Howdy,
I am trying to bleed my dual front brakes on my 2006 XL883R. I understand the principle of brake bleeding (ie. hold pressure, open bleeder w/submerged tube, close, release, repeat, etc.) However I tried this and my brake lever eventually would not return to the non-compressed position. Also the reservoir level was not dropping. I then bought a hand vacuum pump and tried that. Even with the vacuum pump the reservoir level was not dropping. What am I doing wrong!? any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

-Alex

 

Are you following this order? 1.Squeeze brake lever 2.While holding brake lever in the squeezed position, slightly open the bleeder screw on the brake you are trying to bleed. 3. When the brake lever does not move toward the grip anymore, tighten the bleeder screw. Always start with the longest brake line or side farthest away from the master cylinder. Hope that helps bro.

 

Hold the Lever, Connect vac pump and open bleeder. Try pumping the brake while using the vac.

Tighten bleeder, pump a few times, try again. Make sure you are opening your bleeder enough so the fluid can actually come out

 

If your brake lever is not returnig to the "non compressed position" as yo said I assume you mean out away from the bar?
If so that means the piston is staying in or stuck. If so you might have a bad master.

 

Is the brake fluid reservoir top off?
If the lid is still on it creates a vacuum.
Be careful the fluid can remove paint.

 

Thanks guys, I finally got it. I took the whole system apart and found the caliper pistons to be frozen. I blew the whole system out with air, polished everything up, and put it all back together. I used a syringe to fill from the calipers to the reservoir, feathered the handle while tapping the lines, and then let the handle sit compressed overnight. Now they are so tight!

Thanks again for the input.

-Al