Kudos to you for the time and effort to make the video. Front calipers will come off if you remove the two bolts and then rock the calipers side to side to push the pads away from the rotor. Since front reservoir is the highest point, the front will gravity bleed with gentle pumping as long as the hole in the master cylinder is not blocked. Last bit of air in the front is removed by pumping the handle and then tying it pulled back overnight. While you had the rear caliper off you should have pushed the rubber bellows away and greased the two caliper guide pins. If the other pad pin was corroded, the guide pins might be also. That would prevent the caliper from moving away from the rotor and would cause excessive wear to the brake pad on one side, and possibly excessive rotor wear.
An interesting point you make about tying the brake lever back to the bar overnight. I hear a lot of people talking about this. I speak as someone who has ridden all my life, raced successfully, built countless race bikes and restorations and have a large collection of motorcycles which I enjoy maintaining. With the brake lever pulled back, the fluid return hole to the master cylinder reservoir is blocked off - if not, the brake couldn't provide pressure to the calipers. So how does air escape from the system? If the lever isn't pulled back the return hole is open, therefore allowing air a much better chance to escape into the reservoir. I'm not saying the tied back lever doesn't have an effect (placebo?) but in my experience this has been temporary if at all. As you probably know, when releasing the brake lever the caliper pistons are drawn away from the disc by the minute flex in the piston seals. Could it be that tying the lever back and applying very firm pressure for an extended period allows the pistons to assume a new position in the seals thus initially reducing the lever travel required to apply the brake? Or could it be that older rubber brake hoses get some of the flex stretched out of them giving a firmer feel, albeit temporarily? One thing's for sure, there ain't no air escaping with the lever pulled.
The concept with tying the handle back, is that it pressurizes the line which forces any air bubbles up to the master cylinder. The air will be evacuated once the front lever is released. It’s not placebo. I’ve had two 1100RT bikes for a total of over 240,000 miles. I’ve replaced lines, rotors, pads. I’ve flushed the brakes to get rid of a soft lever.
@@guymersh3148 Thanks for engaging with my channel, I really appreciate it! I reference a lot of old forums and use manuals/diagrams when I can, but I also let my intuition guide my decision making sometimes: here’s the process as I worked through it… maybe seeing my logic might provide some clarity (ultimately the process firmed up my brakes, and my ABS system is working as it should). By leaving the line pressurized for a set duration, air will be naturally forced to work its way up to the master. After tapping the lines in a few places to move any additional trapped air up, I then cracked the banjo bolt connected directly to the master and bled from there. That specific process isn’t about removing air from the lines… rather MOVING air WITHIN the lines in order to help to bleeding process. I finished with one final bleed at the front calipers and got really great lever feel.
Kudos to you for the time and effort to make the video. Front calipers will come off if you remove the two bolts and then rock the calipers side to side to push the pads away from the rotor. Since front reservoir is the highest point, the front will gravity bleed with gentle pumping as long as the hole in the master cylinder is not blocked. Last bit of air in the front is removed by pumping the handle and then tying it pulled back overnight. While you had the rear caliper off you should have pushed the rubber bellows away and greased the two caliper guide pins. If the other pad pin was corroded, the guide pins might be also. That would prevent the caliper from moving away from the rotor and would cause excessive wear to the brake pad on one side, and possibly excessive rotor wear.
An interesting point you make about tying the brake lever back to the bar overnight. I hear a lot of people talking about this. I speak as someone who has ridden all my life, raced successfully, built countless race bikes and restorations and have a large collection of motorcycles which I enjoy maintaining. With the brake lever pulled back, the fluid return hole to the master cylinder reservoir is blocked off - if not, the brake couldn't provide pressure to the calipers. So how does air escape from the system? If the lever isn't pulled back the return hole is open, therefore allowing air a much better chance to escape into the reservoir. I'm not saying the tied back lever doesn't have an effect (placebo?) but in my experience this has been temporary if at all. As you probably know, when releasing the brake lever the caliper pistons are drawn away from the disc by the minute flex in the piston seals. Could it be that tying the lever back and applying very firm pressure for an extended period allows the pistons to assume a new position in the seals thus initially reducing the lever travel required to apply the brake? Or could it be that older rubber brake hoses get some of the flex stretched out of them giving a firmer feel, albeit temporarily? One thing's for sure, there ain't no air escaping with the lever pulled.
The concept with tying the handle back, is that it pressurizes the line which forces any air bubbles up to the master cylinder. The air will be evacuated once the front lever is released. It’s not placebo. I’ve had two 1100RT bikes for a total of over 240,000 miles. I’ve replaced lines, rotors, pads. I’ve flushed the brakes to get rid of a soft lever.
@@guymersh3148 Thanks for engaging with my channel, I really appreciate it! I reference a lot of old forums and use manuals/diagrams when I can, but I also let my intuition guide my decision making sometimes: here’s the process as I worked through it… maybe seeing my logic might provide some clarity (ultimately the process firmed up my brakes, and my ABS system is working as it should).
By leaving the line pressurized for a set duration, air will be naturally forced to work its way up to the master. After tapping the lines in a few places to move any additional trapped air up, I then cracked the banjo bolt connected directly to the master and bled from there.
That specific process isn’t about removing air from the lines… rather MOVING air WITHIN the lines in order to help to bleeding process. I finished with one final bleed at the front calipers and got really great lever feel.