SuzukiSavage.com - .... Brake Fluid Help

SV og LS Full Member Offline Kawasaki ZZR 1200 Posts: 236	Re: .... Brake Fluid Help Reply #15 - 07/13/09 at 01:23:38 verslagen1 wrote on 07/12/09 at 16:01:50: Anybody turn their disk blue lately? Yes you mr. dragon rider, 2up no less. You better have the gooood stuff. That must've been a dragging brake. If the brakes are OK even racetrack abuse won't discolor discs.
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Digger

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Re: .... Brake Fluid Help
Reply #16 - 07/15/09 at 21:32:25

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 07/12/09 at 05:23:22:

If the fluid level is low & you dont have a leak, you may need pads.
If the reservoir is allowed to lose prime, getting it back can be a bit of a hassle, tho there are numerous ways to get it pumping again.

Yep.

And if you don't need pads yet, I'd think twice about topping off the master cylinder reservoir with fresh brake fluid.

If you do that, you'll need to take it back out if you put new brake pads in later. If you don't take it back out, you'll most likely have a mess on your hands.

DAMHIK!

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
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Digger

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Re: .... Brake Fluid Help
Reply #17 - 07/15/09 at 21:34:45

bill67 wrote on 07/12/09 at 13:30:46:

In almost 40 years and many miles of riding I've never had to add and have never changed brake fluid,And for some reason the brakes always worked,One bike was 25 years old rode once a year 5 miles.Never changed in a car either.

Bill,

You're obviously living right!

I've had the misfortune of having to replace two different slave cylinders on two different vehicles because I didn't change the brake fluid often enough.

Most of us won't get away with that for long! Wink

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
I don't own a cage.
www.astronautbiker.com

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Charon

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Re: .... Brake Fluid Help
Reply #18 - 07/18/09 at 07:10:43

I had to replace the clutch slave cylinder on a LeSharo, too. Apparently water got into the slave cylinder and corroded a spot in the wall. I had bled the thing a couple of times, too, which amounts to flushing the fluid. Trouble is, the bleeder is at the top of the cylinder, so as to let out air bubbles. But the water was at the bottom, being apparently heavier than the fluid. Since I bought the unit used, I have no way of knowing whether the water was introduced as a contaminant or whether the brake fluid had gradually absorbed the water from the air. I never had brake problems, but then I traded the thing off right after I replaced the clutch slave cylinder. I indirectly heard its new owner had brake problems. By the way, the clutch and brake systems on that unit shared a common fluid reservoir.

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Eschew obfuscation.

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bill67 Serious Thumper Offline old tired Posts: 8517 genoa city wisconsin Gender:	Re: .... Brake Fluid Help Reply #19 - 07/18/09 at 07:37:51 For 2 years if my Suzuki 1500 LC sit for a week I would have to pump up the brake a couple pumps then it was good,This year I don't have to pump it up,I guess the air finally out,I never did anything to it.
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ero4444

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Re: .... Brake Fluid Help
Reply #20 - 08/23/09 at 10:15:11

Hey I appreciated this thread very much.

It was easy to change fluid with this guidance - DOT4 is on the resevoir cap. Mine was light-beer color - oh crap! It's clear now but after 200 miles of riding I think the level is down about 3/16"(5mm) from where I filled it - double crap!

OK I'm stupid: the brake fluid sightglass level marking is NOT obvious to me - where the heck is the bottom of the miniscus curve of the air bubble supposed to be!? The marking is BENT! The horizontal part of the marking is EVEN with the top of the glass. How do you read this thing - does it point to the curving edge of the bubble or what?

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c2001, 3800miles, 3rd owner, adjusted idle, raised seat, Tkat brace, Raptor petcock, cleaned carb, replaced some jets, Dyna muffler, Fiamm horns, Shinkos, future Ed L. forward controls, fork boots.

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PTRider

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Re: .... Brake Fluid Help
Reply #21 - 08/23/09 at 10:50:48

bill67 wrote on 07/12/09 at 13:30:46:

In almost 40 years and many miles of riding I've never had to add and have never changed brake fluid,And for some reason the brakes always worked,One bike was 25 years old rode once a year 5 miles.Never changed in a car either.

Dumping old brake fluid that has absorbed moisture from the air will add to the life of brake calipers and wheel cylinders.

A friend was towing his horse trailer down Mt. Adams a couple of years ago. While doing heavy braking his brake pedal went to the floor. He managed to get the rig stopped using his parking brake and downshifting. After he'd changed his shorts and taken several deep breaths, his braking was OK. His mechanic said that this brake action was exactly what happens with old brake fluid full of moisture that flashes to steam from the heat of heavy braking, then cools and brakes OK later. I don't know why he didn't downshift early before his brakes heated, nor why his trailer brakes didn't help more, nor why his mechanic didn't flush the brake fluid as a routine.

Two nearby fatal wrecks...one was a motorhome coming down a steep mountain road with midwesterner flatlanders driving (didn't downshift early and sufficiently to relieve the brakes of the total job of speed retardation). The driver and another died. Other family members told of the driver shouting that the brake pedal suddenly went to the floor and the rig didn't slow. Another was down a steep hill in a state park where a child bystander died. The State Patrol report reason for the wreck was of overheated brake fluid, not glazed linings.

Flush that brake fluid regularly. The right way to come down a long downgrade, especially when heavy, is to downshift to a gear that almost holds the rig to the speed you feel is safe, then brake moderately hard to get below your safe max speed, get off the brakes and let them cool, brake again, cool them again, etc. I know, a brake job is cheaper than a transmission job...unless you crash.

Ero,
Don't sweat the level. As long as there is fluid in sight, you're good. The fluid level drops normally as the pads wear, and is pushed back up when you push the piston in to renew the pads. As long as you don't see a puddle of fluid on the floor or ground where you park, and the brake action is firm, not spongy, no worries.

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