I recently put braided lines on my bike. Now I can't get them bled properly. The lever doesnt have any firmness until you pull it in considerably, at least half way. Pulled fluid through both sides with a vac. then bled the old fashioned way. I then bled at the master cylinder where the lines get bolted to the cylinder. Still no good! The master cylinder doesnt have a bleeder on it. Any ideas, I may need them at Barber this weekend.
Crack the banjo loose at the master cylinder and you can bleed a little air that way. The way that I bleed my brakes after installing new lines is easy. I pull fluid from the master cylinder to the calipers with a mighty vac then I bleed them like normal. My guess is if you have fluid to lines you are "almost done". I don't know how you bleed your brakes but what I do is hook a clear tube to the bleeder nipple and run it down into a cup that a little fluid in it. I will pump the lever 20 times and hold it, once I have the lever pulled to the bar I will open the bleeder for a second or 2 then close it off. Once I close the bleeder then I release the lever. I will do this a time or 2 then I will switch calipers. It shouldn't take you very long to get the lever firm doing it this way. I can usually get the brakes bled in around 15-20 minutes. Also if you have air trapped in places like the calipers try gently tapping them with a mallet to dislodge the air.
another trick is to ziptie your lever against the bar overnight...this will give any bubbles in the line time to work their way back up to the MC, and when you release the lever in the morning, they get sucked into the res. This doesnt always work, but its helped me out a few times
i had an 04 zx10 w/ somewhat of the same prob. all i did was take the bike for about a 20 min ride and had the lever slightly pulled most of the time in order to generate as much heat as poss and then bleed them one more time. it worked for me.
I've tried this with good results. One thing I did in addition after releasing the lever the next day was DO NOT pump the lever until you take the following steps. First set the front end down (or put bike on side stand), turn the bars full lock left (to reduce the chance of air pocket near MC), tap the calipers with a block of wood or soft mallet, then unfasten each caliper and rock the pads to force fluid back up into the MC. If there is air you will see the bubbles come up. If that doesn't work, I have done the no brakes drill at Barber during a Cornerspeed school.
If it's a non radial master cylinder (without the bleeder) get a banjo bolt with the bleeder nipple in it. That will also help.
