98 fzr600 front brake pad change now no tension

[mantis toboggan]

Hello, im new here. Been looking at fzrs for a few years now and finally bought one about a month ago. I have had a few older bikes, a 71 cb350, 79 kz750, 73 suzuki gt380, and a 1981 gs550, anyhow, this is my first "new bike".

I have done all the regular tune up stuff such as a new battery, rear tire, got the carbs ultrasonic cleaned, new plugs,new rear brake pads, recovered the seats and a few other things cant remember right now.

Which brings me to this. I put new pads in the front today... the right side went on pretty easy other than playing whack a mole with the 4 brake pistons til i got smart and got some clamps. Moved on to the left side and one of the pistons was stuck. I tried and tried and couldnt get the damn thing to move. Finally after trying for about 15 mins i decided to grab the brake lever for whatever dumb reason.. i must have been high or something.. and ended up pushing one of the pistons almost completely out. So i got it to move in one direction at least. So i tried to squeeze the last piston back in and it pushed the one beside it completely out just after making a slightly loud pop noise which was probly just that piston losing suction.. After cleaning up all the brake fluid on my garage floor i pushed all the pistons back in and proceeded to reinstall the caliper. So now while im bleeding the brakes/ adding fluid, im not getting any tension at all on the lever and not seeing that many bubbles come out either. it seems like i should feel some sort of difference after doing this for 15+ mins. Also the pads on that side have not moved since the piston popped out. Maybe theres so much air in the lines that its not getting to that caliper at all yet? Im kind of stumped at this point. Do yall think i should just keep bleeding and filling or have i possibly busted one of the many 17 year old rubber rubber bits somewhere in the brake system? I dont see any signs of a leak anywhere.

Any help is appreciated!
Will add pictures of everything soon when im at home.

[DonTZ125]

Zip-tie the lever to the handlebar, then leave it overnight. There is plenty of air in the system, but it's all in tiny bubbles. Clamping the lever keeps the system under pressure, which drives the bubbles into larger and larger clumps that you can see and effectively bleed out.

[mantis toboggan]

thanks for the reply don, i actually read that somewhere on this forum yesterday and ended up wrapping some blue tape around the brake lever and handlebar last night...(i couldnt find any zip ties). and i am getting a few more larger bubbles but the left caliper hasnt pushed the brake pads in at all... they are still loose on the rotor. im wondering if the caliper is bad? the pads were worn a little bit unevenly.

[DonTZ125]

Yeah, I hate it when that happens - the brakes are so mushy the pistons aren't extending! Just keep at it - if you run out of bubbles and it still isn't firming up, tie it up again overnight. A full bleed from dry without vacuum tools is a real pain. Once you have the lever strapped down for a few hours, give the various banjo joints a few sharp raps with a wrench. Above all, keep that reservoir full - you start sucking wind, and you have to do it again!

[greasemeup]

I have heard reverse filling works well, start at the furthest bleed nipple from the M/C and with a syringe with a tube attached to the nipple & the M/C open, inject brake fluid up through the system. Watch for spillage from reservoir.


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[mantis toboggan]

Thanks guys, i ended up just bleeding over and over for about 45 mins and the brakes are back how they should be. I was worried the caliper might have to be rebuilt but everything is back to working. The previous owners never kept up with routine maintenance on this thing. I wouldnt be surprised if these were the brake pads that were on the bike when it came out of the factory... its kind of nice though, im used to seeing alot more stripped screws and bolts when i work on bikes.

[mantis toboggan]

Forgot to say that i taped the lever down over night which must have done most of the work for me