Galfer Steel Braided Line Install Order

[skotty]

Hello All,

I am having some trouble bleeding my Front brake lines and was hoping to get some help/insight with this.

I recently rebuilt all the Brake calipers (Replaced some of the seals that were warped) and installed Galfer Steel Braided Lines on my 03 Busa.

I used DOT 5.1 Brake Fluid, which works perfectly on the rear brake setup. I think this oil is compatible, because I have it in the rear brake setup and that works fine.

For the life of me, I cannot get the front calipers to work. I have the stock 6 piston Tokicos on there. I even bought Speed bleeders to try and ease the bleeding process.

I have a feeling that I may have the instructions wrong (I am guilty of occassionally skipping instructions, but not in this case).

So this is the order in which I installed the front lines connecting to the Front Brake Master Cylinder -->

Banjo Bolt --> Washer --> Left Line --> Washer --> Right Line Washer --> Master Cylinder

At least that's what the instructions seem like. I have seen some youtube videos for other bikes that have the left line and right line switched.

If anyone has a Galfer Steel Braided lines setup on their Gen 1, can you please let me know what order you used?

 

[skotty]

Just spoke to Galfer, and it seems that the order shouldn't matter. If nothing else works, I think I will take off the calipers and try and put them back together.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

The order of the lines won't matter for bleeding- but, you may want to try in bolting the calipers from the forks, raising them and crack the bleed screw; see if shifting the air helps loosen things up...

 

[skotty]

Thanks for the response Shawn. I attempted a reverse bleed this evening, but I was unable to get any fluid up the right caliper. I have a feeling that the pistons are stuck and no fluid is getting behind them to push them out. The pistons on the left side don't seem to be moving out either. I will take the calipers off this weekend and attempt redoing it again. I may not have put enough brake fluid on the seals when I put the pistons back in. I always appreciate the help I get here, thanks again for taking the time to respond!

 

[skotty]

I finally got around to working on the bleeding, and I followed the instructions on unbolting the calipers and raising them. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to work out either. I then spent 4 hours bleeding (started with a reverse bleed and then went on to the conventional bleed) last night and I just kept seeing bubbles. It went on for about an hour and I still got no compression. This leads me to 3 considerations;

1. I may have a bad Master Cylinder (even though I just rebuilt this with the rebuild kit)
2. Possible bad Galfer lines (even though they are brand new lines)
3. I could have messed up the caliper rebuild (Ludicrous Speed mentioned in his sticky that the inner seals were tapered. I couldn't see any taper in the seals, so I installed it without considering any particular direction.

I am looking for some advice on what my next step would be. I am about ready to hit up Pashnit to get the RCS19 Brembo Master Cylinder (hopefully that will work on a GEN 1 with Galfer lines). If anyone has any clues on what else I may be missing, I would appreciate the input.

 

[nosbig]

If your master is pushing fluid out of the bleeder then I would put that on the bottom of the list.

 

[skotty]

Thanks, I think I will start over with the calipers and reset the seals. Note to self: never thrown out old parts before you ensure that the replacements work I should have kept the old brake lines.

 

[skotty]

I also read somewhere else that the washers could be the issue and people have tried using their old washers.

I am just about to lose my mind

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Skotty, since you are going to check the seals, check the banjos and make sure there isn't some junk in there - also, I don't think the issue is the seals - only because pressure would still build up or you would see fluid going somewhere...

 

[skotty]

Good point, thanks again for all the input! I'll do that too! Like I said, I am losing my mind with this.

 

[skotty]

What is baffling me is where are the air bubbles coming from! I think that's why I figured the washers were an issue.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Well, unfortunately, taking it all apart and checking is the only option at this point.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

What are you using to bleed them system? Is the hose/tube tight on the bleeder? Also, since you are draining the system, remove both of the bleeder screws from your calipers and make sure that all is good and reinstall them - just in case some thing is screwy there.

 

[skotty]

Yes, the hose is tight on the bleeder. I will attempt a do over on every piece, and if that doesn't work, I'll end up taking it to the dealership. I had two friends over who have had a significant amount of experience with brake bleeding, but even they are as clueless as I am in this case. Thanks again for helping!

 

[mabupa]

You've gotten some good advise. One thing you need to be careful with is your bleeders. If you open them too much, you end up with the system getting air in it through the bleeder threads. I like to put some grease on mine before I thread them in. I'm saying this because it happened to me, as well as the mighty vac hose not sealing around the bleeder itself. I usually put some grease on the tip of the hose before I push it on the bleeder too.

 

[skotty]

Thank you. Yes, I did think about that too. I maybe should have put some grease on the bleeders. I did note though that if I didn't open the bleeder enough, I couldn't force the fluid out (or in during a reverse bleed), but yes, that does make sense. Learned a lot from everyone's input here, thanks again everyone.

I hated doing it, but I gave up and dropped the bike off at a dealership. I have had too many sleepless nights thinking about this

 

[skotty]

Life makes sense again!!! Just got the bike back today. I feel like a complete idiot! Apparently, when I rebuilt the Master Cylinder, I placed the spring and the rubber bushing in the opposite way

When I ordered the rebuild kit, I was in such a hurry, that I took apart the Master Cylinder way before I got the rebuild kit. I must have forgotten the order in which it went back in.

Thanks again for all your responses!

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Man, sorry to hear that- but glad they got you squared-away!

 

[skotty]

That's alright, I just have a continuous stupid grin on my face while riding now, which I am sure many a busa rider experiences after a long hiatus. :bounce:

 

[pashnit]

Alls well ends well.