Old School Motorcycle Brake Bleeding Technique [Quick & Easy Bleed Brakes] Honda CB750 Project | 31
Here's what I used in this video:
DOT 4 Brake Fluid: ebay.us/3c8rNj
Brake Line Spanners: ebay.us/f14fAo
Motorcycle Brake Fluid Reservoir: ebay.us/3gbR0E
in this video I bleed the brakes of my project Honda CB750 café racer. The brakes on this build do seem to be in good condition, I doubt they have been used since they were rebuilt by the previous owner. But that was 7 years ago. Brake fluid is hygroscopic which means it absorbs water, so I suspect in that time it may have absorbed some. Also the back brake has been apart at some time, so does seem to have some air in it. So it is a great idea to bleed both of them
I would use a vacuum bleeder if I was doing this on a car, Mainly because your arms aren’t long enough to reach the pedal and the bleed nipples at the same time. This isn’t as big a problem on a bike, unless you have twin disks at the front, or a complicated ABS system with multiple bleed nipples. On the CB750 with single disks at the front and back it really isn’t a big problem.
There seems to be two schools of thought with manually bleeding brakes. I used to use a method that basically used only one pump on the pedal/lever for each time the bleed nipple is opened. This was, open the nipple, press the lever, close the nipple, release the lever, and then repeat. Now I use the method that I have seen a lot of others use. It is very similar to the other method, but instead of one pump after opening the bleed nipple, you build up pressure in the system with multiple quick pumps first before opening the bleed nipple, then as soon as the lever has completed its travel and pushed the fluid through, you close the nipple and pump again.
However recently I have noticed that a couple of other KZfaqrs that I watch and respect, use the single pump method. Which has lead to me wondering if I am using the best method, but both work. I vaguely remember some mammoth bleeding sessions with the single pump method where the air took a long time to come out of the system, which doesn’t seem to happen with the multiple pump method.
It only took a couple of minutes to bleed the brakes on this motorcycle, Single caliper at each end, with easy to access levers. I am thinking about putting an extra disk on the front to give it better braking. Although the Honda CB750 was ground breaking in the '70s having a disk front brake, it wasn't really very powerful, and a well set up twin leading shoe drum brake was just as good, maybe even better, so an extra disk on the front would give it a bit of extra stopping power.
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