brakes or rather no brakes

went to set off for work on thursday, pulled the left lever while pressing the button, lever straight back to the handlebar, gulp! looked down at the wheel and a pool of fluid. No time for investigation, went and swapped the keys for the Gold Wing, now I know why I like to have a choice of two at all times (even if the wing is 34 and showing her age) Now before going on holiday I bought a s/h front wheel and a caliper from Lithuania, wheels on fitted at weekend, was going to save the caliper until after the winter. Pulled the caliper at night, all fluid seeems to be from the bottem of the caliper and the area of the hose unions is dry, was thinking banjo bolt washers. Examination suggests that the middle piston is covered in fluid, assume that the centre seal has gone, outer pistons were new, all seals new and pads new about 3 months ago. Job this weekend is gonna be puting the s/h caliper on and bleeding the front brake. will try and get some close ups of the corrosion on the old caliper.

That's a bummer Phil. Only be thankful it happened when you were parked and not while riding. Good job you had the spare bike to fall back to. Good luck with repairs.

Den

Yes. Much better it happened in drive way or garage. Not just safety wise. But brake fluid
is not a good thing to have on the paint either.

At least it had the decency to fail at home.

Good one Steve. Those exact words go thru my mind when something like this happens.

If it fails on the road. It's "you could of at least had the decency to fail at home you miserable #$^^$##@@!

took it out this morning, i have brakes, not exactly a good 'pedal' no air when bleeding, combined brakes are a nightmare to bleed

Air you pumping them or have a vacuum bleeder.

pumping using a bleed valve, garage i use says he tried a vacuum bleeder on combined brakes and did not like it. He prefers the old pump it up and let the fluid out, lots of fluid and eventually you get a pedal.

I used a Rothenwald brake bleeder kit when I changed my fluid last year and had no problems at all. I used a large syringe to suck the old fluid out of the reservoirs, and again to fill them up with fresh fluid. The fact that it was a combined brake system didn't make it complicated either, IIRC it's front brake top bleed valve first, then the lower bleed valve, and finally the rear brake bleed valve. No mess, no fuss, and strong lever action, and I'm not that interested in the dirt under the fingernails stuff.

One thing to keep in mind is there are two ports between the master cylinder reservoir and the master cylinder piston bore. One is a very small one toward the output end of the piston bore. If that tiny port becomes plugged, as they often do if the fluid is old, it will be impossible to completely bleed the system. I used to poke out that port with a stiff, thin wire, actually a bristle from a wire brush held in a pair of pliers.

If you are not satisfied with the brake action (soft) you might try tying the left lever back to the handle bar overnight and let the air work itself up and to the brake reservoir. I could not believe this when I first heard doing this but It does work. Howard

I tied both brake levers back overnight after the fluid change I mentioned in my previous post, I didn't think it was necessary I'd remembered reading about it on the Muppets forum on a similar topic. I already had Velcro ties that I use in a similar way on the front brake when securing the scooter on ferries.

This is something I came up with a few years ago to bleed brakes.
It works way better than any vacuum bleeder I have bought in the past.
Very easy for one person bleeding.

Also if you are just doing a fluid change you can suck the old fluid and dirt off the bottom
of the master cylinder before adding the new fluid.

The neoprene hose is 3/16 inside diameter and 5/16 outside.
In the video I use an old vacuum cleaner but now I use a shop vac.
The vacuum cleaner hose fits over the spout of the gas can. The spout is
tapered so it will fit at some point along the taper depending on the size of the vacuum hose.
For the neoprene hose, drill the appropriate size hole in the air vent cap of the gas can.
The other end fits on the brake bleeder.

Here is the video.

have done the 'tie the levers' trick on this and other scoots with various levels of success. Front brake is adequate, rear brakes work but lever is spongy so might need to tie it up for a few nights, was using the big wing (gl1100) and forgot i'd twisted awkwardly getting up this morning. Boy was I suffering when I got to work.