Dealer done in about an hour, they stated they had another '13 in recently with ABS pump making noises. Changing the fluid corrected that problem, glad I had mine changed.

 

Depends .. for me that would be every 40k. Im right at 20k now and the bike will be going in to the indy for the 20k service. I will make sure he flushes and changes front and rear.

If you not riding as much ... you can probably get away with every 2 years. But I would focus on miles not duration .. all things being equal. By that I mean a bike that sits my need fluid more often. .. gets kind of a coffee color if just sitting.

 

No different with a passenger car or truck. You can feel the difference in braking after a long overdue flush.

 

Not to mention the master cylinder isn't "protected" from the environment or washing since it isn't in an enclosed engine compartment.


I'm sure water is in mine, since the damned thing weeps. Be changing the gasket (and cover since they were sold as a single unit) on the next weekend home from work.

 

Okay Graham. Changed it and it was just starting to go bad or so it would appear by the color and texture, but now all good.

 

Great to hear, thanks! My first Harley back in the '70s was my first bike with hydraulic brakes and I was shocked when I first bled the brakes - the old fluid (I bought the bike new) was filthy beyond imagination. So I've been fussy ever since!

 

Ditto. My rear brakes were really touchy/grabby before I had the dealership flush the front and rear brakes. Now they are like brand new!

 

Just added a new bike to my garage....

It is a 2001 Softail Springer FXSTS with 9,941 miles.....

I suspected that at that mileage, even though it's 16 years old, it probably has OEM brake fluid... don't know for sure...

I changed it yesterday, flushed with new DOT 5... the fluid didn't look too bad in the master cylinder, when I pulled the caps off. After the flush, I put the old fluid in a clear, clean gatorade bottle for future disposal....

Once in the clear bottle, wow, that fluid looked nasty...! It was very dark, dirty looking and yet it looked OK when viewed inside the master cylinder prior to flushing...

It wasn't until I checked the brake lever and brake pedal after the flush, that I realized how mushy they felt prior to the flush....

I learned that you can't "inspect" the brake fluid by just looking in the master cylinder... gotta flush it to get the gunk out....!

FWIW....

 

THIS is what happens if you don't flush your fluid out for years!


Nothing "anil" about it, it's good practice.

This is the front brake cyl out of my 64 Impala, it had been in storage for 10 years when I got it..

 

It was/is in the 09 owners manual.