How To 🛠 Change and Bleed Rear KTM Brembo Brakes 

More likely there's still air in it.

There’s a metal slider that sits on top of the pads that goes back in with the replacement. Some of the pads have metal backing between the pad and the caliper but that wouldn’t be moved over to the new pads. Just depends on the pads you get

@@ExtremeSportsWannaBes Thanks for the reply.

Got any suggestions ?

Unfortunately the master cylinder on these bikes moves such a small amount of fluid at a time that it’s really difficult to get air out. As long as you can see air coming out of the bleed nipple and the fluid is going down in the reservoir then you’re making progress. It’s going to take time. One thing you can do is try to fill up the system as you’re assembling it. If you have a syringe it makes it easier. Just squirt some brake fluid in the caliper and try to make sure all the bubbles are out before you attach the brake like. Same with the brake line. Once it’s attached to the caliper try filling up the line before you attach it to the master cylinder. If you have to move all the air out of an mostly empty brake system then it’ll take forever. It may be too late now that it’s already put back together. It’s hard to tell if it’ll be faster to keep pumping fluid into the system. In any case good luck. I’ve been there and I know the pain 🙄

WannaBes DUDE hell ya I tried ur method of bleeding frigging got it done in 4 mins !!! Ride on my man!

Dude awesome! Glad that worked out for you!

If you do that, every time you release the brake, you'll suck air back into the system.

@@ExtremeSportsWannaBes ahhhh, good to know. Thank you!

@@ExtremeSportsWannaBes so I was changing the back tire last week and must have yanked on the brake line and the brakes closed while off the rotor, I'm having a hell of a time getting the pads to completely separate so I can fit them back onto the rotor, is the piston on your KTM flush with the caliper or does it protrude a few MM?

Can usually be pushed back to flush or close to it. You can pry apart the pads or pistons, but be careful not to break or damage them.

You have to release the brake fluid pressure though, or the pistons won't have anywhere to go. It'll usually flow back into the reservoir, but watch it doesn't overflow.

By that do you mean that you can’t get the caliper to back out? It sounds more like a problem with the caliper than a typical break job. I’m not sure what would cause that if so. May be a faulty caliper.

Also, is it possible that your brake rotor could be bent or warped from impact with something? It’s possible that if the rotor is bent it could be forcing itself against the brake pads and making it seem that they are applied. Did the problem begin suddenly or was it progressive? :)

WannaBes i did take it to the dunes so could it be the sand?

And it was out of no where just clamped down and i couldnt move, but i would pump the brakes for a bit and let it sit so i could get back to the the truck

It’s possible. My 2015 Husky 501S had a rear brake lock up on me coming down a deeply sandy hill because of sand packed into the mechanism. In my situation I just kinda laid the bike on its side, shifted to neutral and manually ran the the rear wheel back and forth a couple times with my hands until it freed so I could keep going. I would recommend that you maybe try spraying water from your hose through your rear brake assembly to rinse out any packed sand and perhaps tap/bang on it ***gently*** with a rubber mallet if necessary to get the pieces to move. Otherwise, you may want to remove the wheel, followed by the rear brake caliper and take out the pads to access the whole brake caliper to clean out any sand. That would also be a good time to spin your wheel and assess the straightness of your brake rotor.

Sounds like you have an air bubble in the line. Since the master cylinder pumps a very small amount of fluid it can be hard to get the air out of the line but you basically have two options. Either you can continue to try and pump fluid through until the air bubble come out or you can try back bleeding the system by forcing fluid through with a syringe from the caliper side.

@@ExtremeSportsWannaBes Ok man thanks for your reply basically I did it yesterday and it pumped through fast but then I wanted to redo it today as I was rushing it because me and the lads wouldn’t to get out that day but yeah I’ll take a look again.

I’ve definitely been there! Hope you can get it fixed without too much hassle.

@@ExtremeSportsWannaBes thanks

The bleeder hose I use I think 1/4 inch vacuum line.

It sounds like you have an air bubble in the brake line. It's difficult to get out because the master cylinder pumps a really small volume of fluid per pump. One way to get the air bubble out is to just keep pumping fluid through the system until you feel the break getting stiff again. You can do this using the same bleeding method I showed in the video. It will take a while but usually this will get the bubble out. As long as you can see the fluid level going down in the reservoir it's a good thing. Even if you don't have fluid coming out of the bleed nipple. That most likely means that air is coming out instead. The less likely scenario is that the seal in the master cylinder is going out and therefore can't build up pressure. You can buy a master cylinder rebuild kit for cheep. I had mine go out not long after I bought the bike and its not hard to replace.

@@ExtremeSportsWannaBes All clear; I suppose my master cylinder seal died because fluid level in is not going down. But I will try pumping some more, today I was in a rush to prepare for a ride so I did 220kms offroad without rear brake :D Thank you very much for your time, you helped me a lot!

I just want to reiterate that if it is an air bubble it will be a pain in the arsss to get out. I've had to do it a few times and it took a while to move that air bubble through the brake system. I seem to remember that when the seal on the master cylinder went out it was leaking fluid out past the input shaft that comes off the rear break lever. Don't quote me on that because it was a long time ago and my memory isn't great haha :) Dude that's rough haha. Riding without a rear break sucks. Theres a local group ride in this area called the Soboba ride and I had my rear brake give out because I let my brake pads get too low and it started sucking in air through the reservoir. I rode most of that ride without a rear brake so I know the feeling.

@@ExtremeSportsWannaBes Well, I didn't enjoy not having my rear brake but I'd enjoy less not riding at all :D Aha, I get it. And what do you think about removing rear caliper and position it somehow that the air bubble has to go out? Like brake hose should go straight up from the master cylinder to the caliper. I think that would prevent the air bubble from staying in between.

It's possible, but there's really no substitute for taking the time to bleed them out by pumping fluid through. I wouldn't take chances with having brakes done right.

Lol I’ll keep that in mind for next time :)

Hah that’s kind of a constant reality for me

What bike are you working on?

A ktm sx 125cc from 2015

Saphir Shadowkiller you’re right. It’s slightly different but the process should be largely the same. There should be a main pin through the brake pads that’s held in place by a cotter pin. You should be able to slide that pin out, compress the caliper with a screw driver and slide the new brake pads in. If you’re not worried about the brake fluid or need to bleed the system you should be able to change the pads without having to mess with the fluid. If you do want to bleed the system, the process should be the same. The caliper has a bleed screw and the master cylinder will have reservoir. Hope this helps.

WannaBes it aint making any pressure at all

Saphir Shadowkiller if there’s no resistance in the brake lever then there is an air bubble in the brake line. It’ll take some time but if you make sure the reservoir is full and keep trying to pump fluid through the system you’ll work the air out. It’s also really important to follow the bleeding sequence carefully otherwise you’ll suck air in through the caliper. (Press down on the brake lever, loosen the bleed screw, let the air/fluid out, tighten the bleed screw, let off the brake lever, repeat the process) also check the fluid level ever three or so pumps and make sure that you don’t let up on the brake lever while the bleed screw is open.