Is there any special equipment needed regarding the ABS?

I've bought some Venhill braided lines from Motobins with the plan to get them fitted by a local mechanic (I wouldn't trust myself with the job). He said he cant do it properly as he cant bleed the ABS without the special 'plug' that the old dealers used on these models. He reckons he wouldn't be able to get all the air out.

Can you operate 11, 13, and 14mm spanners? Yes? then go ahead and change the lines yourself. The hardest part of the job is making sure not to get the DOT 4 on the paint work. (I keep a spray bottle of water and a towel close at hand to administer first aid when, not if, I spill some brake fluid.)

Bleeding is a test of your right/left hand coordination. If you can slowly slap a table top with alternating hands you are well qualified for the job of bleeding the system.

The job shouldn't take more than 2 hours at worst. Take the money you save by doing it yourself and buy fuel for the bike and a couple pints to celebrate.

As mentioned, no need for any special kit to bleed the brakes. maybe the delaer was thinking about the iABS setup as fitted to the R1150 and K series post 2001. They do need to have the module exercised.

Bleed the modules first then the wheel calipers.

Mike

You guys have more confidence in my abilities than I do for sure. I struggle bleeding the brakes on my mountain bike 

Even the Clymer manual tells me not to touch it and hand it over to an expensive BMW technician 

I suspect the Clymer advice has been edited by their liability legal team.

On the ABS1 bikes the bleeding is straightforward, the only difference being that there are two extra bleeders on the ABS modulators that need to be addressed.

Open, squeeze, close, release. A 6mm hose guides the old fluid to a half full 4 liter jug of water. The water dilutes the old fluid so it isn't as corrosive and, more importantly, makes it more stable so it doesn't tip over and spill the fluid al over the place.

Thanks for the wisdom & encouragement guys.

I'm gonna give it a go 

By the way, do you guys use a hand vacuum pump to pull the old fluid through?

I do use a vacuum bleeder but they are easy to do without one.

You need a Nescafe bleeder.
Regards Martin.

May I suggest before taking the lines off, bleed some fluid through to make sure your master cylinders are working properly and the small rear hole is open (returning freely to allow make up fluid). If the cylinders have not been bled in a while they may stick in the bore when going full stroke so go 1/2, 3/4 and work your way up to full stroke. Good luck!

I used a vacuum bleeder, but found that it sucked air in around the threads of the bleeder fitting. This is no big deal, but the bubbles that were constantly coming through the hose made me question if I had bled all the air out. Now I just use the tried and true old school method of open. squeeze, close, release.

MartinW wrote:You need a Nescafe bleeder.
Regards Martin.

Darn it! I just bought two jars of Carte Noire 

I use the earlier Vegemite model.

So waht's wrong with the Marmite version?

I use the chutney version.  

If it's made in Ind*a .... oh, sh*t.  No wonder it takes so long.

Well, much to my surprise this actually went ok until.... ah we'll get to that.

Did the rear first figuring it would be easier as everything is in close proximity and all went well.

Started on the front. The upper was a bit of a pain as the MC to steel mod pipe is buried under wiring under the tank, but we got there with a bit of cursing.

The downside is the front lowers (2 x splitter to calipers) in the Venhill 'kit' from Motobins come with male - banjo, whereas my originals are banjo to banjos. I thought I'd get away with it, but the new lines are just a tad too short (without putting a 90 degree kink in the line).

I'm gonna have to get in touch with Motobins, but its a bit of a pain as I wanted to sort it this bank holiday weekend.

on the plus side, it did mean I got to watch one of the best MotoGP races in ages 

Here's the line that doesn't quite fit.. (assuming I have the original splitter??) 

Maybe a silly question but what happens if you try the banjo end up at the splitter?

gorio wrote:Maybe a silly question but what happens if you try the banjo end up at the splitter?

Not a silly question at all gorio, alas the angle is too tight, the length too short and if the male union went into the caliper it would be a wheel out job to give enough clearance.

*EDIT* Sorry, I mean caliper off job rather than wheel out. 

I think you'll find that the male end does have to go in the caliper. Just take the caliper off the fork leg and wind the hose in, then tweak it up with the caliper back on the bike.

I'll try it Dai, but I think its too tight, as in a kink in the line to get the banjo in at the splitter.

I'll report back tomorrow 

Yeah, the male straight out of the caliper is on the rim.

Bonzo wrote:Yeah, the male straight out of the caliper is on the rim.

Just checked the three bikes here and they are all banjo at the caliper. Was worth a try!

In looking at the photos the crimp part connecting the fitting to the tubing part seem longer then the old one so that could make the difference. That is me assuming most the length of the black heat shrink is over what is ridged? It is such a short line there isn't much wiggle room on it.

I am sure Motobins will sort it out as they likely sell hundreds of those a year.

As an update to this,

I contacted Motobins who confirmed that they only supply a male - banjo fitting for the front lowers, and have now amended their site to state that. They offered me a refund if I returned them, but I sourced a couple of Venhill 75 degree banjos to replace the males and they fit a treat. I informed Motobins that I wouldn't need to return them and they kindly fired me a tenner 'hassle' refund  

I then noticed that the new Venhill banjos are a tad (not a very scientific measurement as I don't have a vernier guage) shallower than the originals, effectively lengthening the union bolts. So I ordered some more Venhill domes bolts, this time 1mm pitch instead of 1.25mm along with new washers.

All good? Haha. Sadly, I cant get the junction with the splitter to seal properly  . I love filling the system and then finding a leak  .


I'm convinced it's the alloy 3-way splitter that is showing the ravages of 31 years of corrosion. I searched and found our friend The Mighty Gryphon's comments (#3) on the Motobrick site and took his advice with a strip of fine wet & dry. Here's the splitter after after a clean up. Still not perfect, but I'm hoping I can get a seal once the new bonded sealing washers turn up. The last pic is the troublesome fitting.





 



A couple of 'What would you do?' questions.

What sort of torque should I go with these? Venhill suggests 15Nm on their domed head bolts. That might be ok on the calipers, but I don't know if that's a bit too much on this fragile looking splitter. The clymer manual (oe lines and bolts) says only 6-8Nm.

Do new copper washers need annealing before fitment, or just pop 'em on and tighten?

Cheers.

Bonzo ,Only used copper washers need to be ANNEALED. You might get better sealing with Dowty washers, than copper

moriarti wrote:Bonzo ,Only used copper washers need to be ANNEALED. You might get better sealing with Dowty washers, than copper

Thanks moriarti, I thought it was only when re-using, but wanted a bit of confirmation in the hope of avoiding further leaks (and curses).

Yeah, dowty washers ordered earlier today