AdamR28 Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Getting a lot of questions about this and don't have time at the mo to do a video (it will probably be at least 8-10 hours work), so thought this may help: Lever top up (which is what will do the job 95% of the time, since air naturally rises to the lever): Move the lever so your lever blade is facing the sky, and ideally orientate the bike so the highest point of the piston is the bleed port (see pic). Take plastic / rubber caps off the lever body and hose. Remove little plastic bung from the lever - it has a 2.5mm allen key fitting for ease of removal but it is NOT threaded. Unscrew barbed fitting from lever body (8mm spanner) while looking down the hole you just opened - you will see a black O ring move past the hole. At this point there should be 2 threads on the barbed fitting showing. Plug an empty syringe into the hole, should be the right size to push in perfectly. Fill syringe about half way with your fluid of choice. Pull the lever back to the bars slowly, if there is air in the system you will see bubbles coming up through the fluid in the syringe. Let the lever return slowly, this will replace any air with fluid. Repeat the above two steps a few times, tapping the lever body in between to release any trapped air. Remove syringe from lever body (put something over the end to create a vacuum or you will pour fluid everywhere!). Screw barbed fitting back into the lever body, use some tissue / a rag to catch any overspill from the bleed port. The barbed fitting does NOT need to be tight as on previous versions of the brake! The O Ring you saw moving past the hole in a previous step is what does the sealing, NOT the face of the barbed fitting mating with the lever body. If you overtighten it, you will crack the lever body. Push the little plug back in, by hand is fine, it doesn't provide any function other than stopping crud getting into the bleed port. Test the brake by pulling the lever slowly - the pads should move pretty much as soon as you start pulling the lever. If they don't, read over the instructions below as you may need to do a full bleed instead. Clip all the plastic bits back on and you're done. Full bleed: Unscrew the blanking plug from the slave cylinder. 2/3rds fill a syringe / bleed pipe and screw it into the hole you just opened. Move the lever so your lever blade is facing the sky, and ideally orientate the bike so the highest point of the piston is the bleed port (see pic). Take plastic / rubber caps off the lever body and hose. Remove little plastic bung from the lever - it has a 2.5mm allen key fitting for ease of removal but it is NOT threaded. Unscrew barbed fitting from lever body (8mm spanner) while looking down the hole you just opened - you will see a black O ring move past the hole. At this point there should be 2 threads on the barbed fitting showing. Plug an empty and open (no plunger) syringe into the hole, should be the right size to push in perfectly. Push the bottom syringe plunger slowly, if there is air in the system you will see bubbles coming up into the top (open) syringe. The top syringe will fill up. Optional step: Pull the bottom syringe plunger back, sucking fluid back through the system (but not so far that the top syringe runs out), then repeat the above step while tapping the brake calipers and lever body. With the top syringe just over half full, and the bottom one nearly empty, pull the lever back to the bars slowly. If there is air left in the system you will see bubbles coming up through the open top syringe. Let the lever return slowly, this will replace any air with fluid. Repeat the above two steps a few times, tapping the lever body in between to release any trapped air. Remove syringe from lever body (put something over the end to create a vacuum or you will pour fluid everywhere!). Screw barbed fitting back into the lever body, use some tissue / a rag to catch any overspill from the bleed port. The barbed fitting does NOT need to be tight as on previous versions of the brake! The O Ring you saw moving past the hole in a previous step is what does the sealing, NOT the face of the barbed fitting mating with the lever body. If you overtighten it, you will crack the lever body. Push the little plug back in, by hand is fine, it doesn't provide any function other than stopping crud getting into the bleed port. Remove bottom syringe/pipe from the slave cylinder (you won't lose fluid / let air in since the system will provide a vacuum) and screw the blanking plug back in. Test the brake by pulling the lever slowly - the pads should move pretty much as soon as you start pulling the lever. If they don't, read over the instructions again as you may have done something incorrectly. Clip all the plastic bits back onto the lever and you're done. As you can see, it's just as easy as the previous brakes (you could argue it's even easier). Hope that helps! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Top stuff, nice one dude. Great source of help for those people who can't work it out themselves 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted August 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Busting out the X-Ray Camera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradJohnson Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Or.. Bang it in a bucket and do a water bleed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted August 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 The principle is still the same though - and that is what people seem to not get. That will void you warranty, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradJohnson Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 The principle is still the same though - and that is what people seem to not get. That will void you warranty, too. Ah, i don't mind about the warranty, they are cheap enough to fix if anything goes wrong, And water feels nicer, and is cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 If you're bleeding with antifreeze and water (which you should be ) then it's a little easier doing the syringe and/or top-up method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxx Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Lever top up is a good trick because they leak more easily than 2005's one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamKidney Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Might have to get myself a set of these with how easily they're bled/ topped up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Papasnap Maher Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Just topped up my brakes with the above method... took me 2 minutes, simple to do, with perfect results. Thanks Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave33 Posted August 8, 2012 Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 Just topped up my brakes with the above method... took me 2 minutes, simple to do, with perfect results. Thanks Adam Are they leaking joe? Your bikes fairly new isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dann2707 Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Just thought I'd bump this to thank you for the guide. Done my brake just now as i've shortened my hosey and it's perfect! Cheers Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom@eastcoasttrials Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 this made my 2011 bleed so simple ! cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juantime Posted September 8, 2013 Report Share Posted September 8, 2013 Ive done the water bleed on hs33, and theres no air in the tubes but the brake is weak. it doesnt have any stopping power, the pads move fine and ive tried adjusting the dial on the lever but it still doesnt work as it should. The shorter tube that goes to the caliper things is pretty long, I had to replace it because I snapped my old one. Aside from that I dont see why its not working. anyone know why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juantime Posted September 8, 2013 Report Share Posted September 8, 2013 I think I know what ive done wrong. the screw plug on the lever where the tube is connected, was screwed in when I did the bleed instead of being out to allow more fluid the get into the tubes. ill try again tomorrow but id still like some help incase I am wrong, or it doesnt work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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