It sounds all great and noble to say that but lots of people out there can't and shouldn't ever perform their own maintenance. They might think the same thing as you do while they're cross threading every bolt and breaking every fastener.
I've walked away from many 'mint' bikes that have 'been immaculately maintained by owner' because it looked a gorilla worked on it. People don't put any care or attention into their work and always wind up doing a shit job. They claim they care more than any mechanic but the proof lies in the result.
We can't all be like Lee (Oldschool). That man is like a robot
Thanks,
I think, but I do more and more mechanical stuff as time goes by for a few reasons. Shop charges are
so much more than I make per hour, It is easy to research just about anything you want to do, and I have built up enough tools to do almost any basic job on my machines.
I understand and can remember the hesitance of doing something as basic as a brake bleed / line swap, but having a winter of time on my hands each year, I took the plunge with the FZ1. I was fortunate to have seen "How To" pictures and video from other members here and was extremely careful when removing, draining, and replacing parts.
Not having become blase' about bolt tightening, despite the mechanic's abuse at work, I own and use 1 of 3 torque wrenches on almost every bolt, with the owners, or shop manuals close at hand.
Check the documents several times and do it right once.
As Dustin pointed out, I to have owned "back-yard-mechanic specials" My first Bike, a 1978 Yamaha XS-400 had every screw, and bolt rounded off from one of the 2 tools (Phillips screw driver, and a Vise-grips) that the previous owner had.
If you don't have the tools or don't have the aptitude (or confidence) and can justify the expense of the shop, I don't see a problem with that. After all,
done right once is
always cheaper than someone else having to fix a mistake on today's expensive alloy machines.
To the OP:
Yes use the bleeder, when I did mine I used a hand pump bleeder and it worked great!. Make sure the reservoir is completely level (adjust it on the handle bar by loosening the mount), and if you can have someone help you. If you do a standard, suction bleed (draining from the bottom), have your buddy keep the reservoir from sucking air, by adding fresh fluid before it is completely empty. Do one line at a time until clean fluid come out with no bubbles, which is easy to see in the bleeder line.
The other option, once new lines are on and the lines and reservoir are empty is to "reverse bleed" using a large syringe and slowly forcing fluid up the lines into the reservoir. I do my clutch slave like this and it works great. You can start with a totally empty (clean) reservoir but you have to really pay attention so you don't overflow and spill on paint, etc. A large towel wrapped around and under the reservoir prevents any unpleasant accidents.
Once you are all done and everything (including the reservoir) are all tightened up I pump the lever until it is firm (feels normal), making sure they release and the wheel spins freely. Then squeeze the lever and zip-tie it in the applied position over night (or for a few hours) so any air bubbles can find their way up to the reservoir. Some videos show doing this and gently tapping the lines from bottom to top to get any tiny air bubbles to travel up and out.
Galfer Brakes - Installing brake lines - YouTube
Galfer Brakes - Bleeding Brake Lines - YouTube
The above videos were what I watched (two of) before I did mine.
