Brake fluid 07 fxst

[67hat34c]

Friend bought used bike 4900 miles. Brake lever and clutch lever are aftermarket. The brake lever pulls all the way to the grip. It does stop but seems to not have enough pressues. I believe it is either the lever and or someone added dot 4 to the system. DOT 4 would attack the rubber and soften it up and make brake lever squishy.

What color should DOT 5 fluid be. Why I ask is the 2 cans of 5 that i have are both purple fluid and the fluid in this bike is yellow.

 

[glider]

I believe if you check the 07 should have DOT 4 in it.

The DOT 5 starts off life as purple and turns amber in color.

It sounds like there could be air in the system.

 

[wildspirit97]

Gliders right, I have an '07 FXST, and it takes DOT 4

 

[67hat34c]

Sorry, it is a 2004, hit the wrong key. 04 take dot 5

No air , I bled it and got nothing out. I wonder if someone could have topped it off with dot 4.

 

[glider]

One possibility is that if they used DOT5, it probably didn't make it to the calipers when they bled it. May be a good thing to throw in a master cylinder rebuild kit and flush the system well at this point.

 

[67hat34c]

Current plan is to put on HD levers and then pull master and rebuild it. I studied the manual and it doesnt appear to be a very difficult thing. Just have to keep it clean.

Note I did purge it some so if there is 4 in there then it may have made it down the line some. Understand it will also soften up the brake line.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

One other thing, most mechanics would read the old cover on m/c that stated to use DOT 4. Since there is an aftermarket m/c and lever, chances are more than likely "they" were not selected properly for the remaining stock brakes/hoses. Generally when someone does a partial, they buy based on looks, not performance, and getting the air out of the lines is "tricky".

 

[glider]

You may consider reverse bleeding the calipers and lines before hooking the master cylinder back up to be sure.