Bleeding Brakes With Abs

There was an issue with Harley's where the brakes failed if they were not maintained according to manufacturers guidelines. Corrosion in the ABS. So probably worth having the full fluid change done by dealer and do the rest yourself. Or get the correct tools and procedures. Best not to risk death over a critical service part . ...

 

Just bleed as normal ! Take it for a ride, doing several brake tests , ensuring you trigger the ABS ! Then re bleed ! Problem sorted ! The ABS pump will flush the new fluid through ! So no one thought this through did they ?? I did my mates early K100 Beemer this way... !

 

I’ve done mine the old fashioned way, but I’ll be giving it a try with Tunecu over the winter, having regards to the warning in a separate post that the abs unit needs to be treated with care to avoid damage to the valves.

 

Having ABS makes no difference to the bleeding procedure as it only actually operates during heavy breaking so the rest of the time its just a straight through system with no pump assistance, just like a car.

 

You are right ! But the ABS requires flushing at least once every year or so, or the ABS will possibly fail , due to the brake fluid in the ABS pump going off ! It can do several nasty things corrosion ! Turn to water ! Or even possibly solidify ! All of these can stop the ABS from doing it's job.

 

On the Harleys with the brakes issue it was not just the ABS failing to operate, the brakes failed to work altogether

 

Just be sure what sort of ABS system is fitted some BMWs has a split system with 2 fluid circuits which needed to be bled seperately. One circuit was bled at the ABS pump and the other at the calipers, it wasnt unknown for owners to bleed the wheel circuit and end up with no brakes.

 

Never seen that happen, besides if the pump doesn't operate its just a case of the brakes working as non ABS ......just like your average bike before everyone relied on ABS.

 

Try telling that to someone who rode an R1150** or R1200** between 2000 & 2007 ending up with "residual braking " is terrifying, many ABS systems were removed because of the safety issues.

 

Pretty daft move fitting an ABS system that doesn't allow the brakes to be used should the ABS fail IMO.

 

You're quite right; those BMW's had the old servo-assisted ABS systems integral to the braking systems which needed bleeding as four separate sections, upper and lower and front and rear. Those pumps were/are also prone to failing too.

The Triumphs' just need the ABS activating by hard braking or using something like DealerTool which opens the solenoids in the pump for you when you have bled the system, pushing the old fluid through the pump into the hoses allowing you to bleed the the system again to get the old fluid out, now with clean fluid in the pump!!

 

Just google BMW R1150RT, R, RS, GS ABS failure and see what you get .......

 

It would certainly help ! And it would most probably be good practice to do some Emergency Stops as rider training on a not Too infrequent basis ! These two could be combined to help better braking practices/awareness and help you be a better rider too ... ! I do figure of 8's and circling to practice low speed balance and turns ! And from time to time I'll look in my rear vision mirrors when on a good bit of highway and if all clear I'll practice high speed counter steering or emergency braking. The braking certainly helps you appreciate the power or lack of it in your brake's . single disc front especially !

 

You have to bleed as normal anyway, then to clear old fluid from the abs module you can use TuneECU (bluetooth only) on pre 2016 Speed Triples (and other older models), I've already done it on my 2015 94R Speed without any problems.
However be warned, reading the Triumph workshop it seems that the factory kit times out after 90secs and warns not to repeat for 5 mins to allow the abs modulator to cool or damage may occur.
The TuneECU appeared not to have any time out, so don't get carried away! (although it didn't even get warm when I did mine and may have run for approx 2 mins at a time)
Not bleeding the abs module risks future problems caused by corrosion IMO, I guess deliberately activating the abs on road a number of times could do the job and is better than doing nothing.

 

I will be doing mine tomorrow with DealerTool & friend. I also thought activating the abs during riding would work. However, thinking about it (over & over as I do) does activating it while riding move the fluid ‘through’ the abs module? The triumph workshop procedure is to open bleed nipple while module is activated & applying pressure to level thus forcing new fluid through. Without doing this the fluid has no way to be moved through the system? I maybe completely wrong but wanted to throw it out there.

 

I've bled many non-abs systems over the years on both 2 and 4 wheels. The bit that creates caution in my mind is when I had the Honda I saw a quote for £350 on one website for brakes bleeding.
That concerned me as even at dealer service rates that's some price, does it include hidden voodoo?

 

Joe I don't see, as i sense you dont, how activating it during riding moves anything!

What I do know is the Triumph rear brake abs is far more intrusive for me on the road than the Honda setting was. What moves? Nothing, it is simply the appliance and release of pressure i.e. flow equals zero.

Surely bleeding brakes is all about creating flow through the system; No?

 

There seems to be a lot of mystery about an ABS system so i thought i would try and clarify...there is no separate system with ABS the fluid is used by the whole system you put it in at the master cylinder reservoir and it goes all the way to the wheel slave cylinder some older ABS units have there own bleed nipple but this is mostly car related.
All the ABS unit does is modulate the brake pressure when you brake hard by releasing fluid pressure via solenoid valves in the unit in conjunction with wheel sensors and a microprocessor to control things.