Brake service

fife · Post by **fife** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:08 pm

This may sound dumb...But how often, if ever, should you change your brake fluid? My front seems crappy latelyand I was wondering if that may be a cause. I've got new pads so thats not it. Any ideas?

Kwi-Chang · Post by **Kwi-Chang** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:40 pm

Try using your back brake more... then it won't seem so crappy!

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Shibby! · Post by **Shibby!** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:26 pm

usually manuals say every two years i believe (on sport bikes anyways). Sun, water, and contaminates can quickly degrade hydraulic fluid. If it looks dark its past its time to be changed. Small contaminates (those smaller then the eye can see) can cause damage.

Takes ~30 minutes, costs like 4-6 bucks and great for a few brew.

fife · Post by **fife** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:59 pm

I guess it would be time then. My bike is an'01 and I bought it off the showroom floor...its time. Do you need to clean the line some how?I would guess just drain it and refill and bleed correct?

Post by **cladoo** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:22 am

I do mine twice each season. Its not hard to do and pretty cheap. Use a high quality fluid like Motul though.

TrialsPaul · Post by **TrialsPaul** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:35 am

To change the fluid, you need to flush out the old brake fluid with new fluid, then bleed the brakes. I would strongly suggest you get some help from a friend who knows what they are doing. A few air bubbles in your brake lines will really hurt the perforamnce of your brakes.

I used to check the brake fluid before every race. I would go through the action of bleeding the brake and checking the color of the fluid. If the fluid was dark, then the fluid needed to be replaced. Usually, I found the rear brake fluid needed to be changed more often than the front due to rear brake dragging and overheating.

Shibby! · Post by **Shibby!** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:59 am

Good point, Heat is another HUGE factor. Heat helps degrade the fluid, increase air percentages, and contaminates.

I don't flush (empty) my lines because getting air out of them is a pain in the *** and often worries me. I basically just flush (put fluid through the lines) till it comes out perfectly clear.

Read a few threads down and there was a few different ways of doing this, but I use the top to bottom method (because the lines never empty, and therefore should get air in them even if your putting fluid through in the opposite direction air would travel)

If your doing it this way, use a clear rubber tube (like those used for fish tanks) and put it over the vavle nipple, this will help show you the colour of the fluid, and any air going through when you pump it out.

Its a simple job and hard to screw up, just make sure you don't let the fluid in the top resevoir get too low while flushing the lines.

In fact I am working on my bike tonight (setting suspension, carb adjustments, air filter cleaning, and checking the plug, etc) Your welcome to swing by and it can be done in like 15 minutes.