Bleeding brakes help
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,317
Likes: 16
From: Texas
Bleeding brakes help
I'm trying to manually bleed brakes on an 03 touring dual caliper road king. My mighty mac doesn't seem to work as it keeps losing built up pressure.
When manually bleeding, I can't get the lever to build up firm past 1/4 pull in. If memory serves me right I should be able to build up enough pressure that the lever would be hard to pull back.
Not the case here. Can pull back 1/4 way before you feel resistance and more than 3/4 way back to grip. Tells me is not building up pressure.
When I apply pressure to lever and Crack open the bleeder a steady stream flows out, no bubbles. Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated.
When manually bleeding, I can't get the lever to build up firm past 1/4 pull in. If memory serves me right I should be able to build up enough pressure that the lever would be hard to pull back.
Not the case here. Can pull back 1/4 way before you feel resistance and more than 3/4 way back to grip. Tells me is not building up pressure.
When I apply pressure to lever and Crack open the bleeder a steady stream flows out, no bubbles. Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Try tying a rag (or whatever) around the brake lever, holding it in about half way or so. Leave it like that overnight.
PS: Turn your bars all the way to the left first.
PPS: There will always be a bit of free play in the lever.
PS: Turn your bars all the way to the left first.
PPS: There will always be a bit of free play in the lever.
Last edited by 0maha; Apr 19, 2016 at 01:00 PM.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,842
Likes: 502
From: Northern WV
My 04 FXDX had that problem since new. The dealer bled the front brake which didn't help much if at all. I bled the front calipers myself a couple times to no avail, this is DOT 5 silicone fluid BTW. Strapping the brake lever pulled in to the throttle over night didn't help at all. I finally determined that a bit of air was trapped in a caliper where normal bleeding wouldn't remove so here's what I did. Removed each caliper one at a time, pried the pads all the way back into the calipers and inserted a block of plywood to keep them there. Positioned the caliper so its bleed nipple is straight up and right off when I began bleeding out came an air bubble. Mounted the caliper then did the other side, topped up the reservoir and for the first time since new the brakes were hard and remained so.
Last edited by Ridewva; Apr 20, 2016 at 09:19 AM. Reason: Added that I'd tied the brake lever against the bar over night.
Road Master
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 841
Likes: 58
From: Yakima
Use a bungee and hold the brake lever overnight to let all the little bubbles work there way up. Also you could tap on the banjo fitting on the master cylinder (use a small wrench) helps get the bubbles up.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,699
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From: Palm Coast, Florida
This Ѧ
Road Master
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 841
Likes: 58
From: Yakima
Edit to my above post .....if you leave a bungee on the lever overnight don't leave the cap off.
Brake fluid by nature absorbs moisture. If you leave it exposed it will absorb all the moisture from the air and lower the boiling point of the fluid basically wearing out the fresh fluid prematurely
Brake fluid by nature absorbs moisture. If you leave it exposed it will absorb all the moisture from the air and lower the boiling point of the fluid basically wearing out the fresh fluid prematurely
Novice
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 20
Likes: 7
From: Waxahachie
If you are sure that all of the air is out you might pull the calipers off and see if the pistons are all gunked up. I recently had to do this on a 01 Road King. I bled the brakes continuously and could not get any pressure. I took the calipers off and pump the handle to get the brake pas to close together. Pulled the brake pads out and cleand the pistons with brake cleaner and a tooth brush. It was a complete night and day difference after that.
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