Rear Brake COMPLETELY Faded on Me

[lonesoldier84]

over heated the rear brake. my rear brake still had pressure, just zero stopping power.

it caused the brake dust to actually form a glazing on the rotor and pad.

 

[DefyInertia]

Here is the OEM fluid



And the fresh fluid for contrast...

 

[Kazza]

Wow - big difference. How often should you change fluid or is it just a "keep your eye on it" kinda thing?

 

[Stumbles06]

WOW!!!

*Stumbles runs outside to check the OEM Fluid in his '04 Fzzer*

 

[RJ2112]

Wow - big difference. How often should you change fluid or is it just a "keep your eye on it" kinda thing?

It should all be flushed annually. Brake fluid absorbs water right out of the air.

Nothing you can do to stop it, replacing the fluid with fresh material from a seal container is the only way to control it. This is also the case with autos.

Failure to replace the fluid will eventually result in holes rusting through the brake lines at their lowest point (gravity will collect the water into droplets there)... it that's a line, it will burst. If it's a brake caliper cylinder, the seal will fail.

Far better to swap the fluid in advance. It may take 2,3,4,5 years for it to get bad enough to cause failure; you are sure to avoid an issue by catching it before it has any chance of doing damage.

 

[Kazza]

It should all be flushed annually. Brake fluid absorbs water right out of the air.

Nothing you can do to stop it, replacing the fluid with fresh material from a seal container is the only way to control it. This is also the case with autos.

Failure to replace the fluid will eventually result in holes rusting through the brake lines at their lowest point (gravity will collect the water into droplets there)... it that's a line, it will burst. If it's a brake caliper cylinder, the seal will fail.

Far better to swap the fluid in advance. It may take 2,3,4,5 years for it to get bad enough to cause failure; you are sure to avoid an issue by catching it before it has any chance of doing damage.

Thanks. Very helpful. :thumbup:

 

[jrevans]

Good thread Defy. I agree with others that you just boiled the fluid.

Interesting that you and I had the same opinion of "well, I don't use the back brake that much, so I'm not worrying about SS lines on it".

I recommend ATE Super Blue (or gold) fluid. I run it in my ultra-piggy (3700+ lbs) Trans-Am which I do track days in, and it stopped the boiling problem. I also run the ATE in my FZ6 front brakes. (I guess it's time to run it in my rear reservoir too...)

I like the ATE fluid, as it has a decently high wet boiling point, and since I don't change my fluid all that often, to me that's more important than a high dry boiling point. With the Blue and Gold fluids (only the color is different) you alternate colors each time you change your fluid, so you know when the old stuff is out, since the new color starts coming out of your bleeder screws.

Here is the blue:
OG Racing - ATE SUPER BLUE BRAKE FLUID - ATE Racing brake fluid is the best brake fluid ...

Here is the gold:
OG Racing - ATE GOLD TYPE 200 BRAKE FLUID - ATE Racing brake fluid is the best brake fluid ...

I've had good experiences buying from OG racing.

 

[RJ2112]

Thanks. Very helpful. :thumbup:

Kazza, I am a believer in changing the fluid, after I VERY nearly stuffed my FZ6 into the back of a pickup truck.

At that point the fluid was nearing 3 years old.... there was a very slight (in my view) 'sponginess' to the lever. It turns out that was a LOT more mushiness than I thought. It had crept up on me very, very slowly, so slowly that my muscle memory had been adjusting for it for a long time.

Trying to slow the bike from 70 + to a crawl in less than 100 feet resulted in my passing a truck on the shoulder. Not recommended, especially when there's a cliff in the immediate future.

Swapped out the fluid, and the improvement was immediate, and noticeable.

Annual. No question. I don't ever want to do that again.

 

[DefyInertia]

Interesting that you and I had the same opinion of "well, I don't use the back brake that much, so I'm not worrying about SS lines on it".

I recommend ATE Super Blue (or gold) fluid. I run it in my ultra-piggy (3700+ lbs) Trans-Am which I do track days in, and it stopped the boiling problem. I also run the ATE in my FZ6 front brakes. (I guess it's time to run it in my rear reservoir too...)

I use the back brake a lot, but you don't need that much force to use it compared to the front so I thought I had LOTS to spare...and I do, until it boils

I've been using the ATE fluid and alternating colors ever since you gave me the recommendation 3 or 4 years a go...thanks again :thumbup: