Polaris ATV Brake Bleed: Front or Back First?

When bleeding the brakes on a Polaris ATV, does it matter if you start with the front brakes or the rear brakes? Our resident ATV expert John Talley gives his thoughts on where to start.

John does live Q&A sessions on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern, and in this edition, he answers a viewer's question about where to start bleeding the brakes on a Polaris Sportsman.

Polaris Sportsman ATV Brake Bleeding

I had to replace the front and rear master cylinders on a Polaris Sportsman, as well as pads all around. When bleeding the brakes, do I start with the front brakes first or the rear brakes? 

John Talley: Whichever caliper you’re dealing with, I typically go with whichever one is furthest away from the master cylinder and work my way back. Now on that particular model I do believe you have a common system just on the hand brake, or maybe it’s the foot brake, where it’ll actually engage both the front and the rear. In that case, pick out which one’s furthest away and I would think that’s going to be the front. Start with it and then go to the back.

In the video below, John demonstrates how to manually bleed the front and rear brakes on a Polaris Sportsman 850 ATV, including how to access and bleed both the front and rear master cylinders. 

Watch the video above to see how to bleed the brakes on a Polaris Sportsman ATV.

If you just need to replace the brake master cylinder, the video below shows you how to replace the front brake master cylinder reservoir and cover on a Polaris Sportsman ATV. John uses the Polaris OEM master cylinder reservoir kit, and shows you how to remove the old master cylinder and the front brake line, as well as how to install a new master cylinder.  

Watch the video above to see how to rebuild the brake master cylinder on a Polaris Sportsman ATV.

If you just need to change the brake pads on your Polaris ATV, the video below demonstrates how to change the front and rear brake pads on a Sportsman 850. See how to remove the front wheel to access the caliper, and then remove the caliper and replace the brake pads. 

Watch the video above to see how to replace the brake pads on a Polaris Sportsman ATV.

Want to see more live repair questions answered? See more motorcycle and ATV repair questions answered here.