Trouble filling/bleeding brake system

Thanks Concours. I have a braided steel line on there, and it seems to be in okay shape. The MC is toast I think. I have a rebuild kit on order (if anyone stateside is in the same boat, both Baxters and Steadfast stock them).

Just hoping to get on the road soon enough to break in my bloody new top end before NE winter. 6 miles on it so far, before discovering that I could go real well but stopping not so much....

Cliffa's method works, especially if you have the master cylinder unbolted and you can tilt it so the reservoir is higher than the cyl. outlet fitting. Think like an air bubble, strive to get to the top! Often air hides in the banjo/outlet because it's usually just a bit higher than the reservoir compensator port and tipping up and teasing the lever will allow it to burp.

Thanks. There have been lots of good suggestions and advice, and I appreciate them all. In the right circumstances, they would be very useful. In this case, I'm pretty sure my MC is gone. Given last rebuild was probably 2008-ish, and the properties of brake fluid and rubber, respectively, probably not surprising.

Thanks again all. I will report back once I've rebuilt the MC and reassembled and tested the system.