As part of the annual maintenance, I replaced clutch and brake fluid on Saturday. Clutch fluid was totally dark brown after 12 months/5000 miles and so did the rear brake fluid. For some reasons, the front brake fluid wasn't as bad as the rear. After the fluid change, the rear brake feeling didn't change much. The front brake lever feels tighter. The biggest improvement was the clutch. Changing gears is much crispier now. I was actually surprised by the difference. I used Maxima DOT4 fluid for all. If anyone is riding with the OEM fluid after 12 months, I strongly recommend to replace both clutch/brake fluid with new one.

Good advice...thanks;)

I have always done the hydraulics every spring right before I put the bike back on the road plus it gives me something to do before the roads are ready up here.

* Last updated by: danfzx14 on 9/2/2015 @ 3:10 PM *

"every spring right before I put the bike back on the road " it is good that you have a winter. Here in California, we ride motorcycles all year long and tend to forget about maintenance

As part of the annual maintenance, I replaced clutch and brake fluid on Saturday. Clutch fluid was totally dark brown after 12 months/5000 miles and so did the rear brake fluid. For some reasons, the front brake fluid wasn't as bad as the rear. After the fluid change, the rear brake feeling didn't change much. The front brake lever feels tighter. The biggest improvement was the clutch. Changing gears is much crispier now. I was actually surprised by the difference. I used Maxima DOT4 fluid for all. If anyone is riding with the OEM fluid after 12 months, I strongly recommend to replace both clutch/brake fluid with new one.

Had very similar sounding issues with my OE fluids, there's no doubt the OE clutch fluid affected shifting. OE clutch fluid was like mustard with green (usually a sign of oxidized copper) fluid mixed in when I first changed it. Now it's turning smokey/greyish I'm not sure wth is going on.

I flushed all the fluids last year and both brakes are still looking good/great for a year on them. But I'll flush them probalby October. Kaw recommends flushing before winter storage, just like oil. I used to do both in spring. But I figure wth, they built the thing!

That's a good point to flush before winter storage makes a lot of sense. I've only cooked the brakes on my sports car and it happens when you least want it to and it's dangerous when it does happen. Now I buy the Moutol 600 stuff and flush the bike at the beginning of the year. Even with the basic dot 4 stuff it's so cheap it's really a no brainer for me.

* Last updated by: cruderudy on 8/31/2015 @ 11:15 PM *

Flushing coolant is also a good idea. It's surprising how rusty and dirty it gets.

I've never noticed an improvement from replacing fluid but I see no reason not to do it. It's good preventative maintenance.