Brake problems..... Please advise

[Shanefromwashington]

Ok, we got a set of rebuilt calipers, put them on and after a few hours of fiddling with them got a little pressure in the handle and foot pedal, now I wouldvecpect with new calipers that the pull should get very hard quickly, they don't as a matter of fact the front brake will slow uou down a little but will not stop you (I would hate to try and make a quick stop with s car in front of me ) anyways the back brake and front are a little better but not much, any ideas?

Feels real spongy, I've never worked on a linked brake system and my first thought is this system sucks! Could someone post some instructions? It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Yammer Dan]

You must have air. They are great brake systems. What is it?

[Shanefromwashington]

86 venture, we put speed bleeders on and it seemed that we got all the air outta the system , of course didn't have a service manual handy except the online one and it's not real clear on the procedures any help would be appreciated! Every yamaha I have ever owned always had awesome brakes just can't seem to figure this one out as of yet

[Yammer Dan]

Sounds like you went the right way. Be some brake experts on here shortly. It sounds like air. The front one should be easy but the rear and front linked can trap air that is rough to get out. Rear Master could be a problem. I have had some luck just cleaning these.

[skydoc_17]

Hey Shane,

First Off, Welcome to the site! You are not the first person that has wanted to pull their hair out over the linked brakes on a VR! With that being said, lets see if we can ease your pain here. This job is going to take 2 days to get decent results if you are not using a vacuum pump. (harbor freight, $25.00) As you have found out the rear brake and the left front are connected together. When you pump the foot pedal, the brake fluid only moves 1/16 of an inch in the brake line, so from the rear M/C to the front brake caliper is "A Lotta' pumps!" REMOVE THE SPEED BLEEDERS, these work great if you are changing out the brake fluid in either of the master cylinders but when filling brake lines that have been emptied because of a caliper change, air in the lines will not put enough pressure on the speed bleeder valve to open it.(trust me on this) You can put these back on AFTER you get the brake lines charged back up. There are THREE bleed points on your 86'VR linked system for the rear and left front, one is the rear caliper, two is the front left caliper, and the third is a bleeder on the right side of the ignition switch, on the "goose neck". Putting a clear tube (tractor supply, Lowe's, Home depot) from the bleeder to a bottle 1/3 full with brake fluid in it keeps air from reentering the bleeder, plus seeing the brake fluid move gives you a glimmer of hope that this nightmare will be over...sooner or later!:crackup:Bleed the rear caliper for a while, move the tube to the goose neck, and bleed for a while, move the tube to the rear caliper and bleed for a while. (you get the Idea!) When you feel like you want to saw on your wrists with a rusty tuna can lid, go to harbor freight and get the vacuum pump! Or just keep pumping and going between the rear and the goose neck and the front caliper.

To sum this all up, The REMOVAL of the Speed bleeders and the use of the tube with the bottle 1/3 filled with brake fluid are going to get you farther along then you have been and don't feel bad, I've seen Grown Men cry and gnash their teeth over this job.

If you have more questions, just ask, we've ALL been there, done that.

Earl

[ddoggma]

When I went to look at my bike the firstime. The clutch was not bled and the brakes were off too. Before I bought it, I bought a Mity-Vac tool like one of the guys suggested. It worked well, They were having trouble bleeding the clutch, I got it done in 15 mins with the tool. Then I used it on the brakes, again it came thru. Althou it is still hit and miss with the brakes on these bikes. My bike needs the rear system bled better right now. Since I did the brakes in Nov. The pedal ain't what she should be, I have tinkered with it once already and will have to do it again. Just waiting till it warms a little more. Good luck, It will work out the air sooner or later. If you keep at it. The system, when working correctly seems OK to good. I can set the bike up nicely with a little LIGHT trail braking.And the front link seems to settle the bike down, without getting too involved with your turning. I dont race around alot on my bike. Guys that do push it will delink the brakes and replace the calipers with a better bolt on yammy R6 calipers I think. See "Sky Doc" for details.....

[Condor]

I've found that when bleeding the brakes, don't pump them up hard before starting to get the air out of the system. With Speed-Bleeders it's a lot easier to purge air out of the lines when the cavity of the caliper is smaller with the pistons compressed. When I installed the R1's on the '83 I kinda discovered this. Instead of flushing out the larger volume, a smaller area seems to work much better... and faster. Once the air is out then pump them up hard.