Bleedmaster 3000 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bleed

Continued shenanigans with brake bleeding led me to creating a monstrosity. Follow along as I slowly descend into madness.
Those of you who follow the channel know I've continued to have brake issues on Operation SV2, my '03 SV650. I made a pressure bleeder to make it an easier 1-man job by drilling a hole in the top of an extra reservoir cap and putting a Schrader valve in it to pressurize it. I had to pump the pressure up higher than usual due to the brake bleeders (which may go in the bin the next time I need to bleed), with predictable results.
I rode it for a while and had a good time at MotoGP, and then had more braking issues. But I may have had a breakthrough on my issues.

[@enzorum2560]

also to help with the squeaking of the lever, take the lever off, put grease on the bolt and area, put the lever back on and it will feel a ton better

[@dennisgibb7958]

First mistake was looking on the internet. Second was not doing the line bleed. Third was not bleeding the master first. Vac bleeders are only good for getting the fluid to move past the hydraulic block that happens when new lines or rebuilding removes all the fluid. Here is what works the absolute best. Fill the res, bleed ONLY the master at this point. You will need some clear line, a Gatorade bottle or the like. Drill one hole slightly smaller than the hose, make a small pick or punch hole in the plastic neck area of the bottle, fill the bottle with a small amount of brake fluid, insert line into cap and all the way down to just above the bottom of the bottle. Attach the line to the master port, squeeze the lever and open the nipple, continue pumping with the port open. Once the lever gets pressure close the port, remove the line and stick it on one of the calipers and do the same, then switch to the other side. After there is no air at all (or very small bubbles) pump the master up by stroking the lever, and crack the brake line bolts open. Do this until the system feels solid. ( old worn pads will also cause the bleeding to not work as it should) If after an hour, if the system still feels soft, tie the lever back with a zip tie or something and let it sit. Now, the calipers you are using are well known to stick. Rebuild the calipers. The 19/20 19/19 masters have always worked well as long as you have done the math and the calipers and all are matched. The way I described the bleed is an old, real old way of bleeding, it is still the best way. I only use vacuum when it is a rebuild or replacement of major parts.

[@drew657]

Thanks for the advice. Been working on cars and bikes for about 20 years, I've done all those steps many times, just like my dad and grandpa taught me on cars. I think the lever has spent more time zip tied than not, although that's a temporary solution since it just makes the air dissolve into the fluid; when you release pressure for any amount of time it comes out of suspension like opening a bottle of soda. I rebuilt the calipers and master cylinder, and installed braided steel lines, when I built the bike prior to riding it, about 5 ys and maybe 3-5k miles ago. I've bled by pumping the lever, and by vacuum, and back-bled by pushing the pistons all the way in (all of which I've done many times each), even bench bled the master. I thought this might be an easy way to flush it, as it's essentially the same system that dealership mechanics bleed and flush Mercedes and BMW brake systems. All things said and done, I think I've figured it out, working on a new video soon.

[@enzorum2560]

I'm guessing you swapped out your brake lines or had the lines off from the calipers at one point? if you you're supposed to have the brake hoses dangle while pumping the brakes until fluid begins dripping at the end of the brake line before you put it back on

[@drew657]

Yes, when I swapped the GSXR front end onto this bike I rebuilt the calipers and master cylinder and upgraded to braided steel lines (and dangled them until fluid came out before attaching to the calipers). That was about 5 years ago and I've continued to have to bleed them pretty much constantly since then. Like, I didn't ride it at all last year because I just felt defeated, no matter how many times I'd bleed it, with pressure, vacuum, gravity, reverse bleeding by pushing the pistons back in.... didn't matter, if it sat for more than a couple hours or if I tried to ride it the lever would just come back to the bars with no resistance. For 5 years and several large bottles of DOT4, like full flush many times over. I recently swapped the Brembo on, thinking it was an issue with my master cylinder (Suzuki did a recall on this unit and I assumed this one hadn't gotten swapped) with little improvement. I think I got it figured out though, new video en route soon.

[@LucasStephens]

I don’t think your problem is with the MC, I think it’s air behind the caliper pistons. When I had those calipers on my sv (05 gsxr600 calipers) the only thing that worked was pressing the pistons back in, then bleeding using the “open bleeder, pump, close bleeder, release lever” method. If not you’ll push air right back behind the pistons that can’t come out. Shoot me a message if ya need any help. I might be able to find the article I found maybe 3 years ago about the issue.

[@drew657]

Thanks for the tip. I’ve pushed the pistons totally back in to back bleed it a few times. I’ll try pushing them in and putting a block or something in there and bleeding like normal.

[@LucasStephens]

@@drew657hope it works!

[@drew657]

@@LucasStephens Seems to have worked! New video soon.