Scotty's Dirt Bike Spares

One of the most common question our customers ask is “how do you bleed brakes”. Most start with the traditional way, open nipple, pull lever in, close nipple, release lever. Sometime this works but most of the time, particularly with the front brake they still have a spongy feel.

We have had the most success with the reverse bleed method outlined here. This is also the method used to bleed hydrolic clutches.

You will need a syringe and a little clear line. See tools section in products menu. We sell the syringe and line for $ 5.00.
 

Straighten master cylinder so it is parallel with the ground and remove master cylinder cap.

Suck 2/3 of the fluid from the master cylinder.

Suck new fluid into the syringe. Dot 5.1 seems to work best, you can use dot 4.

Attach a ring spanner and fluid filled syringe to calliper bleed nipple. Loosen the nipple. Tap the line and syringe to move any air bubbles up under the plunger. Then simply squeeze the fluid into the calliper locking the nipple shut before you run out of fluid in the syringe.

Before the syringe is empty the master cylinder will spill over. To avoid this shut the nipple early and suck fluid out of the master cylinder as in step 2. To completely change the fluid you will use 3-4 syringes full. Sometimes you need to unbolt the calliper and drop it to the floor, this straightens out the brake line making the master cylinder the highest point of the system. Lightly tapping the brake line with a spanner can help unlock and tiny air bubbles caught in the braid of the line.