Well I decided to carry out a bit of brake bleeding today after changing 3 sets of hoses as I did not like the red ones previously fitted.

After having struggled for years on my own, pumping the lever, topping up the fluid, bleeding the nipple, air staying in loop of front pipe and even using the simple self bleeders (never worked) I was dreading attempting to get the perfect stiff brake levers on my own.

Having purchased an oil drain suction kit a year ago to suck all nasty fluids from lawnmowers, loft tank, heating oil tanks etc, I thought I could use it on the brakes.
Using a piece of rubber pipe the right size, just pushed it on the nipple, pumped up a vacuum a few times (one pump up is more than enough for whole job) and opened the bleed nipple, keep the master cylinder reservoir topped up while it is sucking the fluid through and within 30 seconds lock the bleed nipple and its completed with the perfect lever.

I did 3 bike sets today and all perfect without any sponginess, worth the £20 for the kit.

nice

Also looks like it would make an awesome bong :) I have a vacuum bleeding kit which consists of a syringe and a piece of rubber tubing, works a treat!

One other thing I have noticed is the way to route the front brake hose.

My choice is the inside of the fork leg, but a lot of people (as per Honda) like them routed on the outside, ready to be tugged by a branch or whatever may catch it.

Mammoth 200, is your brake hose guide missing in the picture you posted, or just removed for some reason.

If you mean the one that's supposed to be attached to the bottom yolk, it was never there when I bought the bike, not on the top of my to do list of items that I need, but I will get one at some point! There's loads of little odds and sods like that I need to replace or put on, but first and foremost is to get her running!

Big +1 for the PELA from me as well,for lack of any other idea's I got my boys to buy me one for a Birthday present.
It's been very useful, or so I'm told, by my boys
Mike

Pela is brilliant ,i always change car oil now via dipstick ,never had an issue in over 80000 miles,this is THE only way you can do a smart car and obviously boat engines,so dont be fooled by the scare mongering that it doesnt get all the nastiness out ,

Its great for sucking out all the power steering fluid, just in case you put brake fluid in it, who me.........

looks nice! ( nicer than mine and less likely to give an excited squirt in the eye! )

I just got a big syringe and some fish tank tubing to pump fluid up from the bottom- usually end up having to normal bleed as well.. but its faster than just a normal bleed by itself.

helisupp wrote:Its great for sucking out all the power steering fluid, just in case you put brake fluid in it, who me.........

You don't happen to have the filter oil in the gearbox T shirt as well do you .
Everybody is now banned from my garage when I'm changing oils so as to avoid distractions.
Mike