Brake Fluid

Listerine · 15 Jun 2012 at 10:33

It's one of those questions that's pretty basic but always at risk of being scoffed at. There'll be a lot more questions in the near future like this but I'll ask you fellas/gals anyways!

Noticed my rear brake fluid is a bit low so needs topping up. Can I just use any DOT3/DOT4 certified brake fluid or does it have to be a specific kind/brand? Another worry was the mixing of the existing fluid with the new one - would this still be okay to proceed or does it require a full bleeding so I can fill it up with one brand and keep topping it up with this same brand?

Not sure what fluid is in there at the moment and the bike in question is a Bandit 600 '99.

Cheers!

Listerine · 15 Jun 2012 at 11:44

Cheers for the replies. I only purchased the bike about 3 weeks ago from a dealership so I assume it'll be the same fluid that's been there for a while. The levels were on the low side when I purchased it so it needed topping up anyway.

Bleeding brake fluid - easy job? My mechanical skills aren't great and what extra equipment would I need to obtain? I'd rather do this myself that take it to a dealership.

Listerine · 15 Jun 2012 at 12:38

I actually do have a Haynes manual at home so it looks like I'm in for a bit of reading tonight with bleeding the thing now rather than just a topup.

The brake pads seem fine to me, well the front one is anyway. It can be a bit of a nut-crusher when I try it out doing the "slowing down and using the full length of the lever at the end" so that one works fine!

@wazza300: you strike me as the kind of guy who can do a bodge job / full maintenance on a bike with an old ice-cream bucket, a straw, a 4x2 piece of wood and nothing else...

Listerine · 17 Jun 2012 at 22:02

Managed to bleed the rear brake with no issues. Talk about making a mountain of a molehill. Once I sussed out what I had to do practically, it was way easier than reading stupidly detailed guides on how to bleed a brake.

Ended up using a £5.99 kit from Halfords to bleed brakes with - just a basic bottle and tubing to attach with.

Cheers for the tips though people.