fluids are little dirty
can someone please give me step wise instructions on how to bleed brakes and clutch fluid and what tools i might need to make the job easy.

Well-I don't have one of those things to pump the old fluid out with(and add at the same time)-I should get one!.Ever bleed brakes on a car?Same deal.Remove reservoir cap.Pump yer lever-hold,open bleed valve,keep lever held in,close bleed valve-repump lever till firm again-repeat till all old fluid is replaced.DO NOT FORGET TO ADD TO THE RESERVOIR as you replace the fluid in the lines.Your bleed valve must have a clear line to fit over it.For the front brakes-put your clear line on the LEFT side bleeder valve,and go for it. Have it empty into a clear container so you can see the old vs. new fluid as it comes out.For God's sake-don't let the clear line pop off when you're loosening the valve.Keep an eye on it,make sure it's on there okay BEFORE ya loosen that valve each time.DO NOT TIGHTEN THE VALVE MUCH-just enough to close it.You may have to use one of the wrenches in the tool kit there-probably, yes,the small one in there.Once you're getting new fluid from the caliper there,switch to the other side-install the clear line,and do the same procedure,but only enough to flush the caliper out-it shouldn't be much.And again-DON'T let yer reservoir go empty-otherwise-you'll be bleeding those lines instead of changing the fluid(which will take a lot longer IMO).With the clutch,same deal-except bleed from the slave cylinder down at the transmission area there.The lever's gonna feel different,but as long as you don't get any air in there-it should pump up just fine the way it's supposed to.Keep adding fluid as she bleeds out.CRITICAL>>>>>>>>>>>>DO NOT ALLOW THOSE LEVERS TO RELEASE WITH THE BLEED VALVES OPEN!!!!Clean any splash or drips on paint off IMMEDIATELY!!!Don't wait.Have yer rags handy.Good Luck.Rear brake's the same procedure(reservoir's under the seat).

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/17/2009 @ 3:12 AM *

Karam, if you don't want to do it "manually" as Blue does above & really want to make it "easy"... I really like the Mityvac. I have the Silverline model. Suck & add. Simple. After vacuuming/sucking, keep an eye on the *respective* reservoir by adding fresh brake fluid so no air is added into the system. You can simply just *cut* the vacuum (close bleeder valve/nipple while at the same time vacuum is held constant with Mityvac), add fresh fluid to reservoir as needed and then proceed/suck until the fluid looks clean. Repeat the process. Brakes: rear first, then front right & left front right. Then clutch. Some may obviously do it in a slightly different order, but that works fine for me. The Mityvac is a great tool & you will find it can be used for other motorcycle or automotive applications.

thanks for your replies
i got a mity vac but its plastic model for like 40$ US. what kind of fluid you guys using i was unable to find dot 4 only so i got dot 3 ,4 synthetic - can mix this with both dot 3 and dot 4 vehicles. anyone have experience with this?

Thanks COOL-ya-I need to get one of those for sure-I was pretty sure they were out there.Excellent idea!!Doing it by hand WITH ONE PERSON is a serious drag!Thanks.And karam-I personally would not mix any fluids for brakes and clutch.DOT 4 is what the book calls for.

while i was doing the brake thing i added any color coolant to my reservoir originally it was blue, will that be ok or did i mess it up.

Karam-BLUE fluid sounds like dot5 to me(synthetic maybe?)I'd go with dot4.I wouldn't be mixing the two-the manual does stress that clearly.But it's your call-it may not hurt a thing?I actually don't know-so I just use dot4.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/17/2009 @ 11:58 AM *

i checked three shops for DOT 4 only. no one has it. not autozone not pep boys and not my local autoshop. what they have is something called DOT 4 synthetic and then in fine print it states " DOT 3 and DOT 4" valvoline synthetic. I MIGHT go to dealer and try my luck there.
but the blue color i was talking about is radiator coolant - i added "any color 50/50" --> thats the name of the coolant

* Last updated by: karam242 on 6/17/2009 @ 2:55 PM *

karam424 wrote:

i checked three shops for DOT 4 only. no one has it. not autozone not pep boys and not my local autoshop. what they have is something called DOT 4 synthetic and then in fine print it states " DOT 3 and DOT 4" valvoline synthetic. I MIGHT go to dealer and try my luck there.
but the blue color i was talking about is radiator coolant - i added "any color 50/50" --> thats the name of the coolant

Any brake system that can use DOT 3 can also use DOT 4. DOT 4 is same as 3 except it has a higher boiling point.

Any brake fluid sold as "DOT 3 or DOT 4" is actually plain old DOT 4. They label it for both 3 & 4 because it will work for all systems requiring 3 and all systems requiring 4. It's a way to sell more brake fluid and save on separate packaging and stocking.

I hear there is a purple brake fluid, DOT 5 and it has an even higher boiling point which would be even better than DOT 4 at preventing brake fade. The only problem is that the DOT 5 fluid will leak from your system and cause corrosion according to the post I read a while back.

The general idea seems to be squeeze out the old while replenishing with new fluid. This would eliminate air from entering lines. I can see why we wouldn't want to have any air bubbles in the lines.

Is there anything wrong with emptying all the old fluid and then replacing with fresh fluid as recommended in SM? Is it hard to get the air bled out after refilling or what?

I did like Coolwhip there-bought that little Mityvac.She works PERFECTO!No hassle at all.Suck the old fluid out while filling the new-works like a charm-NO air gets in there.No lever pumping.Took about 5 minutes to do the complete front brakes,and 5 minutes to do the clutch.About 5 mins.for the rear as well.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 2/28/2010 @ 4:40 PM *

^^Thanks. Seems to be the way everyone is doing it and probably the way I'll go for this first fluid change I'm doing. The SM recommends emptying the whole system and refilling if you do not know what kind of fluid is currently in the system. Personally, I doubt if it makes much diff if separate brands of fluid mix as long as they are of the proper grade.

rook you might as well put you braided lines on if your gonna drain the system you will notice how much better the braking will be vs the oem rubber lines

this is what i use in all 3 of my bikes, and if you look a bottle it says its compatible with other grades this is the DOT5

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 3/1/2010 @ 3:13 PM *

Huh-- I have a bottle of DOT 3 and/or 4 made by Valvoline. I heard that DOT 5 will leak past seals. Seems to have happened to a couple people that I have read about in threads.

Here's what I have been told. All systems that can run DOT 3 can also use DOT 4. Any fluid that calls itself "for DOT 3 or DOT 4" is actually plain old DOT 4. That is why Valvoline labels for both 3 &4. in the same bottle. Dot 5 is the real race stuff and has a higher boiling point than 3 or 4. It may leak from systems that are not made for DOT 5. Never tried it, just passing along what i have heard from a couple people who put 5 in their 14s.

I've heard that dot5 will leak as well.I'm goin with Kawasaki with this one here.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 3/2/2010 @ 9:19 PM *

i have not run into that problem but now i will keep a closer eye on it lol thanks guys...lol maybe not a prob with the braided lines i dunno

I would like to use a mighty vac but for this go around, I think I will just do the SM recommended open bleed, apply brake and hold, close bleed, release brake.

Two questions.

1. What will happen if I accidentally release the brake before i get the bleed shut?

2. What exactly is it that I am turning to open/close the bleed. Is it the nipple itself (where the clear plastic hose gets connected) that I need to turn with a wrench? I see the nipple has flats on it. Is that what needs to be turned on to open and close the valve while changing fluid?

Got good some info here for anyone else who might need it.

http://www.turnoneracing.com/joebleedbrakes.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkxcQzhgJLU

2. What exactly is it that I am turning to open/close the bleed. Is it the nipple itself (where the clear plastic hose gets connected) that I need to turn with a wrench?

Yes. looks like you put a wrench on the flats and turn to open and close the valve.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/11/2010 @ 10:00 PM *

rook im a cheap bastard so i do it the old fashion way...lol if im just getting the old fluid out i use a turkey baster or soak it up with papertowels out of the resevour fill with new fluid then bleed the brakes as far as your question about what happens if you accidently let the lever out with bleeder open. well i use vacuum tubing , slip one end on the bleeder and the other into a small jar which i fill half way with brake fluid that way if the lever slips all it does is suck fluid back in and not air. then i just repeat till fluid is nice and clean.

If your careful not to take resevour down to low youll not get air in the lines youll just be bleeding out the old fluid.

here was my setup. very simple. Scotty, Good tip to fill the bottle a little bit with fluid in case anything might suck back. I used that one.

So I got the back done tonight. It was an enjoyable little adventure in wrenching and now my rear brake reservoir clear as crystal. Can't say the back brake seems to stop any better but it's nice to have the fluid fresh. I didn't see a single bubble at any time during the flush.
I tested the back brake with a couple rear wheel locks at ~25 mph. The back didn't get any lift from the diving action of the fronts being applied. It was a mighty pitiful lockup all on the rear. I didn't feel any slide or hear even a squeak of rubber but I got a soft clunk from the motor. I had the clutch pulled but that clunk tells me the back tire was pretty much coming to a dead stop.

I never felt my rotors before but I did tonight and those 3 rear lockups made that back rotor so hot i didn't want to keep my hand on it for a few minutes after i shut the bike off. I lifted the rear on the stand to see if there was any drag of pads from excess pressure in the system caused by heat expansion. The rear wheel spun like always even with that rotor about hot enough to cook an egg. The clips under the calipers were pretty hot too.

Questions:
1. Anyone ever noticed that kind of heat coming off the back rotor?

2. I only used the outer bleed and that seemed to get the job done. Why are there 2 bleed valves on the rear caliper?

as you can see my finger points to the outer bleed but there is also n inner bleed by the rear wheel hub. I removed the rubber cap to male it easier to see in this photo.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/14/2010 @ 8:16 PM *

nice rook now find the cap and drill 2 3/16 holes in it so when done you can have both ends of hose in bottle for easy storage without leakage from the hose. rook heres a couple how to vids for you or anyone else interested in installing braided lines. And then bleeding a system that has been emptied, the second vid is very useful if you dont wanna spend cash for a vac system. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K70AR2If2XQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkxcQzhgJLU

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 7/15/2010 @ 6:23 AM *

Don't overfill the reservoir more is not better I see this all the time. The maximum line is there for a reason over filling the reservoir can lead to excessive brake drag. Best case the pads over heat your brakes fade away and you crash. Worse case you grab a handful of brakes release the lever the piston never retract and you crash. Now go have fun doing you hydralic clutch did I mention I love cable controled clutches.

* Last updated by: willidx4 on 7/15/2010 @ 1:02 PM *

Heh- yeah, Brian the STG guy talks about keeping the fluid level just a tad below the max line in the video you put up a few days ago. I see Scott has the same vid up above along with the braided lines one. The fronts are so strong, i don't know if I need braided lines. I have never failed to stop with the stock rubber hoses but there was a couple hair raising situations where I grabbed the brakes hard enough to get the back to lift up. Maybe I will go with braided lines some day. They're a cool mod and they might save me blowing a line on the next tail skimmer.

How much do braided lines cost for the 14?

Nobody knows what that second bleed is for on the back , hey? I think I'll just give it a quick bleed next time to make sure.

* Last updated by: Rook on 7/15/2010 @ 6:30 PM *

Rook,ask and you shall receive lol

http://www.cheapcycleparts.com/1-all-products

Thanks,Scott. less than 150 bones