terry2000 wrote:
I have to dig in the garage, there's a Mity-vac in there some where

i got alot of stuff in mind too but the only thing i dont have to look for is the radio and beer

Firedog wrote:
just an FYI on the DOT 5 fluid. DOT 5 is totally different animal than 3 & 4.
DOT 3 is a glycol ether base, 4 is also with ester additive; both are water absorbers and need to be flushed periodically. DOT 5 is silicone based and while it is technically "compatible" (I say that reservedly) still does not do well when mixed with the 3 or 4.

As moisture enters the system and mixed with the fluid the boiling point starts to decrease. The boiling point of DOT 3 is 401 degF and DOT 4 is 446 degF. While the boiling point of DOT 5 is higher than 500 degF, if it is contaminated with moisture that finds it's way to the caliper, then the boiling point there is an obvious 212 degF, which is not good.

A quick google search can bring you a ton info on it. My suggestion is to stick with the DOT 4.

Now a question: What is the distance from the forward exhaust pipe to the clevis connection point on the push rod of the master cylinder? If it is up against the pipe, the heat will travel down the rod and severly affect the fluid in the master cyl.

Thanks Firedog for that info, I am an old dog that needs new tricks...back in the day 60's, 70's and 80's, in our motorcycles we only used dot 5, I read about the defferences between all the DOT's before I went to the store and it was the same info you said, and anyway when I got to wallyworld they only had 3 and 4 so I got 4....thanks brother, I will let you know the outcome

Thanks fellas.....I flushed the system on the rear and like greedpus said black gunk came out and now my brakes are hard as a rock.....I love this forum.....if you guys are ever in Drain Oregon first rounds on me

I have been having problems with my rear brake too. About 6 months ago I flushed out the sytem with some brake fluid I had. Found out the other day that was a big mistake. going down the freeway and noticed the bike bogging down, next thing I know is I'm smelling burning brakes.Pucker factor increased dramatically before i was able to stop. Got it home and started working on it. Took me 2 days to tear the rear caliper apart and I wound up having to use channel locks to get the 4th piston out, it was ruined. ordered new pistons and rebilt the caliper. been trying to bleed the brake but I can't get the master cylinder to pump the fluid. Still looking and tryinf to figure out why it's not picking up
Any way, I have rambled enough. just wanted to say I think I caused my own problem because I flushed my DOT 4 fluid out with DOT 3. I have DOT4 now and my clymer book states not to use DOT 5.

BTW: DOT 5 and the new DOT 5.1 are not to be confused (no thanks to the DOT for their brilliant numbering system). DOT 5 is a silicone base developed for the military and not compatible with our systems. DOT 5.1 on the otherhand is a simular to DOT 4 in that it contains borate esters and also has a higher boiling point than DOT 3 but is a lighter viscosity synthetic poly glycol fluid with DOT 4 performance parameters to handle the highspeed ABS systems newer cars have today.
Short answer: You can use DOT 3, 4 or 5.1 but NOT 5.
See that was easy

Any thing to do with DOT has got to be screwed up.....PERIOD!

I'll wait for DOT 6.0 before I purchase