Spring BRAKE - Check Your Pads & Flush Fluid

Sto y and hoto byAlan Docke y

uring the excessive shutdown I ho e

y’all did more than just wash and detail your motorcycles. This was a good time for spring maintenance on all your vehicles. Oil changes for everything including the mowers, minibikes, go-carts. Please, take the oil to recycle.

Brakes need at least a quick check. Those pads that were OK last time you looked could be close to squalling now. Y’all ride and drive the mountain roads. Half worn brake pads may be fine for puttin’ round town, but they will get hot and fade faster than new pads going down Hwy181. Long before you get to Dead Man’s Curves, you’ll smell hot brakes.

One thing I do on all my vehicles in the spring is flush out old brake fluid. Harley-Davidson had a recall a couple years ago because folks weren’t flushing brake fluid and it was turning to jelly in the calipers. Well, think about it for a second. The fluid in the caliper gets repeated compression and heat exposure.

Flush your brake fluid on vehicles at a minimum for annual

brake maintenance. On Facey Space folks ask “dumb mechanical questions” every day. Real basic stuff. I don’t bust on them; they are trying to fix something and don’t know how. Things us old guys learned decades ago can help them.

Yes, I know there are a dozen ways to bleed brakes. I was first taught the old method by Daddy and Papa. One guy under the car and turning a little wrench this way and back at the right times. pump - pump – hold - open valve - close valve - pump - pump – hold. keep doing that until the pedal feels good. And there are all kinds of gizmos for “One person brake bleeders.”

I don’t remember when, but a long time ago, I started putting aquarium tubing over the bleeder valve and ran it to the ground just to keep the fluid from squirting all over the place. Brake fluid is nasty stuff and will ruin paint plus it’s not cool to get on you. I used to be into street rods, and we kept front suspension parts painted, clean and pretty.

Then I began running the tubing into a jar to keep the fluid for proper disposal. Well tell John Boy I said, “Duh Huh!” We have made a one man brake bleeding tool. I’m sure someone sells a kit to do this, but I have used the pickle jar and aquarium tubing one man bleeder for a long time. Some folks just use a long piece of tubing. You can see the bubbles and know

for sure you have all the air out. Duh Huh.

Also, there are two kinds of brake fluid, glycol based, and silicone based. They do not mix at all and will turn into jelly. DOT 3, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 are glycol based. The only silicone based brake fluid is DOT 5. Never mix brake fluids, not even 5.1. DOT 5 ain’t for anti-lock braking systems. Not an issue for us old bike guys.

I prefer DOT 5 in motorcycles for a few reasons.

DOT 5 will not harm your paint. DOT 3 might remove paint to bare metal before you notice a drop on the fender. Motorcycles operate in the rain and get parked in the yard for days and generally abused. DOT 5 brake fluid is hydrophobic and will not attract nor mix with water. DOT 3 will suck up water from the air.

When I take apart old motorcycle brake master cylinders and especially the slave cylinders, I often find DOT 3 brake fluid that has turned into crystals and corroded aluminum parts beyond saving and using.

I convert all my motorcycles to DOT 5 when I rebuild brakes. If you buy an old motorcycle and the DOT 3 on the cap has been ground off, then I likely did the brakes on it.

So, how do you figure out if that old bike you just bought has DOT 3 or DOT 5 brake fluid? Real simple test.

Yes, DOT 5 is purple when fresh and new, so it should be easy. Nope. DOT 5 ages to a clear yellow. Aged DOT 5 looks like fresh DOT 3. Anywho, remember DOT 5 is not water soluble. Suck some fluid from the master cylinder and put in a Pimento Jar with water, then shake, let sit. If obviously the brake fluid separates and does not mix with water, then it’s DOT 5.

As we get back to something resembling normal, and y’all head for the mountain roads, please take an hour for a spring break check.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please check with your regular service professional before making any modifications to your breaking systems

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