How much brake fluid and what type for @T?

[Zenarchy]

I'm sure this will have been covered somewhere here already, but I can't seem to find it in the search.

Just ordered a motrax little bleeder brake bleeding valve (looks like a cool little device) and my next step is to buy some brake fluid for when it arrives.

Does anyone have any particular recommendations for the type of brake fluid to get, and how much would be needed to replace the fluid in an RD04 Africa twin (front and back)?

I'm not wanting to get too much as I've heard it doesn't keep well, so don't want to be wasting money on chemicals that I'll need to dispose of unused if I can help it.

I know it probably recommends this in the haines manual, but from what I can gather there are newer silicone based fluids available now that don't absorb water or cause corrosion, so not sure if I should be using one of those instead (the drawback with those seems to be that the leave the brakes feeling spongy even when bled correctly which sounds a bit worrying but this is the first time I've done it so not sure if that's even a problem).

Any tips or favourites, or should I just pick up the cheapest from halfords?

[@lf]

Dot 4 and if your not a "big spender" i reckon 500 ml fluid would cover it.
Depends on how much bleeding thats needed.
Sometimes air gets into to lines and then you need to use some fluid.

I dont use any specific brand. I belive their all the same. Different wrapping

[chronyx]

500ml will do it easily, still got about 150ml left from the 500ml bottle I sued recently to fill from scratch.

[Zenarchy]

Thanks @lf. That's a great help

Just been having a look at the prices for DOT 4 and it's much cheaper than I expected, so I'm tempted to buy a bit extra to be on the safe side now, but still hate the idea of having to dispose of it unused as it seems a bit of a waste.

Do you know roughly how long an unused fluid would last (wondering if I should buy a litre then I know i'll have enough for sure to do it this time, then can reuse it the next time I need to).

Or is it best to just replace the fluid then dispose of whatevers left over and buy fresh each time?

[Zenarchy]

Ah..Thanks cronyx. You posted just as I was hitting reply. I'll just go for the 500ml then

Does anyone know anything about the newer silicone based ones, or are they just not worth the bother?

[Farmboy]

500ml of DOT 4 will do you for 2 changes,

I usually buy soe for about £3.50 or there abouts and change it beofre Winter and then again before Summer, Its so cheap and quick to change.

So I keep if for 6 months in the garage and have never had any issues.

[Zenarchy]

Thanks mate I'll pick up 500ml of the DOT 4 this week from the local halfords and give it a whirl as soon as the bleeder valve thing turns up. Hopefully it'll be as easy as the kit seems to make out (though I'm not so sure as most of the posts here I found when looking this up seemed to be people experiencing problems with bleeding so might be harder than it looks).

Incase anyone was wondering, this is the kit I've bought (though I got it from ebay):

Motrax little Bleeder Brake Bleeding Kit

From what I can gather it's supposed to work well and looks like it's small enough to cary very easily with the bike too if I ever make it on my dream trip in the future (fingers crossed anyway - first time I'll be trying this myself).

[Farmboy]

I always do it the old fashoined way, With the help of the Wife or the Father in Law.

pump the lever then release the fluid and tighten the bleed nipple again then re pump etc...... remembering to refill the reservior before it sucks in any air.

keep going unitl the fluid runs clear again, lastly zip tie the brake lever to the bar overnight and recheck the next morning

Never had any problems this way and never had any issues with brakes, Done all my bikes like this and only once did Air get in.

With your new fangled kit you will have NO PROBLEMS whatsoever as it eliminates the chance of air getting back in at all and you can do it single handed

[Zenarchy]

Yeah, that sounds good and avoids the kit altogether, but with my my general mechanical ineptitude and inexperience at the moment (first time I've done this) and that I'd be trying to juggle it all myself, I figured it'd be wise to get all the help I can before I'm back here posting "help - my brake lines are full of air"

If the little gadget works out then I'm hoping it'll come in handy for years to come and looks small enough to carry on the bike easily so I can do it quickly if I need to when I'm away.

Thanks for the tip about cable tying the brake lever overnight - I'd forgotten about that. Not sure if it'd be needed with this kit, but I'll probably give that a try just incase.

Looking forward to giving it a go now

[chronyx]

One thing I did was put a length of hose on the bleed nipple held in place with a ring spanner as it slips off easily, and a solder sucker on the end, squeeze it and stick it up the pipe and it ensures there's a vacuum.