Brake Issues - Bandit 1250

[funinacup]

Small update:

Bike dropped off this morning and the garage are confident there's no air in the ABS system. He's stripped & rebuilt the calipers and apparently they weren't clean enough. Fired a new set of seals in for peace of mind and rebuilt.

He claims the brakes are slightly better, but that Bandits with ABS tend to have spongey brakes as standard, due to the master cylinder not being large enough to push fluid such a distance. Supposedly I can fit a 1200 Bandit M/C as its larger and that will help brake feel.

Also he hates the 4 pot Tokico calipers. Says they're never great even when brand new.

Should be able to collect it on Saturday so will see what the final chat is then!

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2008 Bandit 1250

 

[Stu]

Also he hates the 4 pot Tokico calipers. Says they're never great even when brand new.

 

 

I totally agree

sack of shite

[funinacup]

Also he hates the 4 pot Tokico calipers. Says they're never great even when brand new.

 

 

I totally agree

sack of shite

Seems that way!

Not sure whether to pump money into a new master cylinder and possibly calipers, or just shift it for something better!

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2008 Bandit 1250

 

[Bender]

Depends if you like the rest of the bike, if its just the brakes then go for upgrades, if you feel like a change then you still wont be happy with it afterwards may as well spend the money on something else.

[Stu]

you don't have to spend a lot to upgrade them!

they can also be made to work well but you have to keep on top of them and strip them once a year!

[funinacup]

you don't have to spend a lot to upgrade them!

they can also be made to work well but you have to keep on top of them and strip them once a year!

But if they've just been rebuilt and they're still not great then they're never gonna be great (without upgrading!)

I'm definitely keen to see which master cylinders I can fit that will work better, and possibly see about replacing the calipers with bigger stoppers!

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2008 Bandit 1250

 

[funinacup]

Update!

Just had a text saying the bikes ready for collection. There's a big improvement in the brakes, and it's passed its MOT!

HOORAY!

Will collect on Saturday and report back.

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2008 Bandit 1250

 

[funinacup]

Update!

Collected the bike earlier and it's the best the brakes have ever been (pads are still bedding in so not super sharp yet).

Lever is very firm from the first press.

The garage stripped, cleaned and rebuilt the calipers with new, genuine seals, bled it all up and carried out an MOT for £131.

Advised to look into a 1200 MK1 master cylinder but honestly the brakes are great now so I'm not in a hurry to change it.

Happy days!

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2008 Bandit 1250

 

[Dave Levine]

Same problem 1008 1250 sa. Has anyone tried bleeding with engine running. My next step. 

I've tried ordinary bleeding ,vacuum bleeding ,pressure bleeding ,new master cyl kit (didn't expect that to be the fault and it wasn't )

tried with ignition on but not engine running.

If this doesn't work it will be going into workshop.

[Grumpy Old Git]

45 minutes ago, Dave Levine said:

Same problem 1008 1250 sa. Has anyone tried bleeding with engine running. My next step. 

I've tried ordinary bleeding ,vacuum bleeding ,pressure bleeding ,new master cyl kit (didn't expect that to be the fault and it wasn't )

tried with ignition on but not engine running.

If this doesn't work it will be going into workshop.

|When I did mine (some time back now!), it took a very long time. Starting with nearest bleed nipple and working around one by one, eventually got about 50% 'squeeze pressure' on the lever. Tie-wrapped lever overnight. Repeated complete bleed sequence again - Sorted!

There are points where air bubbles seem to 'stick' but being methodical and very patient, I got there in the end.