Someone took a look at my bike on monday,
and dropped it hard on the right side
on my concrete patio.
--
I didn't ride it till wed, brakes needed
pumping, and just felt wrong, hard pull
not at all smooth and didn't feel like
it was stopping anywhere near as well
as the week before, it's always been
super smooth and predictable.
I tried bleeding after looking at youtube
videos today,
Fch'd it all up, now I have no front brake
at all. Reading a few comments, I read that
one rider wound up with a stuck piston,
that sounds familiar too, I'd started
with the right side, and the brake lever
only went down about 1/4 travel then
stopped dead after one or two cycles of
pump/hold/open valve/close valve....
--
Some vids say do right first, others left
first, I found not one that was even done
well.
My Kawasaki PDF Manual for bleeding says
''take bike to reputable mechanic or shop''
something along those lines.
--
Also, what is the exact hose ID for the
bleeder valves?
Thanks.....

Someone took a look at my bike on monday,
and dropped it hard on the right side
on my concrete patio.

I hope someone is offering to pay for the damage. Those fairings must be getting expensive.

I didn't ride it till wed, brakes needed
pumping, and just felt wrong, hard pull
not at all smooth and didn't feel like
it was stopping anywhere near as well
as the week before, it's always been
super smooth and predictable.

RH side, brakes on the right. Any visible damage to the lever? I might expect some air to get in the MC after a tipover. That would cause a soft feel in the lever and weaker braking. Pumping probably would improve that but you shouldn't need to pump.

Reading a few comments, I read that
one rider wound up with a stuck piston

or something...caused by the MC getting damaged in the fall. ...or hopefully just air in the line.

Some vids say do right first, others left
first

I believe I started with the MC first, then the caliper closest to the MC if you have the stock three line system. the caliper furthest from the MC last. Someone recommended bleeding the furthest caliper first and the other caliper and MC last incase an air bubble rises in the lines. You get plenty of brake fluid in one bottle. I'm sure I did it MC first and then redid the whole thing in reverse. You'll never use the whole bottle anyway, might as well bleed twice.

Also, what is the exact hose ID for the
bleeder valves?

IDK but the clear plastic tubing you can buy by the foot from the hardware works perfectly.

Do people know I wrote these tutorials anymore?

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

Strat, I think you may have sucked a bunch of air in during your bleeding. Air compresses way more than liquid. A lot of air compresses a lot more than a little air. ...so you're pulling your brake lever and everything works as it should but instead of compressing fluid that makes pressure, your compressing an air bubble that simply shrinks in reaction to the fluid in front of it. Net reaction, no increase in pressure.

Otherwise, there's damage to the MC from the fall. Probably not or you would have mentioned that.

Check with a local auto supply to see if they have a vacuum bleeder for loan. Autozone used to loan theirs for free. No pumping the lever, just open the bleeder valve and suck the fluid through. If there's air, it will suck that out too.

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Thanks,
My search queries; Did not come up with bleeding tutorials.

- Which side needs to be bleed first, the right or left side, does it matter?
- Is the mc next to the throttle the only reservoir for the front brakes?
---
I don't think the right bar grip even touched the concrete,
the slider took the hit.
--
After I tried to bleed the right side, and got fluid out,
the brake lever could not be pulled in toward the bar
further than 1/4'' +- , something might be jammed, the
lever and lever assembly is not damaged as far as I can
see.
--
Going out in a little bit after coffee to jack up the bike
and take off calipers etc...

Do people know I wrote these tutorials anymore?

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

This didn't come up in my searches, but found it
using your link.

You show a bleeder valve being located up top next to
the MC (Readers note; MC=Master Cylinder), the youtube
videos I found made no mention of it lol.
I had no idea there was one up there.
---
So I thought maybe this had nothing to do with my gen,
and 8mm , nah.... I walked out just now with flashlight
and shock n aww.... there it is.
---
I didn't do anything with it, for shts n giggles I
pushed the bike back an forth and the brake was
working where it had no braking at all yesterday
after I' tried to bleed the lower bleed valve on
the right side. It was hot out yesterday when the
brake or something associated was jammed up and
the bike easily move with full front brake lever
depressed, in other words not working at all.
Right now it is 70f.
---
I didn't fully understand your comment in that
thread/tutorial where you said cover something
to keep fluid off, I got the bezel part though,
cover it up I guess.
So the fluid can come flying out of there more
or less?
In any case, I'll put some towels/rags around
surfaces in that area, and I guess that is the
first thing to bleed.
My fluid is a bit murky and I have a ton of
DOT 4, so this is about time to bleed/purge
anyway.
Thanks.

- Which side needs to be bleed first, the right or left side, does it matter?

I'm going to say it doesn't matter as long as you bleed both calipers and the MC. It makes sense to bleed the MC first because you use the MC to bleed the rest.

- Is the mc next to the throttle the only reservoir for the front brakes?

Yes.

I don't think the right bar grip even touched the concrete,
the slider took the hit.

Good! I think you just have an air gap then. The fluid in the cup washed aside and air went in the MC.

After I tried to bleed the right side, and got fluid out,
the brake lever could not be pulled in toward the bar
further than 1/4'' +- , something might be jammed, the
lever and lever assembly is not damaged as far as I can
see.

If the bleeder is open, the lever should go all the way to the bar and fluid should come out of the bleeder. If not, I'd suspect something is clogging the bleeder.

You show a bleeder valve being located up top next to
the MC (Readers note; MC=Master Cylinder), the youtube
videos I found made no mention of it lol.
I had no idea there was one up there.

It's a Kawasaki thang. My 08 Hayabusa doesn't have a MC bleeder valve. That's kind of dumb if you ask me but the Hayabusa brakes suck no matter which way you look at it (2026 Gen3 noticeably improved, still not as good as the 14).

There's a hidden bleeder on the rear caliper too. You have one bleeder on the outside and one on the inside. No bleeder for the rear MC. ...it just goes to show, if you have one bleeder at the very end of the system, you could use that to bleed the whole thing. It's nice that Kaw gives you the extra ones to fill the system easier.

I didn't do anything with it, for shts n giggles I
pushed the bike back an forth and the brake was
working where it had no braking at all yesterday
after I' tried to bleed the lower bleed valve on
the right side. It was hot out yesterday when the
brake or something associated was jammed up and
the bike easily move with full front brake lever
depressed, in other words not working at all.
Right now it is 70f.

An air bubble might have found its way out of the MC and risen up to the reservoir.

I didn't fully understand your comment in that
thread/tutorial where you said cover something
to keep fluid off, I got the bezel part though,
cover it up I guess.
So the fluid can come flying out of there more
or less?

I guess so. i never had fluid squirt out of the reservoir but I guess it could happen. IDK, a massive air bubble dislodges, maybe the fluid would splash up out of the reservoir. I've bled brand new lines that were completely dry and that never happened. Better to be safe than sorry.

My fluid is a bit murky and I have a ton of
DOT 4, so this is about time to bleed/purge
anyway.
Thanks.

It's good practice for bleeding but you can get rid of most of the old brake fluid just by wicking it up out of the reservoir. Sounds like old brake fluid is the least of your worries, you have some air in there. Your choice, wick if you want but you need to bleed. You have 10x as much brake fluid in the bottle as you will need so don;t worry about wasting it. I'd do the rear brake and clutch too.

So what do you do with old brake fluid? I've tried adding it to my waste oil I bring to O'Reilly's or Walmart. I had a guy ask me once, "it's just oil, right?" They don't want contaminated oil. I worked at O'Reillys. The oil collector guy doesn't come if he already is full of old oil. He doesn't want contaminated oil. I'd make a campfire and burn the old brake fluid if there's no convenient disposal site. Definitely don't pour it on the ground. Burning isn't great but it's much better than dumping.

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I really think I need to make a nice fire pit this summer. ...not to burn waste chemicals, just to have a fire. I have piles of old lumber sitting here. LOL Dad sawed up a bunch of trees that fell in a windstorm and thought he was lucky to get all that free wood. It sat for the last 25 years. I think I'll saw it up and use it for fire wood. I'll roll him down to the back yard and we'll have a couple beers by the fire.

---

Good! I think you just have an air gap then. The fluid in the cup washed aside and air went in the MC.

For now, I need to find the issue, and I did get some bubbles out,
and yeah, looks like as you say air must have migrated
to the MC.
I've never had a bike with a top bleeder, but I think
it would be great to have on just about any bike.
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Got some brake, feels like only 1 side is grabbing and
I have to pull pretty hard to even get that grabbbing.
Too hot now to work on it, I'll jack it up in the am
take the calipers loose, and do a re-do on fork centering
or aligning with front wheel, and further bleeding.
I thought the parts stores would take dirty brake fluid,
I guess not, maybe at some designated date during the year. :shrugs:

Great that you have all that firewood, I'm not sure if
I can have an open fire without a FD burn permit out here.
--
Thanks.
TBC.......

I thought the parts stores would take dirty brake fluid,
I guess not, maybe at some designated date during the year. :shrugs:

Nope, no use for old brake fluid. Yup, you probably could get rid of brake fluid once a year at a local disposal site if you're lucky enough to catch the date. I never have so I'll just burn it.

Great that you have all that firewood, I'm not sure if
I can have an open fire without a FD burn permit out here.

There's a few dead trees that need cutting too. A backyard campfire is no problem here. Not that many people do it. I've never heard of anyone complaining about it. My brother had a fire that spread to the surrounding forest a few weeks back. The fire dept had to come to put it out. Maybe he got a fine, IDK. LOL my parents were burning brush on a hill about 30 years ago. That got away from them right quick and no burning permit. A helicopter came and doused the fire. No fine at all.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/20/2026 @ 4:54 PM *

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The fire dept had to come to put it out. Maybe he got a fine, IDK. LOL my parents were burning brush on a hill about 30 years ago. That got away from them right quick and no burning permit. A helicopter came and doused the fire. No fine at all.

I had to get a month long burn to set up daily burns
on my side lot that's about an acre. I busted up tons
of 5' tall brush into piles, had to call in every morning
and let them know when I'd start and when I expected
to finish each day. Hella lot of work and melted
part of one of my trash cans when it was about 20'
away from one of the stacks... :smi
----
I bleed some more of the brake system and through
sitting overnight perhaps, is a partial reason
for getting a lot of my brake power back.
It was really strange yesterday and days before
as I'd pull the lever in , it would work
a little bit then I'd have to really slam hard
on it to get any useable action.
Much better today though, not dangerous
anymore.

Good. Tap on the lines to dislodge bubbles.

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The trick is to open and close the nipple once. You'll have to bleed the master's nipple to get the air out of the master's cavity. It's too damn simple. The other trick is to have the bleed hose have a Loop or a U so when you fill the reservoir, the bleed-back sucks up the fluid in the U so no air returns back into the caliper.

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