Bleeding on my iPhone

Not too long ago I bigged-up Speed Bleeders.  Those friendly brake bleeder fittings with a built-in check-valve.

When I bought that set for the ZX6R, I also bought a set for the SV650's front calipers, figuring that I'd be bleeding them eventually as well.  And sure enough, the front lever got soft today.  So I dug the package of brand spanking-new Speed Bleeders out of a drawer; drained the old nastiness and installed the new bleeders.

Then my Dad gave me a ring and I talked to him while I bled both calipers with one hand.  Man, that open-squeeze-close-release method is for the birds.

Speed bleeders

A few years ago I did some brake work on a Honda Civic that required draining the fluid system completely. I used the task as an excuse to try out the Speed Bleeder product. Thanks to those tricky little bleeder valves, I was able to bleed that Civic's brakes by myself.

Fast-forward to last week: I decided to take my ZX6R out for the first time in a month or so.

Warm one in #NoVA! Let's do lunch, ZX :) o-`o

— walk_n_wind (@walk_n_wind) January 24, 2012

I pulled away, squeezed the front brake lever, and found the lever traveled way more than I expected. "Wow, I guess I forgot how late the brake lever tightens-up on this bike," I thought to myself. I learned later in the trip that I was a fool for taking it out and that the brakes were failing.

Anyway, back at my non-garage, I determined I needed to drain and refill the brake fluid system. The reservoir was empty and the fluid looked ... old. Not looking forward to tightening/loosening the bleeder valves for each squeeze of the lever, I called upon the Speed Bleeder product again to make my life easier.

If you've never tried Speed Bleeders, you might want to consider them...