Clutch bleeding miricle.

[moneyend]

I have VT 800 and the clutch would not bleed properly, meaning it would bleed but stay spongy, so I tried much sorter brake hose and it worked great. So I went on ebay and got clutch cable from vt 1100 bent it the way i need and the same thing it would stay spongy, I was screwing with it for 2 hours bleeding the whole bottle of dot4 and nothing. I left it and went on doing something else occasionally squeezing the clutch lever when i was around the bike. After 3 days I felt it started "getting hard"lol. I could not believe it. It works now. Is the longs of the hydraulic line makes that much difference? 3-4 hours vs 15 minutes of bleeding time?

[SHADOW 1100T]

A long hose can make the brakes feel soft, not spongy, air makes them feel that way and what most likely happened was while setting the air migrated up to the bowl and your brakes got better, no miracle just less air.

[Haze]

I had a similar problem with my previous VT800.
I found the key was bleeding through the banjo fitting at the reservoir on the handlebars.
Air would trap at the top of the hydaulic line and could only be bled out under pressure at the banjo.
Cheers,
Haze

[Freedom]

I fixed my problem by bleeding at the reservoir banjo bolt first. Several helpful threads here clued me in on that.

[moneyend]

Did you unscrew bottom bolt and let the fluid flow?

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by moneyend

Did you unscrew bottom bolt and let the fluid flow?

With the bike level and front wheel straight, put some rags under the banjo bolt at the reservoir before you crack it open, also cover any paint. Slowly give your clutch handle several squeezes (make sure you keep your reservoir topped up) Keep pressure on the handle while you tighten the banjo bolt. Open the bleeder on the slave cylinder and squeeze the clutch handle several times to expel any air bubbles. Keep pressure on the handle and tighten your bleeder. Top off your reservoir and that's it.

[moneyend]

[quote=Slowly give your clutch handle several squeezes (make sure you keep your reservoir topped up)[/quote]
Should I open lower banjo bolt before squeezing the lever? . BTW if I keep the front wheel straight all the brake / clutch fluid will spill or I should put the cover on. Thanks

[moneyend]

Is that 800 with 700 rims?

[Freedom]

[quote=moneyend]

Originally Posted by Slowly give your clutch handle several squeezes (make sure you keep your reservoir topped up)[/quote

Should I open lower banjo bolt before squeezing the lever? . BTW if I keep the front wheel straight all the brake / clutch fluid will spill or I should put the cover on. Thanks

You want to keep your reservoir as level as possible to keep the maximum fluid in it. It was just my preference in keeping the front wheel straight. Keep the cover off so you can keep an eye on your fluid level.

You only need to keep pressure on the lever when you are closing either the top (reservoir) banjo bolt or the lower bleeder.

[moneyend]

Thanks man. I'll try it.