NOTICE: The owner of this website and GTMotoCycles.com completely lost his home on the morning of January 8th in the L.A. Wildfire Storm. Most of his neighborhood is gone, and a few friends were killed along with their pets. The GTM SHOP and STORE are functioning normally, but we DEMAND EXTREME PATIENCE on orders as we are a SMALL business and Todd usually has his hands on nearly every order before it goes out. You can find more info on a post named L.A. Wildfires in the USA section. Our heart and best go out to everyone effected in this horrific disaster.
Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
Good morning All
I could use some advice.
I'm sure this has been covered before and I did try searching the archives and didn't find what I was hoping for.
Is there a trick to getting the rear brakes to bleed?
I'm getting fluid out of the bleed, but just cant seem to get them to harden up. Pumping is getting tedious.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you
I could not determine from your question exactly which Guzzi year or model you have.
I had two: 2004 Breva 750cc "Small Block" and 2007 Norge 1150 2-Valve "Big Block." Along the way I collected a lot of reference material for both - some of which I hope may be helpful to you. The two text files are on-line at these links :
Thank you!!!
Rookie mistake.... 2004 Breva 750.
I'll try your links.
We seem to be endlessly pumping and bleeding.
Improvement, but can't seem to cross the finish line.
Thank you. I have gotten it to a point that seems to be ok, but not as hard/firm as the front. I'm going to use as is for 50+ miles so the pads seat & break in" and then Ill see what I've got performance wise. I'll feel better if when taking a test ride I can get the rear wheels to "lock up" under heavy braking when the bike has some momentum.
On my vintage Laverda rear brake is very difficult to bleed as well. As said above remove the caliper from the swing arm. Stick a piece of plywood between the pads, hold it up high with bleeder pointing up. Bleed using short slow strokes. You can also try strapping down the brake lever down tap the m/c and any high points if any in the circuit to knock air possible air bubbles out. Leave it over night. Come back and do a final bleed.
I have found that after about 95 when Guzzi started using side by side pucks they got harder to bleed by hand. The 1st rebuild showed me why. The holes between caliper 1/2's got way smaller. I started using a hand vacuum tool. The shops had one that ran on a air compressor. I got one of those in 13. Before that I was putting caliper above the master & a wrench between pads, just like mentioned here. The air job I got is not used everyday anymore but it paid for itself being easy.
Thank you fellas
Exactly the kind of advice I was looking for.
I think that if what I've done isn't good enough I'll try one of those vacuum bleeders.
Road test (other than a one mile loop around the neighborhood) still pending.... I've away from home right now.
Next week I'll know more.
Happy new year