jurgen
Daily Rider
Hi all,
earlier this week I converted my rubber brake lines to Spiegler (Kit from Pirate's Lair). Here are some notes regarding the installation:
PirateÔÇÖs manual works well for the install. HereÔÇÖs the link:
http://gunsmoke.com/motorcycling/k1200rs/brakes/index.html
My lines were not labeled so I had to figure out which was which but this turns out to be quite easy ÔÇô confusion is unlikely.
Gary HollingerÔÇÖs instructions are required for the i- ABS III brake system bleeding job. See this link:
http://www.k-bikes.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=technical&Number=51621
I found that the special BMW tool 90 88 6 34 2 532 (now $68) mentioned in GaryÔÇÖs instructions may be handy but is not absolutely necessary. For the left side bleeder (R2) I used a Sears Craftsman 7mm nut driver where I drilled the pocket about ?? inch deeper using a 7 mm drill bit. That way the nut driver fits over the recessed R2 bleed nipple and can be used to open and close. You may also be able to use a deep well, 7 mm, ??ÔÇØ drive socket for this job. I used the attached bleed hose to finger tighten the nipple before releasing the brake handle after each pumping stroke ÔÇô this effectively prevented air from being sucked back in. F2 can be reached with a deep offset box-end wrench after removing the battery. All other bleeders can be easily reached with a 7mm box-end.
I used DOT 5.1 brake fluid rather than DOT 4 because DOT 5.1 does not dissolve paint. DOT 5.1 is fully compatible with DOT 4, however, DO NOT use DOT 5 ÔÇô DOT 5 is not compatible.
You will need at least a pint of fresh fluid since there will be a lot of air in the system ÔÇô I actually used ?¥ of a quart-sized container.
GaryÔÇÖs instructions call to first bleed the wheel circuits by using the ABS pump to pump fluid from the reservoirs to the wheel cylinders. Activation of the ABS pump requires pressure from the hand brake reservoir. The more pressure on the hand lever, the harder the ABS pumps. HereÔÇÖs a small problem: After replacing the brake lines, you will have too much air in the hoses so you cannot build up any pressure from the hand lever. Therefore the ABS pump may not do any pumping. The solution is to first bleed the three front pump circuits as per GaryÔÇÖs instructions, then proceed with the bleeding of the front wheel circuits.
The other way to do this is to bleed the line from the front master cylinder to the ABS unit by removing the grub screw from the filler adapter shown in GaryÔÇÖs Figure 5 (it looked slightly different on my bike but worked the same way) and replace it with an M10x1 bleed nipple (same size as the rear caliper bleeder) and bleed this line first. After that you will be able to apply pressure to the ABS pump to bleed both wheel circuits.
Any comments welcome - Merry Christmas
earlier this week I converted my rubber brake lines to Spiegler (Kit from Pirate's Lair). Here are some notes regarding the installation:
PirateÔÇÖs manual works well for the install. HereÔÇÖs the link:
http://gunsmoke.com/motorcycling/k1200rs/brakes/index.html
My lines were not labeled so I had to figure out which was which but this turns out to be quite easy ÔÇô confusion is unlikely.
Gary HollingerÔÇÖs instructions are required for the i- ABS III brake system bleeding job. See this link:
http://www.k-bikes.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=technical&Number=51621
I found that the special BMW tool 90 88 6 34 2 532 (now $68) mentioned in GaryÔÇÖs instructions may be handy but is not absolutely necessary. For the left side bleeder (R2) I used a Sears Craftsman 7mm nut driver where I drilled the pocket about ?? inch deeper using a 7 mm drill bit. That way the nut driver fits over the recessed R2 bleed nipple and can be used to open and close. You may also be able to use a deep well, 7 mm, ??ÔÇØ drive socket for this job. I used the attached bleed hose to finger tighten the nipple before releasing the brake handle after each pumping stroke ÔÇô this effectively prevented air from being sucked back in. F2 can be reached with a deep offset box-end wrench after removing the battery. All other bleeders can be easily reached with a 7mm box-end.
I used DOT 5.1 brake fluid rather than DOT 4 because DOT 5.1 does not dissolve paint. DOT 5.1 is fully compatible with DOT 4, however, DO NOT use DOT 5 ÔÇô DOT 5 is not compatible.
You will need at least a pint of fresh fluid since there will be a lot of air in the system ÔÇô I actually used ?¥ of a quart-sized container.
GaryÔÇÖs instructions call to first bleed the wheel circuits by using the ABS pump to pump fluid from the reservoirs to the wheel cylinders. Activation of the ABS pump requires pressure from the hand brake reservoir. The more pressure on the hand lever, the harder the ABS pumps. HereÔÇÖs a small problem: After replacing the brake lines, you will have too much air in the hoses so you cannot build up any pressure from the hand lever. Therefore the ABS pump may not do any pumping. The solution is to first bleed the three front pump circuits as per GaryÔÇÖs instructions, then proceed with the bleeding of the front wheel circuits.
The other way to do this is to bleed the line from the front master cylinder to the ABS unit by removing the grub screw from the filler adapter shown in GaryÔÇÖs Figure 5 (it looked slightly different on my bike but worked the same way) and replace it with an M10x1 bleed nipple (same size as the rear caliper bleeder) and bleed this line first. After that you will be able to apply pressure to the ABS pump to bleed both wheel circuits.
Any comments welcome - Merry Christmas
