ABS brake bleed 1, Me 0, valve adjustment worked great

[larrydk]

Well, part of doing your own repairs/maintenance is knowing whats beyond your capability.

I acquired a 2004 r1100s in excellent condition a couple weeks back, unfortunately, no service records.

For the most part I've always worked on my own cars and bikes, so I'm not new to this stuff.

Last weekend I changed all the fluids and adjust the valves, I was very enthused from the improvement in ride.

This weekend I was going to tackle the brake and clutch bleed.

Getting body work off was not too big of a deal, getting the fuel tank off was, one thing I don't feel comfortable working on is fuel systems so I opted to slide the tank back without disconnecting the fuel lines. Seemed to give ample access to the abs unit.

I didn't want to disconnect the electric connector to the ABS unit, so access to the bleeders was very tight. To shorten the story....brake fluid leaked when I took of the cap, so a great deal of time was spent cleaning. Then I could'n unscrew 2 of the 6 bleeders because I didn't have a socket that would quite fit. In the end I just replaced the fluid in the resevior.

After putting everything back together and installing a new air filter (that was a positive) I went to start the bike and it was running incredibly rough, upon inspection, when I slid the tank back I pulled the throttle cable out of its small housing and the throttles were now out of synch....I quickly fixed that and called my local dealer to perform a brake and clutch flush and a fuel filter change (cannot see me for 2 weeks).

Even though I have to pay for that $400-$450, I'm still way ahead since I performed the other services myself.

Next weekend, I'm going to synch the throttle bodies and by June 9th the bike will have a full 12000 mile documented service

 

[flymymbz]

ABS bleeds with out the proper tools is a PITA. One work around is to do a bleed without accessing the ABS unit (like a non ABS bike). Take it out, do a hard brake, enough to activate the ABS. That, conceivably, will push the old fluid out of the ABS unit and draw in fresh stuff. Then do another bleed, which will remove the pushed out old fluid.

Not sure if it all works that way, several people have done it and swear it does.

I've got 4 BMW's that have computer brains in them, so I picked up the GS-911. That and the funnel from Beemer Boneyard worked great for my 2004 R1200C, after the dealer said it would be upwards of $600 to do a brake bleed on it. doesn't include getting the bike 130 miles to their shop.