Rear brake bleeding problem

[85GL1200I]

Frank

I read this thread with great interest.....

Please understand that the moderators on boards like this walk a fine line......

On one hand they are trying to help us fix problems that they can't see......

and in those efforts they start to think about our personal safety, you say that the bike was wrecked previously due to a brake issue....RED FLAG to me for sure..........

I can assure you that these guys would lose many nights sleep if you got hurt, it is a brotherhood and they care more than you know....

I don't think anybody intended to offend you or your abilities, sometimes we get a little stubborn and don't ask for help soon enough....and believe me I understand the deal with older bikes and the "kids" working in the dealerships - but your safety could be involved and many times 2 heads are better than one...

bottom line I hope you got your problem fixed, by whatever means....winter will be here too soon for many of us, it is time to ride...........

[unkelbob]

Hi Frank, First of all, I don't know a whole lot about 1200 wings but I have owned one for three years and enjoy every minute of riding it.
The PO of my bike had let it sit for a couple of years and I encountered the same problem and frustration with bleeding the crap out of both the clutch and brake system. I had the rear cylinder out and apart on at least three occasions and still couldn't get it to spec until I changed all the bleeder valves on both systems and voila -- problem solved after 2 or 3 weeks of frustration. The old bleeders were sucking air!!! Hope this helps

Bob

[Frank]

After letting it sit over night I went in today and cracked all the fittings again and was able to get the last of those stubborn bubbles out. I've got a good solid pedal now with at least a couple of inches of travel left in the peddle before it would even come close to bottoming out. I'll put some road miles on it and do it again just to double check. Something is just not right about that other M/C. I have it on my bench to study and see if I can figure out what, inquiring minds want to know. I'm very anal about things on motorcycles. A saying I heard always goes through my mind "You are always only one bolt away from upside down". I appreciate the concern for my welfare and all the suggestions. I would never let one of my bikes or a buddies bike out of my shop with anything defective on it, I like sleeping at night too. I know you guys don't know much about me so erring on the side of caution is cool. I don't take any of this personal, if I dish it out then I have my big girl panties on to take it too.
My bike sitting in the litter box.


After I got the brakes working I figured now would be a good time to go ahead and pull the rear wheel since I need a new tire anyway and it would also be a good time to change out the rear end grease and lube the splines


This is where I'm at on my 85. It has lots of problems, head gasket, oil leak, brakes, fork seals, ect, ect, ect. I work on it just off and on. I have 6 other bikes so it isn't like I need something to ride.

[bs175dths]

In an earlier post , the admin described what is called ‘priming’ the master. When rebuilding any of the masters (front brake, rear brake or clutch) the master needs to be primed before attempting to bleed the system. it is always easiest to prime the masters on the bench, but that is not to say they can’t be done on the bike. When it comes to removing the brake lines from the rear master, it is wise to use a line wrench as a regular open wrench may round the edges.
I am aware you have already bled the rear master and have achieved pressure at the caliper, but it wouldn’t hurt to re-bleed the system after some miles have been put down just to make sure your brakes are void of all air. Pumping up the pressure at the rear master, then opening the hose nut at the master may expel yet more tapped air. Bleeding at the calipers may expel even more air. The bleeding is just a suggestion, cuz I LIKE STOPPING JUST AS MUCH AS I LIKE GOING.

It sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I too, had a long shopping list of items in need of attention on my bike which had sat for two years. I was highly motivated since I was going to commute with my bike.

When wrenching gets to a level of frustration, walk away! If you don’t walk away, tools get thrown, parts get broken, spills occur.

I cut my teeth on bicycles, then mopeds. The real test of patience came when I would wrench on my (now) 46 year old, Italian built Harley-Davidson. Cross threading 40 year old aluminum just was not an option. I learned to go slow and take my time, and it has paid off.
When it comes to venting in text, I reread my initial words before hitting submit. I usually delete all of it and rewrite it at least two more times before I am satisfied I am getting my point across without stepping on toes.


Enuf said! (done on purpose)

Good luck with the project and don’t hesitate to come back with any more questions.

BTW – all the manuals out there for the GL1200 have mistakes in them, so don’t take them as Gospel.

-Ride On

[Frank]

Although I didn't bench charge the reservoir I did start with the flare connections working my way along the system from back to front then from back to back so the system was charged, the extra air I was pulling was from the piston seals since an air molecule is smaller it will pull air but won't leak fluid. The problem ended up being the fluid just wasn't pumping it was like it was just going in a circle in the M/C taking the path of least resistance. Ya, I had planned on bleeding them again, nothing like Oklahoma roads to shake stuff lose. I'm not gonna go back into any of the other discussion since I see it only as that, a discussion. If I get booted for stating my opinion then so be it, if I don't want to come back then I have that choice too. I don't carry my feelings around on my shoulders waiting for someone to knock them off. Believe it or not I'm about the most laid back guy you will meet but on this one thing I was at wits end. Trust me, I had to walk away many, many times over many, many days!!! I had already overhauled the front master and caliper then did the right front, left rear TWICE and rear m/C THREE times , blew all the lines, bled, pumped, sucked..... till I was blue in the face. Oh well, we learn the most from the things that are the hardest to fix. Sometime this winter I'm gonna pull the cap off of that M/C so I can see what was up with it, I'm guessing moisture and old brake fluid have the check valve stuck? Anyway I've moved on to other projects. Spent most of the day installing some floor boards I scored and some fold back passenger pegs and modified a heel toe shifter since that piece was missing and I had one from a 1000? I had laying around. The original spacers were just black nylon so I replaced those with some chrome tube too. I'll post some pics when I get done and have them cleaned up.

[Frank]

I will pass along one little trick, I tried with great effort to break lose the double nut on the brake rod so I could replace the dust boot, I finally felt like the force I was having to exert was reaching the failure point of the part and it wasn't worth it. I clipped the metal expansion ring on the boot and with the help of some soapy water and a great deal of patience I was able to work it over the back up washer and into place. It still made a nice snug fit and one little nip is better than the rotted out piece that was there. I never recommend that people do as I do I just tell em how I approached and repair a problem

[bs175dths]

I'm just going to wish you good luck as the forum already has a 16 page thread...

~O)

[Frank]

Sorry, as you can see I'm a chatty person and I like talking about bikes. Thanks for the well wishes.