Triumphrat

Last week during process of changing my stock bars off of my Tbird it appears I made a mistake. When I removed the front controls off of stock bars I placed the reservoirs for the clutch and brake upside down over the bars. Since riding with new bars I am getting fluid seapage out of reservoirs for both clutch and brake. Mechanic says I have probably gotten air in the lines and need to bleed. Does this sound correct? If so, is bleeding front clutch and brake easy or be better off paying mechanic to bleed???


Brian

parrycm

Does the action (both brake and clutch) seem OK? If yes, then I don't think you need to bleed. Remove the covers, inspect the gaskets (change out if necessary), wipe clean of fluid and replace.

If you do need to bleed, search this forum for threads on bleeding the front brake. It's a little tricky and time-consuming. Make sure the reservoirs are level when you bleed!

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Chris

"Panniers can never hold everything you want, but they CAN hold everything you need."

So, your saying that simply removing the covers should rid the air bubble? That would be great but did not think it would be that simple. Plus, if I take covers off do I risk geting more air in the lines?

Wombat

I would suggest that you get the mechanic to do it.

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Bob

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Age is of no importance, unless you are a cheese.

Hey, I have been advised by a friend and knowledgeable two-wheel gu y. He made a good point that air bubbles travel up and the area I would have an air bubble is near the reservoir. He said since my brakes and clutch are working fine that their is probably not a problem and more liikely when reservoirs were upside down off of bike that some oil seaped out and is just have some leakage due to that...I will go with it unless I start to have mushy brakes or clutch...

parrycm

Brian...

Your friend confirmed what I was trying to say - perhaps my explanation was a bit too terse.

There is always a little bit of air in the reservoirs, and the only concern would be that, when you turned them upside down, some of that air would get into the master cylinder and line. But if the brake and clutch action seem the same, it's likely that scenario did not happen.

Additionally, the gaskets are not designed to be leakproof when fluid is permanently pushing against them (as when the reservoirs are overfilled or upside down). Also, when some fluid gets past the gasket, it can pull more fluid through, due to capillary action.

So that was why I suggested removing the covers and wiping clean the gaskets and surfaces. Removing the covers is a normal operation, as this is how you fill the reservoirs, and will not compromise the system.

Anyway, it sounds like you won't need to bleed the systems. From personal experience I can tell you that the front brake is a tedious and frustrating affair!



[ This message was edited by: parrycm on 2004-07-18 11:30 ]

__________________
Chris

"Panniers can never hold everything you want, but they CAN hold everything you need."