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AndyH

Bleeding the brakes....

6 posts in this topic

Front forks are sorted on the big X now,so I set about doing some

work on the brakes.the back brake in particular seemed to be dragging

and the pads didnt look too clever either.

Anyway once the rear brake pads were removed I found the pistons were

incredibly hard to move and had to resort to a special tool that I bought that

pushes the pistons back into the calipers..lots of brake cleaner and soapy

water and tooth brushes later,liberal smearings of red rubber grease around the 

pistons and contant working of the pistons in and out ,and things seem to

be improving dramatically.I then fitted two new pads,and set about bleeding the brakes.

 The screw on cover was removed from the rear resevoir..some ape had murdered it on

at some point so that was fun and games getting off.I then tried to remove the cover from

the front brake resevoir..found exactly the correct screwdriver ..removed the first screw no problems

and then noticed that the second one was chewed to buggery...probably by the previously

mentioned ape!!!

   I had to hammer a flat screwdriver bit onto the screw head and eventually it started to turn..Phew!!

This bike has started to fight me..

Anyway using a little tool which is basically a one way valve I set about the bleeding sequence.

Half an hour and about half a pint of fresh brake fluid later the job was done.

The old fluid was disgusting and looked about 10 years old at least.This maintenance was probably

skipped because of the damaged  screw....SO much for all of the dealer service

stamps that are in the bikes service book...

There is a much nicer feel to lever and pedal now,and all that remains to do are the front two calipers

although when I did the forks I noticed that the pads looked to have quite a bit of life left,so that

will be just a cleanup and greasing of the pistons and making sure that everything is o/k.

Here are a couple of piccies of the old fluid.

post-1582-0-99221800-1464177097_thumb.jpg

post-1582-0-67867000-1464177109_thumb.jpg

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Job well done Andy, you're putting me to shame, must follow in your footsteps and "Go-For-It" (Maybe in the Winter)

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I hate it when people butcher the fasteners on bikes. 

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Cheers chaps....I sometimes wonder why I bother with spannering.I have a mate

who buys a brand new bike every year or two..he doesnt understand the why someone

would waste time getting oily dirty and sometimes frustrated..when they could be out

riding!!!!  I think that he has a valid point....

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.....and a big bank balance.

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I bet he has a smaller bank balance as he spends on new bikes but having said that so of the pcp deals looking temping £90 a month then hand it back and get a new one.My mate does it with his car and saids he has a better car then he could afford to own now and at the end of a couple now terms he will tart thecar up at the start then buy at the end.

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