Have you changed your motorcycle brake fluid regularly?
If your motorcycle uses disc brakes, then you need to pay proper attention to your motorcycle's brake fluid.
You may not know that to transmit braking force from the steering wheel to the piston at the wheel axle to generate braking force, people do not use steel wires like mechanical brakes but use a solution called brake fluid.
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| Brake fluid plays a role in transmitting force in disc brake systems. |
The reason is that the braking force for disc brakes is much stronger than that of conventional mechanical or drum brakes. And therefore, metal materials seem to not respond well to this, over a long period of time with the impact of braking force, the metal is deformed and thus the stopping force is reduced. Therefore, people have to use a solution in a sealed tube, with a conservative operating mechanism, ensuring both good force transmission and no loss of ability after long-term use - that is brake fluid.
Unlike conventional lubricants that only lubricate the engine, brake fluid also requires the ability to transmit force (through the compression force created by the solution column). In addition, although it operates according to a conservation mechanism, for some reason, during use, brake fluid can still be worn out, causing it to not provide enough force for the disc brake to operate, leading to unsafety during movement.
Normally after about 100,000 km of operation, users need to check the brake fluid system, or if the disc brakes show signs of poor performance, you also need to check to replenish the brake fluid.
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| Brake fluid should be changed periodically to ensure safe operation of the system. |
When adding brake fluid to your motorbike, you need to keep in mind the following:
- Every 100,000 km or 2 years, you should change the brake fluid once, because during use, although preserved, the brake fluid can absorb water and turn into a hydrated brake fluid. This changes the boiling point of the brake fluid, reducing the ability to transmit the compression force of the brake fluid, thereby causing danger in some cases (brake failure).
- Each vehicle's disc brake system is designed to be compatible with a certain type of brake fluid, so replacing it with a different type (even one of better quality) will be dangerous for your vehicle.
- Absolutely do not mix two or more types of brake fluid together, because then the physical and chemical properties of the brake fluid will change, and can even cause reactions, reducing the quality of the brake fluid as well as being incompatible with the structure of the brake system on your motorbike.
- There are many different types of brake fluid, but they are mainly divided into the following lines: DOT 2, DOT 3, DOT 4, DOT 5, DOT LHM+.... on the brake fluid tanks of motorbikes (usually the upper part of the handlebars) there are symbols of the type of brake fluid used by that vehicle. Users can completely buy the corresponding type to supplement when the vehicle's brake fluid is low.
- Note that you should not add more brake fluid but you need to replace the brake fluid. You should clean the brake fluid tank and the brake fluid pipe system and then refill the brake fluid for the motorbike. Do not reuse old brake fluid because as mentioned above it can deteriorate due to water absorption during use.
