I've tried caliper high, caliper low, pushing fluid into the nipple with a syringe.... that's made a complete mess of my garage floor, and had to use a can of brake cleaner up getting the sprayed brake fluid off the bike and floor. To be clear, I don't have a problem with the standard bleeding, I have a problem getting brake fluid into the system to start with, after it was completely purged. Do I need to take everything apart again and prime the master cylinder? There's nothing in the service manual I can find about this. So, I'm stuck.
Ah... I see what you mean. I must admit I don't recall doing anything particularly special and just filled the system by keeping the reservoir topped up whilst gently pumping the lever. Having said that I do seem to remember having to check the master cylinder piston had a long enough stroke to allow fluid in from the reservoir and to allow fluid to be pushed out into the brake pipe. In my case, because the failure was caused by the master cylinder seizing, I was working with a brand new one. I'm assuming yours is working fine.
I assume it’s fine, it was before the incident. I’ll try again tomorrow, paying special attention the the stroke of the piston. Thanks.
I'm pretty sure it was caused by my faulty maintenance. According to Haynes there should be 1-2mm of free play on the brake lever before the piston actuates. I'm sure I adjusted it so there was no free play.
I ridden Ducati bikes for too long, it’s so ingrained with me to not ever bother with the rear I just don’t on any other bike either these days. Haven’t ridden a Ducati for about 6 years now.
Have you tried slackening the union on the master cylinder? This might just help prime the master cylinder? As for shi7e rear brake on the 99x series and the like, soft rear pads help, working rear brake versus shorter pad life. Do none of you back the bike into corners using the rear brake................? Maybe not as these beasts come with a lot of engine braking as standard
I found the issue yesterday. I went to the service manual and took a look at the banjo angles. This got me thinking that the path is blocked if the brake hose is not set at the correct angle. On other hoses I have worked with they are grooved internally so the fluid can go 360 around the inside of the banjo. I suspect this aftermarket part is not and has to be specifically aligned. Once I set them to 20-30 degrees I was able to bleed the brake. Then I took it out for a ride and burned it again still not enough slack in the master cylinder actuator rod.
Never heard of a banjo that only works at a specific angle - like you, all the ones I have ever come across have had a 360deg groove in them. Also - please tell us you were joking when you said you’d smoked it again!
Yes and no. I was out with my mate who I'd just sold my Fireblade to. Cos it was his first time on a bike for a few years I said I'd escort him home, I just needed 10 minutes to finish bolting everything back up on the 748. So everything was fine for about 10 miles or so, then we came off the M5 and headed to the roundabout and the bike was sluggish. I knew something was wrong and suspected rear brake and pulled over. As soon as I did that, the bike would not move at all. The rear brake was siezed on and smoking. In the mean time my mate had pissed off (he did come back though once he realised I wasn't following him any more, and just as well, cos I didn't have the 10mm spanner in my tools There didnt seem to be any damage, just that the fluid got hot and expanded, locking on the brake. After 10 mins it cooled down I was able to move the bike freely, and so I adjusted the actuator rod all the way in. Then I went on my way. No more issues, but also no functioning rear brake. I've currently got the wheel and caliper off again (thank God I bought an impact wrench a few weeks ago). It looks OK but I'm out of brake cleaner (I wonder why ) so that's where I'm headed next, Motorfactors.
it might work fine R, but when it's about finding those pesky little air bubbles while bleeding then all methods are allowable and often necessary although few believe the theory, I even failed to convince a dearly departed chap of this once.
