Bleed & No Pressure? How to Remove Air on your Motorcycle Brakes in 3 Minutes 

OK, I wrestled with this LITERALLY for days and could not get any air bubbles to appear. So much so that I figured the brake line itself was bad. But what DID work, and Instantly, too, was reverse bleeding, using a syringe to pump fluid IN from the bleed nipple with the master cylinder cap off. Had all the air out and a firm brake lever in 1 minute!! So if this video doesn't work, try the reverse bleed technique. You just need a plastic syringe full of brake fluid. Easy.

Man… that LITTLE detail, of not “squeezing” the lever… Gold!

After 30 minutes of pumping and nothing happens I’m like I did something wrong in my installation but let me RU-vid it first and you basically save my day thank you so very much

I thought my master cylinder was bad. Ever video I watched said full pulls. I pulled on that lever for 45 min. My hand was cramping up. I ordered a new master cylinder and then found this video. It worked, the small pulls had air bubbles rolling out. Thank you. Canceled my order for replacement master cylinder.

I NEVER would've EVER considered those tiny micro bubbles a factor until seeing this video. My lever went from almost touching the grip to barely compressing an inch. Thanks so much compadre!

That's a brilliant method...can easily be done by one person, without having to pump the lever, hold, crack open the bleeder, and repeat...

OMG YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER!! I was just getting ready to order caliper parts for a rebuild, because I bled it for 2 days and got no pressure. I went out and tried this and had brake pressure in less than 4 mins!! Gonna bleed it this weekend thanks again!!!

Finally a video showing the fix for no pressure at the lever after fluid replacement. Thanks

Thank you so much for doing this video, I've been messing about with my front caliper and stripped it down now about 10 times trying to find what I did wrong rebuilding it and why for some reason i can't bleed it. Turns out I built it all correct and after watching your video 30 seconds later I have pressure, if only i'd looked at this 5 hours ago. THANK YOU again

I recommend doing this again after a short ride. The vibrations from the engine and road will loosen any mini air bubbles stuck in the line to rise to the top. Keep the lid on the master cylinder, but do the mini bump process again. Super small bubbles will continue to empty out of the lines and you will have the best feeling lever possible.

thanks for the video, brother. yesterday I went for a 75 mile bike ride around Napa. at my turn around point I realized I had a front brake leak. I took it easy going home but when I was about 1 mile from my house my front brakes had bled out and had no stopping power. my rear brakes were all I had to go with. The Road Gods were looking out for me.

I was struggling for DAYS! Took the brake line of a few times, even took my calliper appart to see if i missed something during the rebuilding. I could not find anything wrong. Then i found your video and it worked instantly. Thanks for sharing this ❤

You’re an absolute BOSS! Thought I was sold a bad master cylinder, but your tip had me up and running in minutes! Thanks!

Hey man, thank you! I killed two hours last night trying to bleed the front brake on my WR250R (using the traditional method) after rebuilding the master cylinder, and I was making zero progress. Like another comment said, thirty seconds of this method and my brake lever has better feel than ever. One point of advice, besides turning the bars so that the master cylinder is the highest point, I also secured my brake line so that it was lower than the master cylinder as well (dual sports like mine loop the brake line up over the bars and cockpit area). Using your method plus occasionally opening the valve on the caliper like I'd been doing has been a game changer.

I was at the point of scrapping my new lines thinking there was an issue and after a day of bleeding and a full bottle of brake fluid I came across your video. Within 2 minutes I felt pressure at the bottom and within 5 minutes it was solid! Thank you so much!

Dude, you are a freaking lifesaver. I wasted 2 hours on the RevZilla videos before you ended all my problems. Thank you thank you thank you. Saving this to my reference playlist forever.

Man, you saved my life I was pumping that lever all day, I knew something was wrong, but i couldnt imagine it was so easy to fix

You are the hero. I never knew I needed. I just replaced the pads and rebuilt the front brakes on my nighthawk 750 and for the life of me I could not build up any pressure thank you my friend.

Thanks flushed my break fluid for the first time. You are a life saver.

Thought I wasn't going to accomplish my goal of riding to work Monday. This SAVED me.

Thanks a lot man! I definitely was too used to bleeding car brakes. you helped me out of a huge pickle. I hope good things come back to you in life.

I'd done plenty of work on car and truck brake systems before but this was my first time doing a full bleed of a motorcycle front brake after opening the system. Pumped my way through half a container of brake fluid before I figured I must be doing something wrong and should look into it more. Found your video and in about 10 minutes had everything bled, back together and on the road. Great video! Thank you!

I spent riddiculous amount of time trying to stiffen the lever using common method until i saw your vid. Thank you so much for this

hi I cannot thank you enough for your video. I made the same mistake of thinking it would bleed in the same way as a car. The bore of the MC is so narrow that a single bubble would stop it. I was sceptical but I had nothing to loose. It took a good 20 minutes to get all the bubbles out and boom a hard brake. Bled it as normal and its spot on. Thanks again

This totally saved the day! Ty! 2000 VN750 wouldn't push fluid to the calipers after a complete overhaul. I followed your instructions, and within 5 minutes we were bleeding the system.

Like many of the other folks commenting, I’d been pumping and pumping the brake lever and even had to get another bottle of brake fluid. 60 seconds of the light pressure on the lever and it was good as new. Thanks for saving me a trip to the shop!

Exactly what I'm exepriencing with a new braided line on '98 Nighthawk. Can't wait to try the subtle pumping approach.

Thank you so much, I could not get any pressure and was about to disassemble my master cylinder thinking it was faulty!! 15 minutes after taking your advice my brakes were working perfectly again.

Wow. Such a simple and elegant solution. I've done my own brakes (on cars/trucks) since the 80's. Did my Goldwing a few times. The brakes weren't worse but also never much better. Always a tad mushy. I'll be doing this method today. Thanks for saving my hands from cramping!

You saved the day. Thank You Very much. I have bled cars many times so I figured scooters where the same. I let the reservoir get too low and air must have gotten in the line. So every time I pumped the handle I could not bleed the system. No fluid drain at the bleed valve and no pressure on the handle. I saw your post last night and could wait to try it this morning. Sure enough, exactly like you said. A few small pumps and I could see the bubbles and the handle started to stiffen. Several more and Voila. It was done. Thanks again.

Fantastic! Thank you! I did a master cylinder rebuild just before dark and thought I would have to tear it down again. My friend, now I can sleep well tonight

Thank you. A combination of back bleeding pushing fluid through the nipple, a couple of gravity bleeds with the clutch pulled and this technique in the video sorted mine

Thanks for posting this video! I just put ape-hangers on my Crossbones (which meant new cables) and had this exact same issue. One important note: It can take a really long time. I was about to give up a couple of times and then I'd see an air bubble pop up. Eventually, I noticed that the lever wasn't going all the way to the grip anymore, so I kept going. In the end, it probably took about 10-15 minutes. If not for this video, I may have eventually taken it to a shop. You probably saved me a fortune here. Edit: Sweet Nighthawk, btw.

Changed my caliper to Brembo radial and been pumping all day, your video and tips saves me. Big thanks!!!

I have struggled to bleed certain brakes (KTM)for years, I wish I would have seen this earlier. This is the way

Thank you so much man! I stripped my front brake system and gave it a clean and could not get pressure when I put it back together. I did the soft pedal pushes and the bubbles came out as you demonstrated. Once I had enough pressure in the pedal, I went ahead and bled the front brake and it is good as new.

That 1/8th pull was really effective. Great instruction! Thank you

Have used this technique working on dirt bikes for years. Found out by accident;,the small actuations are the key👊👊

Dude... you are the first video I have found that explains this way. It does work!!! My polaris atv was a little different in the amount of pull. You also need to let it sit for a few in began trying to get out bubbles. I am assuming this is reverse bleeding. My entire system was replaced and I gravity bleed before doing what this video shows, but it worked like a champ! Thanx bud👊

Dude this helped so much, it never goes like this and for once I had to do it different. I was going through every problem possible but yours was the only fix. Much appreciated

Thank you Sir, after a whole afternoon with pumps (and nothing happened) i saw your video and its save me! :)

Dude I was about to go to a shop then I tried this out. And it worked! I've been trying to bleed this for days and it took me a few minutes. Thank you so much dude!

Good video for bleeding the front brakes on a bike... explained nice and easy and good quality vids shows it all, well done.

This man a hero! I couldn’t figure it out and this gave me the solution I needed! Thanks man!

Thank you very much my friend, totally worked for me. My front brake jammed up while I was riding and the lever was stuck and was unable to move my front wheel after pulling to the side of the road. Finally it loosed-up and I rode home without using my front brakes. I was hoping not to rebuild my master pump so decided to just change the brake oil and clean the piston. Afetr flushing out the old brake fluid and using WD40 to lubricate and clean the piston, it was moving freely. Top up new brake fluid and starting pumping the lever but never got stiff, so decide to bleed the brake fluid and started to pump the lever again. I saw some air bubbles being released in the resevoir but the lever never got sfiff. I started thinking the O ring or the rubber on the piston could have been worn out. That was when I decided to take a break and search in youtube. After a few videos, sported your, and made sense about the air getting trapped around the master cilender area. Decided to give it a few tapping with my palm and pumping the lever as you described, I could see more air being released, a few more tapping and pumping and the liver finally became stiff. The brakes are working fine now and the lever fully retracts back to press on the brake switch, early there was a gap and the brake lights would stay ON. Thank you my friend, your video truly helped me...😜

Thank you,thank you, struggled for 4 days ,trying to get front bled. Went out to the garage ,15,minutes later it was all set to take a ride

This worked and saved me a ton of headache! THANK YOU!

Just tried this and it worked like a charm.

I have a race tomorrow but I'm still flying home and will get in late this evening. This was the only thing I needed to resolve on my bike before an early drive tomorrow to the course! Hopefully your tips work and I'll be able to get some rest this evening.

Dang, I’ve been riden my Atv with soft brake lever for months cuz I thought it needed replaced. Thanks to you my friend, I got a stiff lever again!😂

EXTRA TIP (from what i've found doing this) is to gently tap the lever while steering left-right-center to more thoroughly get the air out of your master cylinder. Careful not to spill it though!

This video saved me so much money! Thank you so much, could not understand what was going on and this video was spot on.

Many Thanks for this video!! Been chasing my Tail with this

those tiny bubbles made all the difference. totally squishy to stiffer than heck. thank you boss

This video saved my brakes rebuild, thank you so much for making this!

great tip and i love the Nighthawks

It was really the perfect way to remove air! Thanks!

came back to this video after it solved my first time working on my brakes when I went to replace my cables I also had to bleed my master cylinder could be an easy thing to miss as well for anyone having issues even after this video.

You just blessed me bro, this worked first try

Appreciate you bro! Saved me so much time doing other methods

Idk how much you know how much you helped me out. But Thank you!

Awesome!! Could not figure out why no pressure, I thought I bled them enough. Turning the bars and getting the line as even as possible did the so much more air bubbie were in there

German shepperd, THE DOG... Did you know, why seat, with backwards? Because he always protect to us. Best dogs in the world. Literally.

Thanks a ton! This worked perfect on my Yamaha YZ250F

Definitley not 3 mins, but it worked like a charm. My only lessons learned, if you're not getting bubbles, adjust the pressure on the pull, then go back to the light pull. It took me about 30 mins of modulating on new brake lines to get about 90% pressure back. Then I attached a bungie cord from the lever to the grip, to apply just enough pressure to keep the valve open. In the morning after removing the bungie, pressure was 100%.

You are my HERO, can you please do more motorcycle videos !!

Should have came here first, Thanks !

Thank you sir. New line and never bled the brakes. Pumped the 1/8 turn until is was good to go and only took a few minutes

Thank you for the help the other methods didn't work and this methods worked vary fast

Very helpful, I have this issue on my bike but now know how to resolve it :-)

Omg this video amazing, wow thank you so much Brother you’re amazing and this video saving my time alot to bleeding it 🙏🙏🙏💯💯💯💯

Thank you very much I have the same bike with the same problem. You rock!

life saver mate nothing else was working! thanks

Bad Ass indeed !!!! Have been dickin around for months and you solved it ! Yur a MONSTER ... Thank You !

Good DIY tip. Learned something new. Thanks. I liked and Subscribed.

3 minutes was a bit optimistic, took me 35 minutes of constant tapping on the lever and brake lines..😅 But it did work, so huge thanks! 😃👍 Without your video I would have given up, and probably ordered a new master sylinder..🤣

oh ur a legend just saved me for race weekend

I lOve you damn ashole😂😂😂 you help me i try 12 days to make it until i see your clip damn you are king

Damn bro. You literally saved me. Thanks a lot

Keep getting air in my clutch line. I’ll give this a go 🍻

Brilliant, thanks heaps for this. Worked a treat on my VFR

Didnt work for me, did this for an hour and bleeding it 12 times. Theres always a tiny bubble

I’m putting a new front master cylinder on my vtx1300c, I’ll have to try this.

I used my brain and pumped for about 5 min .. but my brain did brain right to tell me to not squeeze all the way haha .. but there were bubbles, maybe not enough. will give it a try tomorrow .. I'm saving this video 😅

For a total dry to wet bleed sometimes the caliper itself naturally traps air due to the shape and a reverse bleed may be necessary using a syringe from the bottom up

Great video. Appreciate it.

You beauty, I'm gonna try this now!

I am going to try it and definitely follow up.

This worked like a charm, thank you so much! Might be a silly newb question, but do I still need to bleed at the caliper nipple after this?

Every ting i do. But at the end ill bleed the caliper through a little aswell. Just to get rid of any crap thats settled or any air trapped in the caliper. Awsome video. Just watched 1 bloke make a arse of it. Then have the cheek to say it took him 15mins. Yet he had a clock behind him 😂😂😂

How about a rear brake where the master cylinder is down low, line goes up to an abs unit, then down again to the rear caliper?

Needs a lot of patience. But it works 👍

Worked right away for me thank you so much I really thought I had some other shit going😂

Will give it a try. Thanks.

Not all heroes wear capes

Yup, this is true.

Most effective and time saving bleed...❤

I tried doing this but still no pressure in my brake handle, at first while doing the small pumps I got some bubbles going for maybe 5 minute but the oil doesn’t seem to lower

very good video, will be trying that tomorrow morning.....also nice honda you have

Worked perfect thanks 👍