Is bleeding/flushing brakes pretty easy?

[smakawhat]

I plan on doing this sometime soon, I have a good mityVac kit to do it, I just haven't done it before and some of these cone nozzles have me confused as to how they are used.

So is this a pretty straightforward thing to do and not mess up to flush/bleed your brakes? My fluid badly needs to be changed.

Thanks!

[bumblebee]

MityVac makes it really easy. I would offer a couple of tips. First, It will really help the first time to have someone help you until you are comfortable with the procedure.

Second, when you put the fitting on the bleeder nipple, make sure it is connected tightly or it could "pop" off while in use.

I always have suction created on the system before I open the bleeder and I close the bleeder while still under pressure.

On the front brakes. I always drain/bleed the side farthest away from the master cylinder first.

It will take a few moments to get the suction, open, suction, close, pour, suction, open...etc down, but once you get comfortable with your mityvac, you will be able to replace your brake fluid, front and rear in less than 30 minutes, including the prep work

[Lowlypawn]

Yes, very easy. When I installed my Galfer SS brake lines I was able to easily do by myself without a vac kit. That's what's great about a motorcycle, you can just reach up and squeeze the handle yourself.

[kevin_stevens]

Mitivac's can be useful when filling a dry brake system, as when changing lines. But for just flushing fluid through they are total overkill - I hope you didn't buy one just for that.

It takes me longer to drink the soda out of the bottle I'm going to use than to flush my brake fluid.

[smakawhat]

Ok well, I went about doing this and it worked pretty well but the rear was real hard to do by myself cause the reservoir was in an area almost impossible to reach into, it was a real pain. I had to screw it off the frame and hold it while somehow topping it up and bleeding... Don't ask me how I did this but I did...

I put in some DOT4, now my understanding though is the new fluid should be cleaner if not clear? This new stuff I put in only looks like a mild amber and not transparent. Shouldn't it be like water??? almost colorless? The difference between the color in the old fluid and the new wasn't that much different.

I bought some Honda DOT4 stuff, so should it look like this from the bottle? I am beginning to think I may have to go do this again cause maybe this bottle sat on the shelf before being sold and went like spoiled milk. Is that possible? The bottle was sealed...

let me know your thoughts...

Thanks.

[serpentracer]

Originally Posted by smakawhat

Ok well, I went about doing this and it worked pretty well but the rear was real hard to do by myself cause the reservoir was in an area almost impossible to reach into, it was a real pain. I had to screw it off the frame and hold it while somehow topping it up and bleeding... Don't ask me how I did this but I did...

I put in some DOT4, now my understanding though is the new fluid should be cleaner if not clear? This new stuff I put in only looks like a mild amber and not transparent. Shouldn't it be like water??? almost colorless? The difference between the color in the old fluid and the new wasn't that much different.

I bought some Honda DOT4 stuff, so should it look like this from the bottle? I am beginning to think I may have to go do this again cause maybe this bottle sat on the shelf before being sold and went like spoiled milk. Is that possible? The bottle was sealed...

let me know your thoughts...

Thanks.

they are not all clear. I've even seen blue.
http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/ate/a...blue_fluid.jsp

I use valvoline synthetic and it works great. last a long time before changing colors and I have never had any brake fade.