Hi All,
Fitted new bar to my 796, but the hoses could do with slight adjustment to clear the wind screen. Being a novice at this, can the brake and clutch hoses and connectors be lossened slightly to adjust or would this cause a problem?
Thanks
it can be if you dont know what you are doing, the important thing is to maintain the a seal and do it quickly.
The responsible answer is no - air can get in - leaving the brakes dangerously soft.
Although: before I knew about stuff like that, I did it and didn't have problems after.
The bolts on my bike were tight, so I had to use a lot of force. When they finally moved, they moved more than I intended. If you decide to try, I suggest a big/long tool to help you control how far you turn - it doesn't have to be a lot!! Better yet - also have someone hold the hoses and position them quickly before you tighten the bolts again.
Thanks for the replies. That was the plan just to loosen enough and only enough to move the hose. If air does get in to font brake line is it obvious straight away?
Yes/no - probably right away, but might become worse when the brakes and fluid warm up.
Any bike shop can help you put in new fluids (which is a good idea anyway) and bleed both sides in under half an hour. That's a better idea than trying it yourself in my opinion.
It can be done, has been done by many. (pretty common problem when installing aftermarket bar, rear set).
You said being a novice, so here are a couple of things that might help.
1) You need a wrench, NOT a socket + ratchet to turn banjo bolt. Because you'll have to do quick "loosen=>tighten" movement.
2)Wrap around banjo bolt fitting area with blue paper towel or rag (just in case the fluid weep). Banjo bolt head needs to be exposed, off course.
3)Hold the banjo fitting with your left hand and put tension on to the direction you want to rotate it BEFORE you start loosening the banjo bolt.
4)With the wrench in your right hand, loosen the banjo bolt. As soon as it becomes loose enough, the banjo fitting will rotate since you are already putting force on it.
5)Quickly re-tighten the banjo bolt.
6)clean up the brake fluid (if it came out).
When tightening the banjo bolt, don't over tighten it. Theoretically, you are NOT supposed to re-use the crush washer. If you tighten the banjo bolt until it feels really tight, you destroy the washer. (remember you are re-tightening the crush washer that's already been crushed once.) Apply the front brake and if the fluid doesn't come out, that's fine.
If you get A LOT of air, you will notice right away (front brake gets spongy) but the only way it can happen is that you pull the brake lever while the banjo is loose ...
If you get a little bit of air, you may or may not notice it. If you have any doubt, brake lever touch feels different after doing this, you should bleed brakes.