Hello, John Talley here with partzilla.com.
Today I'm going to show you how to bleed the brakes on our 2008 Honda CBR600 RR.
Only need a couple of tools to get this done and some DOT4 brake fluid.
Besides that I'm going to show you two different ways on how to handle it.
I'm going to show you the manual way, and then we're going to use this vacuum pump.
So let me go grab a couple of things and I'll show you how to get it done.
Alright guys, before we get started let's go over some of the tools you're going to
need to get this job done.
Really basic on the hand tools: just a Phillips, then a little 90 degree Phillips, an 8mm wrench,
a pair or pliers.
Other than that it depends on whether you're going to go with the vacuum mode or the manual
mode.
If you're going to go manual, you're going to need a little catch tank and just a length
of tubing.
My suggestion: go ahead and invest in a mighty vac.
Those things work great and it makes life a lot easier.
And that's pretty much it for your tool list.
Alright, I've almost got us set up here.
Basically, all you really need is like I said that 8mm wrench and I've got a length of clear
tubing going into some kind of catch container.
What we're going to do is go ahead and pull of the cap on the rear reservoir because we
want to make sure this stays full.
air gets behind here and it makes it a little more difficult to purge it back out.
So let's get that cover off.
How often should you actually bleed your brakes?
I'd say about once a year, because brake fluid is actually what they call hygroscopic, that
means it attracts water and it''ll actually mix in with it.
Beyond that, especially on a high performance machine like this one, basically the brake
fluid is just staying right there, and it's just getting heated and cooled, heated and
cooled.
Eventually it's going to break it down.
So we want to kind of flush that out so in essence it gets new fluid down inside of the
caliper.
You can tell when brake fluid is actually a little bit aged.
Because when it's brand new it's almost clear and when it gets some age on it it turns kind
of a brown color.
so it's one of the indicators that yeah, you need to go ahead and flush out your system.
Alright, I'm going to show you how to manually do this.
What you want to do it pump it up and hold and then you release your bleeder valve back
here.
And when you do, your pedal will go all the way to the bottom.Alright, don't release it
yet.
You want to close your valve then release.
Pump it back up, open the valve, close it, then release.
Pump it back up.
Start seeing the fluid starting to pump out.
Now this isn't exactly a fast way how to do it, but it will get it done.
What I'm going to show you next is using a vacuum pump.
Alright, as you can tell and that's almost the same color as like Coca-Cola, so yeah,
this one needed to be bled out.
Alright, let's get our little vac system connected.
Make sure that you don't run out of fluid on top.
Alright, what we're going to do, gonna connect up the air line, go ahead and start the vacuum,
and then we're going to open this valve up.
When we do, it's going to start just pulling fluid down.
Once it gets down to about right here, I'll close the valve, refill it, and then continue.
Alright, vacuum's built up, let's open it up and it'll just start pulling the fluid
through.
Watch how quick this drops up top.
Alright, it just wiped out just about that entire reservoir.
we're right at the lower level.
So let's refill, and we'll do that about two more times and then we'll set the final level.
Alright, now wasn't that a lot easier than pumping and opening and closing the valve?
If you don't own one of these I recommend that you get one-- they're nice to have around.
Alright, next, we want to set our level.
Here's where you need to take into account what kind of shape your brake shoes are in
because it's got an upper and a lower mark, and as long as it's in between those marks
it's fine.
The trick is if I take it all the way to the upper mark and my pads are worn?
Okay, it'll work for that instance, but then when I go to replace those pads I ended up
having to compress the piston inside the caliper.
And when it does that it forces fluid back up into here and if you're already at that
high mark you're going to overflow and it's not going to have room to expand.
But, I happen to know from some previous work that we've got brand new brake shoes on the
back of this machine.
So guess what?
I can take it all the way to that upper level and not have to worry about that.
Alright, when you get ready to put your diaphragm in make sure it's in this level position,
because if you were really low on fluid it'll actually pull it out like this inside the
reservoir itself.
So, make sure it looks like this when you get ready to reinstall it.
Got that in place, upper plate.
Alright, to finish tightening these off use this little 90 degree Phillips.
And that'll pretty much wrap up the back.
Tell you what, let us reset, get everything moved to the front and I'll show you how to
get those bled next.
Alright guys, we've got everything reset and I'm going to show you how to first do it manually
on the front brakes.
Same kind of setup as before, we've got a little catch container, a little hose, 8mm
that goes to the bleeder valve on the top of the caliper.
The other caliper is going to be just a mirror image of this so whatever I'm doing over here
you need to make sure you do it over on the other side to complete the bleed.
First thing we need to do is go ahead and get this cap off and make sure our reservoir
doesn't go-- we don't want to run it out.
There's actually a little Phillips that holds a bracket that keeps the top pretty much in
place.
So let's get that removed and then we can take off the cap.
Now, before we release that cap go ahead and put something down under it.
Because of you spill any, guess what?
Brake fluid and paint-- they don't like each other very much.
Alright, see how that looks kind of deformed?
That means it was just trying to suck it down in there so let's get that back into position.
It is actually already at the high level so we're good to go.
Like I said it's just like we did on the back.
Pump that up, release your valve, it'll bottom out, and you close.
Pump it back up, release your valve, close, then pump back up.
Because I don't want to spend too much more time doing it that way, let's go ahead and
hook up our vacuum system and get it done quickly.
Alright guys, we've got it connected up just like we did on the back.
Go ahead and open up the valve, build up some suction.
Make sure you've got plenty of fluid up top, then open this up.
Only about a quarter of a turn and just keep an eye on your reservoir.
Alright, that's about as close as I want to push it.
Close your bleeder valve.
Now let's carefully refill our reservoir.
Alright, we've got our reservoir refilled, re-open the valve, and just pull it through.
Alright, and then close.
Alright, what we need to do next is go ahead and refill our reservoir then I'm going to
reset over on the other side and go ahead and pull some fluid through on that particular
caliper.
Alright guys, we've got everything reset over on the left side, so let's start our vacuum
up again and just open the valve.
Alright, close it up.
Take off our hose and make sure that's tight.
Now, all we need to do is set our level.
Remember this is the same type of scenario as we were faced with in the back, and I happen
to know that the brake pads are brand new on this one, so we can bring it all the way
up to that upper mark.
Right there.
That's your upper mark.
Make sure your diaphragm is in the correct position.
Put it on and then we'll get on this little bracket for this side that keeps the cap in
place.
Feel it snug back down.
Alright guys, well that pretty much wraps this little project up.
Listen, if you need any of the tools that I used, specifically that little mighty vac
or that DOT4 fluid, come see us at partzilla.com and we'll get you taken care of.
If there was something that I did that you didn't understand or need some clarification
on it, just leave it in the comments section below and I'll do my best to answer it.
And until next time, we just want to say thanks for watching.