I thought I should share my experiences with everyone regarding bleeding the ABS system 'by the book' using the 22 page guide. It all started because my brakes just didn't feel great - too spongy and it was a bit of an effort to use just two fingers and expect to stop hard. I was also finding that the brakes just didn't stop me as hard as I'd like them too; feeling as if it was only a 3/4 effort despite grabbing the lever hard. I've got a 2012 blade, brand new as of 1st match 2012 and its covered 12,300 miles now. I'm off to France on Sunday for 6 days so I wanted the brakes to feel sharp, plus its ready for a mid-service interval oil and filter change. I started off with new pads as the front OEMs were pretty dead. Replaced them with EBC HH sintered road pads which worked well in the past, and once again are performing well. A good clean up of the calipers first, good amount of copper ease and in they went. The rears were fine so only received a cleanup. Still, once bedded in the spongy feel to the brakes remained. I bought some Castrol DOT4.1 fluid and bled the brakes front and rear conventionally; starting at the master cylinder. I was amazed at how much air came out, especially at the MC. Feel was a little better but knowing there was air in the lines I had a reasonable bet it was also within the C-ABS system components too. So, a little read of the Honda guide on ABS bleeding and a few panels off I had found all the components of the system which the guide refers to. I had a couple of hours to spend faffing so decided to work through as much of the guide as possible. Started by removing the ABS undertray below the battery - the cover that exposes the exhaust flapper valve servo - then popped the battery out to feed the orange plug through to which a jumper wire needs connecting to set the system into air bleed mode. Fuses removed as per instructions, ignition on and a combination squeezes of rear and front levers to set the system into air bleed mode. It makes a kinda spitting noise when the front lever is finally pulled at the end of the combo, and the lever returns to the bar with the ABS light flashing. That's then set up ready to bleed the front valve unit. It's then bled in sequence as per the instructions using the front lever and bleed nipples on the front valve unit. It's handy having a decent bleeding kit (mines just a plastic bottle with clear hose). Pic below showing the front valve unit accessed by removing the top black cover behind the left side panel which has the gearshift rod passing through it. Here's a picture showing the dummy connector and my makeshift jumper wire using two pronged speaker connectors with one side snipped off. Worked a treat! I followed the instructions through, again there's a sequence of rear pedal and front lever with the bleed nipple on the front right caliper open which gets the motor unit whirring briefly to self-bleed. It's quite cool actually. I messed up that pedal sequencing once so had to start that section again after putting the system back into air bleed mode. A final bleed of the front lines saw the end of that section, with 5 turns on and off with the key to clear the potential fault code within the ABS system. Next was the rear motor/valve unit. Again, repeated as before for the front but bleeding from two different bleed nipples this time. This is the under seat unit. Pic below showing the bleed nipples. This one again was bled using the front lever if I remember rightly. Again, similar finish to the previous section only this time the motor unit bleeds to the rear caliper when the pedal sequence is initiated. It's all in the instructions which are very easy to follow. Rear motor/valve unit done for the front lines, but the next section is the same unit being bled but done via the rear pedal. The final section I didn't do as I ran out of time and it meant removing the tank to access the one way valve, but by this time I'd got loads of air out of the main system, bled loads of new fluid in and decided to leave it for another day. Towards the end no air was really coming out anyhow. What a difference!! I couldn't believe how bad the brakes were and felt compared to now. Lever feel is pretty damn solid, a gentle squeeze had the front diving and it's just so consistent. Bear in mind I did test it after new pads, caliper clean and conventional bleeding of the front and rear, so the difference is purely down to the full system bleed. It took me just over 2 hours, and that was with me faffing around a bit. I didn't do the last section as I said but that seems real easy anyway. Next time I'd say 3 hours tops from rolling the bike into the garage to riding it away. How Honda reckon 5 hours is beyond me - Is that with a lunch break, perhaps?! In summary, if you've got a bit of patience, a bleeding kit or self made one, and are ok with removing the seat, battery (well, lifting it up briefly) the tank, and left side plastic cover then give it a go. It's very easy to follow the instructions - they're great, just don't skip anything out and ensure the fluid reservoirs are topped up during the process so as not to introduce air. Really, it is difficult to mess it up Next time I do it I'lll make a proper how-to guide Sam
Thats great Sam; I may have another go at mine as per the manual. I did mine in the conventional fashion - just the calipers & MC. I too released some air & the brakes felt much better afterward. They have failed again since however; maybe I just have more air in there. It looks to me that even when the brakes are working conventionally (when in fault mode - yellow light flashing), the fluid still has to circulate through all the various components before reaching the calipers; this is why I tried bleeding in the conventional sense. Well done for having a go & thanks for sharing.
No worries, hopefully it helps. It's certainly not as complex as it first looks on paper. I must say I've never had the brake failing issue on my bike, although while feathering slightly on and off the front lever it has come back further than normal, but never to the bar. I had lots of air in there and it didn't seem to cause issues, other than a spongy feel Hopefully you get yours sorted Swiss T. It's such a great system in my eyes. Last night in the wet I reminded myself just how well and controlled it brings the bike to a halt. I'd NEVER be able to do that without lockups on a non-ABS bike
Nice to know how to do this from a human rather than a manual. Get yourself a video up on youtube mate, youll make a fortune too!
I was thinking the idea of a video would be best. I'll do one sometime soon when I'm back from across the water. I like doing stuff like that!
Excellent, thanks for this. To add to that: my own experiences with my 2010 ABS blade... I found that conventional bleeding via the calipers only, using a pressurized easy bleed kit was very effective and very quick to do: lots of air came out, and all the better for it, and took 20 mins. Easy bleed kits pump a lot of fluid through the entire system very quickly using pressurized air (from a car tyre) to drive it through. I doubt it will remove all trapped air as per a full bleed, due to the complexity and various high points that air can get trapped in. None the less: it worked for me as an easy short-term improvement, and I haven't had a single issue since. NB:I had to adapt the easy bleed kit though - I drilled a hole in my master cylinder reservoir caps (front and rear) and fitted the bleed nipples from the kit direct to the caps, because the kit didn't have a decent cap which fitted. I then plugged those holes after I finished, but probably new caps is in order at some point. Also: You need to remember to take the diaphragms out of the reservoirs, you need a decent seal, you need lots of fluid and not too much pressure, because too much pressure can cause a messy blow-out of nasty brake fluid all over the place - commons sense stuff.
Great write-up, only done the conventional but will give this a try Thanks for this, already have the thread bookmarked!
Glad you guys find it useful and interesting! What find strange is the Honda recommendation that the system should be bled after two years, rather than a fixed mileage interval. Take my bike for example - I'll have done 20k plus easily by the two year mark, whereas others may only have a few thousand miles. Looking at the amount of air I bled out I dread to think how much would've been in there in a year! I forgot to mention that once I'd pushed the caliper pistons back in while changing out the pads the old fluid that came into the reservoir was a horrible colour! Quite dark and clearly in need of a change. Knowing I can bleed the system now I think I'll be getting braided lines and the Brembo M/C soon...
Sam just a few questions while its still fresh in your head. I've just had a full bleed done under warranty but do not intend to pay for this when it runs out! The instructions say to bleed the simulator side first then the power unit side, the PDF is a bit sketchy are you able to point these out in your photos of the front and rear valves. When the instructions say flushed/bled does this mean when you see no air or you have gone through a reservoir full, also are you continually topping up the reservoir during the process? When bleeding from the valves/callipers are you actually depressing any levers, or is the system automatically spitting it out? Thanks in advance, you have indeed been a pioneer in this
Sure, no worries. Having to do this from memory as I'm away biking in France this week but I'll do my best:- Hope that helps? It's well worth it, and once you've done it you'll realise its pretty straightforward and never pay to get it done again Feel free to ask more questions if needs be - I'm happy to help Sam
Thanks Sam, I think that has cleared up the points I had trouble with. First time I looked at the instructions it was a right off, looked far too complex, but you explaining it and looking at them again it’s pretty straight forward. I almost think the manual was designed this why to put most peeps off, it definitely could be written into 2-3 pages max!. I think you have started a trend of DIY full ABS bleeds and help us stop filling the pockets of main dealers!
Do you have a link to the original how to document? This issue seems to be one of the things putting people off buying the ABS bikes. As you say Slick, if you can do it yourself, or get an independent to do it for you, there is now no reason why you wouldn't. You only need the ABS once, right?
http://www.expandingknowledge.com/J...ABS/Maintenance/Combined_ABS_Air_Bleeding.pdf I'm trying to find a better copy though
AWSUM Sam, totally AWSUM. Must say that on page 2 where it talks about removing the radiator I thort if that's the case no wonder a dealer wants £400.00 to do the job! Removing the rad' is opening up a whole new can of worms Also, check these out.... http://youtu.be/ym42MWzxal8 http://youtu.be/DcbZ_WGvupw
With what Samd1985 has already done, we should have an unoffical how to manual by the time i've finished
Think I will try out a full bleed in the next month or so. Anyone used ATE Super Blue fluid? ATE Super Blue Racing Brake Fluid DOT 4 - 1 Litre | eBay Saw it used in a vid somewhere and because it is blue you know when the lines are fully flushed, - ingenious!
Just completed my first bleed, easy peasy!. Woo hoo! Took less than 40 mins doing the front valve and most of that was removing panel for access, brakes are even better than ever! Haven't done the rears yet but it's basically the same. Going to be doing it again so expect pictures and videos soon.
Yeah buddy I use this and brembo alternate the 2 so as you say you know when it's flushed . I prefer the brembo fluid to this
