I'm helping a friend put apes on and we are having problems bleeding the brakes. We used a mighty vac and think we have the air out and no lever pressure. I tired the lever down last night and let it sit then tapped the line going up and still nothing. They have to be bled but can't get pressure. Help!

 

Have you tried opening the bleeder bolt on the brakes to make sure there's no air in there? untie the lever, crack the bleeder bolt, open the reservoir lid, and compress and release the brake lever.. if you're getting solid fluid out of the caliper then there's an issue.. that's all i can think of..

 

With longer than stock brake lines, 3 of our bikes took between 1-2 hours each doing it the old fashioned pump lever and bleed out the bottom before no air bubbles were visible. Keeping fluid in the master cylinder, just lightly compressing the lever without opening the bleeder screw would expell air, that expedited the process. Once no air was visible, then bleed through the bottom until no air bubbles. I could see the caliper compress by eye at that point. I always bled out the bleed screw to flush dirt and contaminant out, vs fluid in the bottom for that reason. It takes a long assed time compared to the 4 wheeled vehicles because of the small lines and passages involved.

 

Check out this post, a good read, but post 19 is where he has the same problem as you. Good luck!

 

Thanks fellas. Got it fixed

 

Brakes are a Bit(h....... next time I'll let my Indy do them...

 

Take the cover off the master untie the lever open the bleeder and let the fluid flow, keep the master full. when it runs clear for a minute close the bleeder and half pump the lever maybe 10-20 times then let sit for 5 minutes and then repump th lever and let sit again open the bleeder and you should see some air then fluid when it runs clear close and try it should be close by then, I use clear tubing on the bleeder so I can see the fluid flow