First off What can I use in place of the *special lube* for the o-ring for reassemble. I disassembled the whole deal and it's fine. Dont need the rebuild kit that includes this lube.

Anyhow when I got this bike the brakes were real squishy. No leaks anywhere. I bled them twice with no results. Even flushed and then backbled twice with new juice abd shop syringe. Nothing. Yesterday I took the whole deal apart and cleaned MC down to caliper and inspected everything. All looks well. Pads look newish and plenty within specs. Rotor is at exactly .20 which is the min. according to manual. I'm ready to reassemble now and roll the dice.

 

With Respect;
Please explain how you "bleed" the brake lines..
A lot of folks can really mess that up.

 

Getting the front brake lever firm is a real trick. I too did about everything you did but it never became firm as one would expect. Out of frustration I walked away and took the day off. The next day I slowly pumped the lever and it amazingly came firm. Best I can figure is the overnight allowed bubbles to rise and were released through the MC.

I dunno.

 

I follow the manual procedure for the regular bleeding but have always had the best luck with the backbleeding especially on fully disassembled system. And I forgot to mention that I did leave it overnight with the lever bungeed and once without. One question about dot 4. What was changed in the system that they moved from dot 5? And thanks for the respect btw.

 

A lot of bikes that I do when they are stubborn I fill the master cylinder with fluid, place rags and drip pans around and under the caliper(s), then crack the bleeder ports open and walk away from the bike for a few hours. Gravity will eventually take over and the air slug will release. You will find fluid dribbling from the bleeder(s) and then proceed with normal bleeding...no worries.

 

And the MC doesn't drop too low?

 

Sometimes it just takes time. Air can hide just about anywhere in the system where there is a bend. When bleeding brakes I will also crack the banjo bolts loose in the same manner as the bleed screw. Sometimes air will hide in there. If I'm having a tough time still if will lightly tap around the areas I think a air bubble could be hiding to try and knock it loose.

The final thing I will do if can't get a consistent lever but I'm confident the brakes will work is take the bike for a ride. A little heat, shock of road bumps, and just moving fluid back and forth will help get the last of the air out.

 

If I have to go somewhere that I can't periodically check on the fluid level I hand close the bleeders, then when I come back reopen them. Yes, you could inadvertently drain the MC. I've never ran one out. Note: this does not work on rear brakes where the MC is lower than the caliper.

 

If you are sure that your caliper pistons and master cylinder are working and the seals are all good, then all it needs is bleeding. DOT 5 is bad for suspending air in the fluid and you may need to wait a bit before bleeding the bubbles out. There are several ways to do this...some work pretty good, some don't.

I have worked on brakes in cars and on airplanes many times. I still usually do my own brake maintenance on my cars. The first time I did my SG, the tear-down and rebuilds were textbook simple. Bleeding it quickly turned into a royal pain in the ***! I must have walked away from that job a dozen times in frustration that day. I tried every way I knew, every trick I could come up with, and every curse word in my extensive sailor vocabulary. Finally said F' it, walked away, and tried again a few days later...the system bled like the book said, absolutely perfect, no problems. I just knew Murphy was setting me up simple!

The times since I have bled the front system after rebuilding the master and calipers is to first get plenty of shop rags, cover your tins, and bleed the master cylinder with the line disconnected. Squeeze the lever and use your thumb to bleed out the air. Takes a couple of strokes or so. Reconnect the line and do the same technique at the caliper end of the line using your thumb and fore finger to bleed the air out. Keep the fluid reservoir full. It usually only takes a dozen strokes or so to get the line and reservoir bled..

From here, I usually put a clear plastic tube on the bleeder valve to a can and bleed it the old-school way until it has a good solid brake feel.

 

Lots o good feedback here. I'm impatient I guess. And honestly never had as many repeated failures as I have this time. Bound to happen sooner ot later. I will try again tomorrow and hope for more luck. Have to say i never tried the thumb bleeding at the MC and the caliper. Great trick for my bag. Thanks to all. ONE more thing. How bout lubing the o ring from the original post. Any tricks there?