bleeedin hyrdaulics

[billbofagends]

Has anyone tried the Gunson Eezibleed to bleed either the clutch or front brakes? See: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165469

Thinking about getting one to do my clutch - it comes with a 25 and 27mm cap adapters which I'm hoping will fit the top of the reservoir.

I'm not very happy with my clutch at the mo, biting point is way too near the end with no more adjustment available so after reading on here I'm hoping it just needs bleeding. I hope it isn't the plates, the bikes only done 12K!

I'm being pretty impatient to be honest, only bought the bike a couple days ago and I want to be out on it. lol. Failing the gunson eezibleed being any good, has anyone near Stratford on Avon got a vaccuum type bleeder that works off an airline I could borrow?

[cupasoop]

Take the front sprocket cover off and make sure the clutch push rod isnt guncked up and stuck before you go out splashing your cash.

[bazza696]

Persist with the clutch, I stripped my bike down last year and had the front sprocket cover off for a few months, and found that the clutch piston had worked it's way out(since been advised to use G Clamp and wood to keep it compressed)

After pushing it back so I could fit the cover it needed bleeding, talked to Tony Mon and he said keep going and it will come good. It's a bitch cause the resevoir is so small, but it took me a little over and hour to bleed with a break in the middle to give the knees a rest.

So keep going, I thought mine was never going to work, but it did in the end.

[billbofagends]

ok chaps I shall wip the sprocket cover off tonight. I take it that whilst the cover is off I should be using a g clamp to keep the piston from creeping out of the slave cylinder?

my bike has a scott oiler on it so I'm guessing if the push rod is exposed to chain grease then its going to have grease continually flung at it! hopefully cleaning it will sort it.

probs still going to change my clutch fluid at some point, looks erm, pretty crappy as does the brake fluid! I'll let you know how I get on...

cheers

sam

[benny hedges]

take the clutch lever off and it relieves the pressure on the mc pushrod so it doesnt pop out at the slave cyl end ;)

[bazza696]

Also would not worry about the fluid being ruddy, cause the oil off the chain leaches into the clutch fluid, also it does not get hot like the brake fluid.

[Jazzscot]

I did my front brake and clutch fluids tonight. Used the old bit of plastic tube and coke bottle trick. Took about half an hour or so of pissing about with the clutch but got there in the end.


Jazz

[sirch345]

I did my front brake and clutch fluids tonight. Used the old bit of plastic tube and coke bottle trick. Took about half an hour or so of pissing about with the clutch but got there in the end.


Jazz

That's the way I do mine, but don't usually have (well not yet anyway) any problems when just renewing the fluid. Just make sure you keep an eye on the reservoirs so they don't completely empty (so you end up letting air in) before topping them back up.

Make sure you don't get any brake/clutch fluid on the paint work, as (if you don't already know) it will damage the finish.

Chris.

[billbofagends]

hmmmm. hasn't got entirely to plan

clutch push rod covered in grease wasn't the problem, so flushed the fluid through using a plastic pipe with a valve in the end (cheapo thing I got from halfords ages ago for doing the car). seemed to bleed ok and the lever doesn't feel spongey, but then I guess you can't really feel for spongyness like you can with brakes.

beginning to think that clutch plates maybe the issue, but I have got a proper brake bleeding tool on the way that creates a vaccuum at the bleed nipple and will draw the fluid through (similar to what's shown in the honad service manual) will try that first before getting more drastic.

I never have much joy with bike hydraulics, it took me an age to get my trials bike back brake bled properly. Ended up doing that one with a syringe pushing brake fluid through the nipple up to the resovoir.

what do we reckon - @ 12k the clutch plates could be down to the limit?

[benny hedges]

tbh bud try bleeding it again tomorrow - all the tiny bubbles will work their way up overnight.
i find it's best to crack the banjo bolt slightly under pressure from the lever cos sometimes there's air trapped there.
just make sure you nip it back up before you release the lever.

when i do mine i put rags down and use a 8mm ring spanner on the nipple, pump the lever fast for a few mins and any small bubbles will come out of the return hole in the mc, then squeeze it slow and crack the nipple open slightly, again closing it tight before releasing the lever.
if you're losing fluid you need to check the seals in the slave cylinder.

[billbofagends]

ok benny h, will give it another go tonight. I had one idea as soon as I closed the workshop up last night... put a g-clamp round the slave cylinder to stop the piston being pushed out by the spring, but then squeeze the clutch lever. my thinking is that if there is air in the system the lever wont feel solid and if anythings leaking it should be farily obvious.

thanks for your advice though so far chaps.

[MJONESY]

sounds like a strange idea but the cheapest easiest way i have seen of bleeding brakes/clutch is to get a new oil can (like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/METAL-OIL-CAN-FLE ... _500wt_928)

drain the fluid completely and then use the oil can to replace the fluid through the bleed nipples, it seems to make sense as your working in the same direction as the air wants to go (up) keep putting fluid in untill its half way up the m/c reservoir tighten everything up, top up from the top and job done

[billbofagends]

interesting idea, sounds similar to what I was doing with my trials bike but using a syringe instead to push the fluid up. I'm struggling to find a bit of clear tubing at the moment to use that idea.

I'm off to try my G clamp theory in a minute and hopefully prove that my neither master or slave cylinder is leaking, fingers crossed...

[billbofagends]

says it all. another evening of pain. stupidly I decided to rebuild the slave cylinder so now I really do have air in the system! doh. no riding at all now. slave cylinder seems to be at fault though as there are little bubbles of fluid round the outside when under pressure which I guess will be letting the air in so going to order a new seal to start with as the metal work isn't in too bad shape. gonna get myself a master cylinder rebuild kit too while I am it an overhaul the lot. oh well, can't do much riding at the moment anyway thanks to the weather.

[benny hedges]

oh well, can't do much riding at the moment anyway thanks to the weather.

yup, far too warm and sunny to be out biking