How Do You Know For Sure When To Change Your Hydraulic Brake And Clutch Fluid?

brakestripYou all know that you have to flush and change your bike hydraulic fluid for both brake and clutch. A task that many postpone or forget to do when they should. The question is when? Home mechanics and motorcycle shop service departments should all keep some “detection strips” clearly telling you if your bike is due for a fluid change. These strips also determine wether there is DOT 3, 4 or a combination of the two fluids in your bike hydraulic system. The package of 100 test strip costs $122.00 (MSRP) For sale at JIMS USA 805-482-6913.

7 Responses to “How Do You Know For Sure When To Change Your Hydraulic Brake And Clutch Fluid?”


  1. 1 Lyle Landstrom May 8th, 2014 at 8:55 am

    Good idea but unless you’re a bike shop, it’s take a long time to go through 1oo strips. They should seel them in smaller packs.

  2. 2 JohnyLetGo May 8th, 2014 at 9:00 am

    Split with your friends. 10 people, 10 sticks each.

  3. 3 poppavein May 8th, 2014 at 10:02 am

    Or just do it every 2 or 3 years. You don’t need a $100 kit to tell you when to change it. Brake fluid is hygroscopic and gets darker as it absorbs moisture. (And lowers the boiling point; it is bad when brake fluid turns to a gas during a heavy braking session.)

  4. 4 Lyle Landstrom May 8th, 2014 at 10:10 am

    Yeah, but when you buy a bike with weird brake problems, it’s be nice to know if they had the right fluid or a mixure of different ones.

  5. 5 Tom May 8th, 2014 at 11:16 am

    about half price on ebay and 5 strips for $10 and free shipping.

  6. 6 Mrs. Behaves May 8th, 2014 at 12:39 pm

    Tom,

    Let go of your wallet..

  7. 7 shanedrive May 9th, 2014 at 8:50 am

    As a shop, I’ll buy and sell these over the counter for the DIY’ers. The others I’ll just use in the shop doing routine maintenance.
    It would be kinda nice to know “up front” if a flush is in order. I hate tinkering w/DOT 3 or 4 anywhere near paint. I.E. Gas tanks, inner fairings etc. etc. w/custom paint or even regular paint for that matter. Not an issue if you slop and wipe it up right away but if you miss some………………………………

Comments are currently closed.
Cyril Huze