Ok.. I was able to change out my rear brake line with little to no problem. I bleed the rear caliber after i installed the brake line which worked fine. However im not sure if that same technique will work for the front as well or if i should empty the front master cylinder and the front right and left calibers b4 i remove the oem brake lines. I just wanna be sure b4 i do this mod and I would like to have as little brake fluid as possible that could spill coming from MC and Calibers. I do have the mityvac and it worked well for bleeding the rear brake lines. Thx for any input.

Yes you want to work on the hydraulic braking system when it's dry if at all possible. So use your Mityvac at each caliper bleed screw until there is no more fluid coming out. Make sure you have the cap off the reservoir when you do this! Otherwise you'll just suck the rubber diaphragm down into the res. And when taking the lines off make sure you hold a rag at the fitting for any residual fluid that might be there waiting to seep out onto your surrounding painted parts. Another helpful tip is to hold the fittings up in the air as you remove them end by end to keep the fluid in the line rather than running out while your not looking.

Once you install new lines with NEW crush washers, and properly torqued banjo bolts, you can bleed the system of air just like you did the rear. Use new fluid and you'll have a top notch braking system ;)

Thx Bradley427. I wanted to be sure. Now i am.

No problem man. What's with the new lines? Aftermarket? Or longer length for risers?

I'll be getting some custom length Spieglers to work with my Convertibars soon, have a blue 2012 14R and I don't know what color to go with. I'm thinking black lines and just blue banjo bolts or fittings. Don't want to overdo the accent coloring with the bike, but matching the bike would be cool.

After market. Galfer brand. In white which matches my bike. Plus i hear oem brake lines arent as good as after market steel brake lines. Blue lines on your bike would be hot.

I think it is best to drain the system before removing the old lines. You might managed to change the lines without draining but most or all of the fluid will probably leak out out by the time you get that top banjo out and back in anyway. No matter what you do you will have air in the the system and you'll need to bleed. Just drain it and have less drips to worry about. (DO suggest you remove plastics to keep them safe from spatters)

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/2/2014 @ 9:21 PM *

Rook thx for input. All plastics are already off. Did a oil change and coolant change and installed my muzzy. When i did the rear i quickly put new banjo bolts in after removing oem banjo bolts. Spilled a little fluid but not much. Bleed thr system afterwards cause i was worry bout air in the system.

http://www.zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=20B59990-D56B-84E2-1EE184D8D745C4BE

^^that is my tutorial on brake line replacement. Like you, I just let the fluid drip and stopped the master cylinder as soon as I could. I hung the lines high so the fluid could not drain out. AFAIC, its just as well to drain all the fluid out. Like I said, you will want to bleed the system anyway. Good op to change your fluid. The front MC is easy to bleed on the 14. might as well. If you got the lines changed without draining, great! Bleed and make sure you do a precautionary sponge-down with water to wash away any fluid that may have leaked on the bike anywhere.

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/3/2014 @ 2:02 PM *

Rook your tutorial is has i was able to do my rear brake line.. so thx for that. I keep reading and hearing not to let air in the system which is why i didnt drain the fluid in the rear. The front however i wanted make sure i could drain it cause it way more of a chance for spillage but draining 1st would mean air is probably gonna get into the system and thats bad but if i fill and bleed the lines after the install that should remove whatever air got into the system... right Rook?? Thats my thinking on it anyway.

Yes, you want to remove any air that made it into the system. Whenever changing lines or any brake task that requires bleeding I add speed bleeders.... It makes it very fast and easy to bleed.

Should i bleed the MC 1st or the calibers?

MC

I do the brakes first and do the MC last then check the brakes again but thats just how I do it.

If i bleed the calibers 1st will it drain the MC as well or i would still have to drain and then bleed each component seperately regardless of which i do 1st??

draining 1st would mean air is probably gonna get into the system and thats bad but if i fill and bleed the lines after the install that should remove whatever air got into the system... right Rook?? Thats my thinking on it anyway.

what seno said. ..and air WILL get into the system and that is definitely bad and yep you sure do need to remove that air. I can't see not bleeding after changing lines. The new lines are full of air. Just filling with fluid to the proper level will not get all the air out. You have to bleed.

Should i bleed the MC 1st or the calibers?

The Book says MC first and that is how I have always done it. If the MC is dry, obviously it is pointless to bleed air from the caliper. You must get the MC flowing with fluid first before you can get fluid to flow through the caliper. SO MC first, caliper(s) second.

If the system is full of fluid with some air pockets here and there, I see logic to bleeding the caliper(s) first. The calipers are located at the lowest point in the brake system. Air bubbles will tend to rise up toward the MC as you tap on the lines and bleed from the bleed valves. So if there are any last bubbles remaining, they will end up floating to the highest point, the MC...or more precisely the fluid reservoir. SO bleed the MC last until you see no bubbles come up into the reservoir.

Actually, any time I ever bled, I have gone back and forth a couple times from MC to caliper to MC again and then caliper to MC one last time. So LOL I do pretty much everything! Both ways! No air in my systems. Just go easy on the bleed valves if you are doing the bleed the traditional way. they are very delicate and the threads in the MC and caliper hoiusing are also very small. No need to snug up tight until you are all done. Lots of ware turning and twisting on the bleeds.

Here is the bleed How Too. I am sure there is also a link to it in the brake line replacement how to I referenced last post on this thread.

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=EF69194F-1372-66AE-3B981C05AA26103E

Thanks for every1s input. I do appreciate it. This forum is the shit. Ive learned so much and i continue to learn. Much respect to every1. Thx again.

If i bleed the calibers 1st will it drain the MC as well

Yes if you bleed the calipers first, that will drain the MC and the fluid reservoir which is located above the MC.

If you bleed the calipers first, the fluid in the reservoir will go down the tubes to the MC. To avoid this, you should be taking the time while you bleed to refill the reservoir. DON'T let the fluid level drop to the bottom of the reservoir. If this happens, you will just be sucking air into the system. You want to be squirting air bubbles out with the fluid you bleed from whichever bleed valve you are working at the time. Not the end of the world if you suck air in....you just need to fill 'er up start over! More practice!

or i would still have to drain and then bleed each component seperately regardless of which i do 1st??

If you drain the MC ONLY and do not get air into the lines or the calipers, then you will really need to bleed the master cylinder only (but I would still do both to be sure you have 0 air in there). If you drain the caliper then you have air that needs to be sucked out of the caliper....but that air can also rise to the MC...or it may just rise to the line between the MC and the caliper. For this reason, you will need to bleed both the caliper and the MC. As mentioned previously, Niti, I would suggest you bleed both MC and calipers forward and backward a couple times. Remember to rap gently on the lines and the MC and the tube to the reservoir to dislodge any air bubbles stuck to the insides of the system.

This is not rocket science. I was freaked out to bleed my brakes and clutch the first time but once you do it, you see it is not so mysterious. Do it 3-4 times and you are a pro. You start to develop your own technique. You know what is going on in there. Most crucial thing is do not crank on the bleed valves while you are opening and closing. Use a small torque wrench to tighten when done but go real easy on the threads while you bleed.

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/3/2014 @ 5:51 PM *

Thanks for every1s input. I do appreciate it. This forum is the shit. Ive learned so much and i continue to learn. Much respect to every1. Thx again.

Glad if we can be of service. Please just ask any time you have a question. Someone will be able to tell you what to do. Forums never failed me on this stuff.

Ok Rook thx i will.

Let's see some pics of the new white lines when you're done!! Color match on yours probably looks killer!

I think too much blue accent on mine could make it look tacky, I don't want to get blue everything just because it's available. But a little here and a little there really ties it in well. That's why I'm thinkin blue banjo with a black or carbon colored line. We'll see I need some pics to help me decide I think!

Let's see some pics of the new white lines when you're done!! Color match on yours probably looks killer!

white lines on a white bike sounds cool. banjos could be anything right now. Black maybe?? and go with black anodized other stuff?

LOL I have orange lines here I want to put on but the only problem is that I ordered them with blue banjos. Matches most of the anodized dodads on the bike but I really like gold bolts. So now I want orange lines with gold banjos. Decisions, decisions...

Yep Rook is right I forgot you were doing a total line change but yep MC first, gotta be able to push the fluid through and you can't do that with air

Yep Rook is right I forgot you were doing a total line change but yep MC first, gotta be able to push the fluid through and you can't do that with air

I take a baby medicine syringe and put a hose on the bleeder and the syringe and push fluid back up to the MC and that helps with pushing air out the mc if yo leave the bleeder cracked but that's if you don't have a fancy mityvac, lol, but it will get you started with less work.

For those interested Lol.. i was able to install the front brake lines. Followed all advice and Rooks tutorial. Emptying and bleeding the MC was easy with the mityvac. Had trouble with the calibers tho. Not 1000 percent on getting all the air out from the calibers. For sum reason the hose wouldnt fit on tight like it did with the MC. Im a keep bleeding it until i get it right and im comfortable all the air is out of the lines.. flip side they do look hot as shit. I will have pics up when i complete the job. I was thinking of going to a pet store and getting a smaller hose like one that i use for my aquarium..