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Bleeding front brakes problem

1847 Views 8 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  scoot33
Hi

On my B1H ZX6R there is too much play in the lever where the lever moves about 1/3 of its total movement before the brakes start to bite. The bike has braided hoses.

Yesterday we tried to bleed the brakes with a pressure bleeder at a friends garage. We used the method of bleeding from the reservoir down and also from the calipers up. We also cracked off all the banjos to get any air that may be stuck.

While there was as light improvement it's still not a solid lever.

I don't know if it's relevant but when we finished bleeding and the pressure bleeder was still switched on the lever was solid but as soon as the bleeder was removed the play in the lever came back.

Could this me a master cylinder problem or am I missing something else?
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Did you crack the bleeder at the master cylinder?
MC problems on some years of ZX6 are common.

If lever feel is inconsistent, it's either the MC, or the brake lines, or the calipers. Not very many parts invlolved.....

Flushing the fluid, and using power tools to clear out any bubbles are good maintenance practices.

The questions you need answers to are:

1) How old are the brake lines? OEM rubber lines only last a number of years before they need to be replaced due to uncontrolled expansion/brittle rubber.

2) Have the calipers or the MC ever been serviced or rebuilt?

Presuming you have good lines, and good calipers, the MC is the likely culprit. If you don't have good answers for the above questions, don't jump to any conclusions.

./ 0.02
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+1 on the MC. Also you can manually bleeding the brakes. I've always done it that way instead of the fancy tools and stuff. Always worked like a champ. GL
I've always do a two step bleed on brakes. I will start with the power bleeder to make sure I move a decent amount of fluid quick, I feel its get a little bit more of a scrub effect. Then I will to at least to manual pulls of the lever at each bleeder screw after that starting and mc, and lever has always been rock solid.
I've always do a two step bleed on brakes. I will start with the power bleeder to make sure I move a decent amount of fluid quick, I feel its get a little bit more of a scrub effect. Then I will to at least to manual pulls of the lever at each bleeder screw after that starting and mc, and lever has always been rock solid.

+1. Power bleed MC, then calipers, then manually bleed MC then Calipers.
B1h doesn't have bleed nipple on the m/c but you can crack the banjo bolt which sometimes helps....wrap plenty of rag around it first!!
Also sometime a m/c rebuilt kit is worth while if you're having trouble bleeding. They are not expensive, easy to fit and can save hours chasing what seems like an air issue.
Lines are new HEL lines.

Yes, I did bleed from MC banjo.

MC & calipers have never had any work done.

I'm going to block of the hoses to the callipers so that I can narrow the problem down to MC or calipers.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I've seem the rebuild kit for the MC but if it's a caliper problem do any of the calipers from later bikes fit?
getting air from a master can be an ass hole of a job ,there are so many ways people tell you how and what ect and i have tryed all there ways and i found this way was fkn brilliant for me ,i used back bleeder and bled from brakes up and up to down never went well for me either,i did try this and it did work for me ,i syringed some brake fluid from caliper up to a dry m/c to get some pressure up to it as it wouldnt prime whats so ever ,i then just kept bleeding the master banjo open close open close ect also giving a tap to get any air out ,then kept bleeding,then when happy, i went to the calipers,a good friend on this forum said to me pack the caliper pistons in tight with wood so that they are fully in ,i found wood washers anything to pack it out ,then bled calipers and that worked for me then put a cable tie on the lever over night next day shit hot lever
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