Hi guys i'm having heaps of trouble trying to bleed my rear brake on a 2012 Heritage softail. I replaced the pads with Lyndal Gold pads hoping to improve over standard, they are very spongy and dont stop, but when I bleed them the fluid comes out good with no apparent air bubbles. Does the ABS have something to do with the bleeding or I may have other problems. I have had the bike since new and did tell the dealer I was not happy with the rear brakes and they told me they are fine its now out of warrenty and the pads need replacing. Any suggestions please.

I put Lyndall Golds on the front my Road  king ( yet to do back) had no issues with ABS ,mine did feel a little spongy than stock Brembos,  but I would call it more feeling .. I checked out a youtube clip for the backs it can be done with out the need for bleeding, sorry can`t be any  more Helpful

What type of tool are you using to bleed, (flush) , the brake system ?? Or are you using the,, pump lever,, open bleeder screw, etc, etc, method . ??
Did you give the caliper and pistons a good clean with brake cleaner, so all pistons are moving freely,, so that , one or two pistons are not sticking and holding up ??

I have used the pump method, the syringe method, I have used a vacumm bleeder hooked up to my compressor, but I have not pulled the caliper apart to clean the pistons the bike being just over 2 years old I thought they would not need cleaning yet.????

Jungle,   If your satisfied that you have bleed and flushed your brake system with no air getting in the system and fluid level is ok,, will tick that one off..      When you ride the bike does the ABS light go out, and stay  off  ???   If it goes off , and stays off , we will assume the ABS system is working and ok,  (ie, no air in ABS module).   We will tick that one off ..

As your bike is 2 years old , we will assume your caliper and seals are ok.    With regard cleaning pistons,  I was not recommending disassembly of caliper, (of course caliper has to be off the wheel ),  only cleaning of pistons, so no brake dust and grime are holding up one or two pistons, ie ,,  affecting braking performance  !!

To give the pistons a good clean, the pistons have to be extended from the barrel more than normal ,, not  extendend so the pistons come out of the barrel ,,  if they do , you will be rebuilding the caliper ,, and have the shits big time !!!

 

Get a spacer , wood ,, metal ,, (see pic,  he used a file),,  a bit wider than your rotor,, pump brake so all pistons are extendend an extra , say 5mm on to your spacer ..  Give them a good clean,,  then gently force pistons back into  barrel,  making sure all pistons are free and not  binding up ,, do this a few times,, ( make sure you have the spacer in place during all this time)  !!!!  When happy, install pads and mount caliper,, pump up brake  ,, go and test ride ,, slowly !!!

Jungle ,, this may solve your problem with spongy brake , If not take it to another workshop for them to go over it with their expert eye !!!!   Brakes are very important !!!!!!!!     Hope this helps , Cheers

 

 

 

All the ABS bikes are SUPPOSED to be hooked up to the Digital technician when the brakes are bled or the fluid is changed

Is it 100% necesarry ? I don't know , I was in the motor trade 15 years but left it 20 years ago before ABS was well near standard

When I changed the ABS brake fluid on my wife's '04 Astra Convertible I was told by a local Indy workshop just to open all the caliper nipples and let the system gravity bleed while topping up the master cylinder like a bastard ! Each caliper had a drain/catcher undernath , and all 4 wheels were off the car on another mates hoist.

No pumping or sucking to be done !!  I've wondered if this would work on Harleys ? Tube on the nipple so you don't fuck the paint on the calipers !

 EDIT ! WILL MOST LIKELY NOT WORK ON THE REAR AS MOST MASTER CYLINDERS DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH HEIGHT ADVANTAGE ABOVE THE CALIPER !

May be OK for front caliper(s)

I have been loath to do brake work on anyone else's ABS Harley at home , and all my own Harleys bar one have been non ABS bikes On those I use a vacuum bleeder , front and rear calipers no worries

Yes it can be a contentious issue regarding changing the fluid on a ABS bike , (I am talking Harleys ).. There are two terms you have to consider,,, Flushing the system and Bleeding the system. From my experience , a total Flush of the system entails all old fluid out, and new fluid in, under vacuum , without there being any prior break in the lines, (ie, no disassembly of brake line, ie, replacing lines etc ) , in this example, a vacuum pump type tool.

Clear tube on bleeder screw, and connected to vacuum pump ,, put vacuum on pump ,,, make sure pump holds vacuum,, break bleeder screw,, fluid flows ,, keep topping up reservoir , (don't let reservoir run dry) ,, keep vacuum on pump until all old fluid is out, and new fluid is coming out clear .
In this example, we are not cycling the solenoids ,(switches) in the ABS module. Only the Harley Digital Tech tool will do that. So in theory, the miniscule amount of brake fluid in the ABS module is not being replaced !! If this concerns you,, then my advice is go to the dealer to change your brake fluid.

Now if you break the brake lines , for any reason, you have let air enter the system.. As well as replacing, (flushing) the fluid , you have to Bleed the system of all that air. When you are bleeding the air,, if the ABS module catches a whiff of it , it "may" throw a code and be disabled, and your ABS light will stay on. In this example the Harley Digital Tech tool is highly recommended.. That being said,, there are some that have broken the lines , etc, and had no ABS problems..

,, I have had no problems with my ABS system after I "Flush" the brake system ,, if I had a known amount of air in the system, and had to bleed all this air out,, I would go to the dealer and have them install new fluid with the Digital tech tool.

This is my opinion,, no doubt others will have their own. Cheers.

Thanks guys for your help. I will put a stopper between the pads and pump them out if that doesn't I will take the bike to a mechanic . Why does something so simple need to be so hard. Thanks again for your help.

Jungle,, Report back and let us know if the above helped with your spongy brakes !!!! Cheers.

Thanks Mark will do. I blocked of the rear brake line hose with brake line pliers to see if the master cylinder would hold pressure which it did.I then pulled the rear caliper of and took it to bits and cleaned the pistons and checked the seals all in good working order re-bleed the system I seem to have a pedal shall see. I will test the bike on Saturday. Fingers crossed.

My Dyna 2014 manual says this. When any hydraulic brake components line or connection is loosened or replaced on an ABS motorcycle, digital technician 11 MUST be used to verify all air is removed from the system. HD Part number HD_48650 Digital Technician11. Also Snap- On BB200A Basic Vacuum Brake Bleeder. There is an alternative method if these aren't available and I can scan it for ya if itl help. ( I already try to type it all but the box aint big enough ).Another thing.it says :ABS models. To confirm the brake system are properly connected and air is completely purged. Install master cylinder reservoir covers, connect motorcycle to Digital Technician 11 and perform ABS service procedure.Remeber this is a DYNA service manual but hope it helps
This is followed by an 8 step process ( for if you haven't got one of these Digital Technician thingos)that looks normal practice to me for bleeding brakes .Im only new to this forum but willing to help if I can. Let me know if ya need any more from this manual.

I did a you tube search on this Digital technician 11 and its apparently only available for dealers. as of 2011 anyway .That really sucks if ya ask me.So ya gotta go to a dealer even to bleed a brake ??? FFS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9_RHk047Fw I now see why they don't mind selling you the service manuals , Manuals useless unless ya got a Digital Technician anyway .

Hi guys I took the Heritage out yesterday for a good test ride and all is well I think there was a lot of air trapped in the caliper by using my vacumm bleeder and a bottle of brake fluid I had success. The ABS seems to work as well and I did not take it to the dealer so they could use there Digital technitian tool maybe I just got lucky.

Thanks again for all your help and advice

Good to hear you had success with your spongy rear brake !!! Cheers .