Dirty Brake Fluid

[kywinger]

Good Day all

I have been changing brake fluid every two years on motorcycles for over 35 years.

So since my is two years old, I changed the brake fluid. I have never seen fluid this dirty.
Did BRP use the cheapest brake fluid or did the brake system on the Spyders have a lot of contaminates in the lines.

Anyway, used a syringe to draw out the fluid from the master cylinder, filled with fresh Synthetic Dot 4.
Used a vacuum tool to draw brake fluid out of the caliper bleeders until the fluid ran clear.

[Bob Denman]

We have heard this before about the brakes. I don't recall if a cause has ever been found, but since you're changing the fluid, and never noticed a loss in effectiveness:

[PW2013STL]

Good Day all

I have been changing brake fluid every two years on motorcycles for over 35 years.

So since my is two years old, I changed the brake fluid. I have never seen fluid this dirty.
Did BRP use the cheapest brake fluid or did the brake system on the Spyders have a lot of contaminates in the lines.

Anyway, used a syringe to draw out the fluid from the master cylinder, filled with fresh Synthetic Dot 4.
Used a vacuum tool to draw brake fluid out of the caliper bleeders until the fluid ran clear.

Like mine? (the one in the middle)

[jcthorne]

The master cylinder and some of the lines are far too close to the exhaust. The bikes are also a bit heavy and work the brakes.

[cuznjohn]

not one person said the obvious about dirty fluid. WASH IT

[Chupaca]

Mine has never been that dirty...even the clutch on the manual that gets a workout and the o rings started to deteriorate never got that dirty. But it is an RS. I also drain the resivoir and refill with clean fluid from time to time.

[IGETAROUND]

Yep, blackest nasty looking stuff @ 36K after 2 years. Clutch also looked bad.

[KX5062]

I did mine on my 2014 RT and I was horrified at how bad it looked. I did it at the manual's recommended time and distance, which I now believe is too long and should be done annually if ridden frequently.

I researched the topic some and that tending to indicate that because the master cylinder is low (relatively speaking) and under the seat a lot of road grime accumulates there. This is combined with the type of brake system they use, which is unsealed, this also allows the dust and ambient moisture to wick into the brake fluid.

[PMK]

I was one of the first to notice and post about nasty fluid I found while doing a complete flush on our 2014 RTS before the recommended mileage or calendar time.

Most people blew it off and raved about how they had many, many years and the brakes worked fine and no flush was required.

The jar on the right is brake fluid @ around 22 months from new. The others, one is new fluid the other I forgot. Looking closer at the photo, the left jar has been degassed and has no bubbles entrapped in the fluid, the middle fluid is cloudy on account of entrapped micro bubbles.

Those looking into the brake system reservoirs and seeing clean fluid, then assuming all is clean in the system will be in for an expensive lesson. The fluid in the reservoirs on our Spyder was clean, the jar with black muck is what came out of the system...