I was told that to bleed my front brakes (stock banana) take the MC cap off, slowly pull back on the brake lever, then let it snap back as many times as it takes until the air bubbles no longer appear. I was further told that you might have to snap the lever several times, not getting anything, then on the next snap, you would get bubbles.

Anybody ever try this and have any luck? I have yet to hit a point where I don't get any bubbles. I thought I had an air leak so I sealed up the hose connections on each end and the one going into the MC but it didn't make it any better. Right now I'm thinking I may be getting cavitation through the MC.

Carl

 

Never heard of this. You can straight bleed, reverse bleed, or use a vacuum pump and pull the air thru. You can even gravity bleed. Never heard of removing m/c cover and snapping lever.

 

never heard of it,,your best bet is to use a method that works,,, not like it takes a long time to do,,,

 

Your spot on except for the snap part , trick with brake bleeding is slow and easy with everything air bubbles move slowly in thick fluids then add small line , you get the picture . I've been doing them that way for years it's the quickest least amount of mess way I've ever seen and about the only way to bleed duals without pulling your hair out .

Set the bike so the MC is somewhat level fill it and just pull the lever in a bit maybe a quarter of the full travel is all it needs ( a full pull to the grip works against you ) you'll see the bubble trail , bubbles quit don't pull anymore release the handle easy this creates the suction to pull the air upward give it a 5 sec count then repeat till the lever gets hard . You'll be surprised how quick it happens and solid it feel's , I'll break the bleeder once or twice on the caliper just clear old fluid and gunk and your done . Just don't let the MC go dry that's all .


Banana calipers have a big piston and can be a bitch for no reason particularly if the bushing are worn and it moves a lot but that shouldn't cause air in the system , brake fluid wants to leak so if you have a seating or fit issue with connections you should see seepage somewhere . As a last resort a rebuild kit for the mc is cheap and easy to install and bench bleed it before you put it back on it does help in a big way .

 

Thanks a bunch. I'll do it that way. I thought that snapping that lever back wasn't getting me anywhere.


Carl

 

I bleed my brakes that way. It works great.
If you are starting with a empty system you may want to open the bleeder(s) and let it gravity feed to get it mostly filled or use the standard bleed method, when it's pretty well filled, using that system works slick getting the last bit of air out.