Quick Reminder:Time to change the Brake Fluid!

[suecanada]

It's Spring or at least close to it so I just wanted to remind everyone to change your brake fluid if you haven't already done so! I let it go WAYYYY back in 1985 on my first LS which was the first bike I had i think with a brake fluid reservoir. I obviously didn't know anything about brake maintenance and the brakes seized up and luckily I was riding slowly in the city/ I had to drag the bike off the street and drain the fluid to release the brake. I rode home the rest of the 43 miles with rear brake only.  Not much braking power as you probably know.

I think our Manuals tell us how to do it. Quite a reasonable job even by yourself.  Please ask if you don't know how to do it as it is VERY IMPT. TO DO IT!!

For those ever inclined to get the more modern BMW's.....$126.00 CDN without tax to change the brake fluid at the dealers as the mechanic needs to use their MoDiTec or whatever to open the ABS valves to get ALL the fluid out and changed  Maybe a couple of emergency stops would move the fluid through enough that a second flush would get the offending old fluid that WAS stuck in the valves??

[Bob_Roller]

It's one of those often overlooked items, until it gives you problems.

One pre-winter rest routine that I did to my R65, that later came back to ' bite' me, was to wash the bike and then put the cover over it, and wait for spring to arrive, when I lived in Chicago.

Well, I think it caused the front brake master cylinder to corrode and start leaking.

It started leaking in February 1992, saw a puddle of fluid on the garage floor, that wasn't there when I parked it in November.

When I removed the master cylinder, I found water in the area, left over from the last wash three months earlier.

So my advice if you wash the bike before storing it, take it out and ride it to get the hidden water blown out by the airstream.

To get the ABS to activate, you need to get a differential between the front and back wheel speeds, and then the slower wheel will activate the valve controlling that brake.

If you had the bike on a stand where you can get the wheels off of the ground, you may be able to 'trick' the system into thinking there was a 'skid' developing, and have the valves operate.

The only 4 wheeler that I have that has ABS, is the BMW Z-3, and I take it to an independent BMW shop.

It's one of those few shops that you can actually go out and talk to, and in some limited cases help the mechanic working on the car.

I asked if you had to get all four valves to activate when bleeding the brake system, the answer was 'no', the valves that activate when a 'skid' is detected, are solenoid valves, and when they are in the normal position, there is no fluid trapped anywhere, so at least on the BMW cars, this doesn't seem to be an issue.

This shop just uses a pressure bleeder with the car on a lift, and gets the job done in less than 10 minutes, a lot less time than if I were to do it !!!!

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Allow me to present some visual impact aids:





This is, of course, after I cleaned up the piston.
I replaced the pistons.
Sure glad I only had one caliper, at $90/pair (two years ago...).

[Joan]

Allow me to present some visual impact aids:

Ow my eye!  


Thanks for the reminder, Sue! Time for a fresh bottle of DOT.

[suecanada]

Holy sludge pot Batman!!!

I was told years ago that my master cylinder was full of nose snot..I can only assume that it was not brown like Rob's. Equally as thick though!  Aacchhoooo!!  Sorry!

[Danie]

Thanks for the reminder -I have never changed brake fluid during the past 6 years.......

[nhmaf]

Yes, sometimes it does turn brown, I think that the DOT3 stuff is more prone to that as it ages.
The brake fluid in my R65 once turned into jelly, though it had only become a slightly yellow, no-longer clear color.
Still it required a complete disassembly, cleanup, and replacement of the M/C and hoses.  The M/C bore was somewhat corroded,
and I got one year out of it with a cleanup and a M/C rebuild kit, but the following year it was leaking again so I just replaced it.
A few dollars for a fresh bottle of fluid each year is cheap insurance, I think, Plus it encourages one to get down at the calipers and inspect
them and the pads for wear, etc. - always a good thing before resuming another riding season in these colder climates !