Just as winter hit, my front brake suddenly got squishy, finally to the point where the bike was unrideable. Hmm, old brake fluid or time for a rebuild?
Two years ago I replaced the (2-year old) original, cheap brake fluid with Motul RBF 600. The difference was huge. Bled the brakes today with fresh RBF 600. The first thing to come out of both calipers was a small slug of brownish white crap. The rest looked OK. Brake performance is much better but not as good as when the switch to RBF 600 was first made.
Neither clutch or rear brake have fresh fluid (duh, shoulda done that, it's next on my list). But they are both fine, with 4-year old (cheap) fluid. Then again maybe the rear is contributing squishiness.
Motul RBF 600 has an 18-24 month service life, RBF 660 (wow, expensive!) has a 12-month service life. My takeaway is that premium brake fluid has a much shorter service life and MUST be changed every 12-months.
I'm thinking cheap brake fluid might actually be better for the clutch and rear brake. They don't see super-high temps, and much as I like bleeding stuff, changing every other year in future would be OK.
My 1988 ZX10 went 30 years before it had a brake rebuild. Hopefully RBF 600 has been kind to the brake seals and master cylinder.
Two years ago I replaced the (2-year old) original, cheap brake fluid with Motul RBF 600. The difference was huge. Bled the brakes today with fresh RBF 600. The first thing to come out of both calipers was a small slug of brownish white crap. The rest looked OK. Brake performance is much better but not as good as when the switch to RBF 600 was first made.
Neither clutch or rear brake have fresh fluid (duh, shoulda done that, it's next on my list). But they are both fine, with 4-year old (cheap) fluid. Then again maybe the rear is contributing squishiness.
Motul RBF 600 has an 18-24 month service life, RBF 660 (wow, expensive!) has a 12-month service life. My takeaway is that premium brake fluid has a much shorter service life and MUST be changed every 12-months.
I'm thinking cheap brake fluid might actually be better for the clutch and rear brake. They don't see super-high temps, and much as I like bleeding stuff, changing every other year in future would be OK.
My 1988 ZX10 went 30 years before it had a brake rebuild. Hopefully RBF 600 has been kind to the brake seals and master cylinder.