Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Agreed. Living in Florida, I opt to go no more than 6 months between flushing out my brake fluid on the bike. It's such an easy thing to do with my Speedbleeders installed. We're talking less than 10 minutes to do front and rear fluid change for a cost of about $4/fluid. That's cheap insurance.

Just pulled out my Service Manual and it says to replace brake fluid every 2 years. That guideline is probably based on an average. I live and ride in a arid climate with low humidity so I think I feel safe with that, unless I encounter any indication otherwise. Were I still on the East Coast where it's humid as hell, I'd consider upping that schedule based on what I've learned here. Thanks to all for the very informative posts on this, I have learned a lot!

The hydraulic brake fluid is part of a sealed system. No chance of any moisture getting into it from humid air. The 2 year change period as recommendend in the manual is fine.

I disagree. The rubber hose permeability will allow hydrogen molecules (lowest atomic weight) to be passed through and into the brake fluid.

Anyone know if the time, not mileage, service intervals are based on the date the bike was first ridden or when the bike was first subjected to environmental conditions?

The time frame is usually based on 'time since last change'

I change all my brake/clutch fluid at 6 months after a new purchase (and if second hand I change it usually within the week) and then 12 months after that

Hydrogen molecules are not exactly alpha particles, lol. I don't have the equipment nor the inclination at hand these days to measure the permeability at various air pressures and altitudes and vapor densities, nor to consider the manufacturing variations in hose consistency, but I think if it was truly a serious risk that warranted attending to, Suzuki would recommend a more frequent change, if only to austensibly and plausiblly generate more service revenue.

For those interested

This is a pic of the clutch reservoir on my wife's new GSXF. It has a mere 217 kms on the clock and we have owned it for about a week



The front brake reservoir on the same bike for a comparison (yes I know the brake isn't used quite as much as the clutch, but still)



And finally the clutch reservoir on my bandit 1250 that I flushed about 3000 kms ago (yes there is fluid in there)




As you can see the clutch fluid is starting to turn already. Something for all to keep an eye on as having crap in the clutch hydraulic system is not a good thing.

Anyone know what size Speedbleeder is required for the clutch fluid connection? I just installed them for the brakes and they are different from the fronts (2) to the rear (1).

It should be either 7 or 8mm, but not sure which one.

Is this step really necessary? For the brake fluid, you can just pump down the cylinder until you start to refill with fresh fluid. I am just wondering why you can't do the same on the clutch side.

No, not absolutely necessary and if you want you can leave that step out.

As you said you can pump the old stuff thru the system, out the bleeder as you normally would and add new fluid to the reservoir as you go.




I do it because:
*I get to check the condition of the reservoir and give it a good clean
*I get the old fluid out including any bad stuff that is in the fluid and hence don't pump it thru the system
*I don't have to pump the lever/pedal as much to achieve the same result.

this gets very important when you deal with reservoirs that hold over 10 litres and a system that might hold 10 more again and you are forced to do the manual method without any special tricky tools

cheers

Installed the 8mm x 1.25 Speedbleeder for replacing the clutch fluid. Total time to install the valve and bleed the clutch fluid was about 7 minutes. Total time to install valves and bleed front and rear brakes was about 15 minutes. Clearly, you can see for about $25 in Speedbleeders and $7 in DOT4 fluid, you can get all that old nasty fluid out of your system time and time again and in under 30 minutes.

Go to http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/product ... eders.html for a discount rate (be sure to say Floridakat sent you). He's a distributor of Speedbleeders and knows the sizes for our GSX650Fs'.





Pre-flush on my bike with ~1,600 miles.



After flush...

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I have been working in the legal area for 10 years and yet have i seen as good as disclaimer as this, iron clad!