Big Den]

good point , bought some more yesterday, not cheap and the shop did say why not use the stuff you pulled out

 

[nunesaf]

good point , bought some more yesterday, not cheap and the shop did say why not use the stuff you pulled out

Good luck with that! Den, I sympathise a lot with your cause as I suffered for half an year with spongy brakes and I got really sad for that... to a point I was thinking of taking it to a dealer...

 

[Big Den]

Bleed kits arrived and just cranked up my mig welder after 15 years and it works so the exhaust studs are going to get it later too], if i can find me mask