I thought I felt my clutch lever go a bit soft the other day. I decided to bleed and refill the clutch fluid to see if that would help. I used KMG_365‘s how-to as a guide.
I purchased the Speed Bleeder SB1010S and the Speed Bleeder Bag & Hose Combo.
Pretty straightforward procedure… except for my vent grub screw. It was stuck fast and when I started to turn the hex/allen key the hex interior shredded. Dammit! Without really knowing what I was doing, I disassembled the vent screw adapter with two box wrenches. I discovered the Speed Bleeder 1010S is the same size as the adapter so I installed it and started the bleed. I wonder what the adapter is for…?
When I opened the clutch master cylinder the fluid was little low, but not by much. It wasn’t too badly discolored.
Here are some pics of the process:
Pannier off
Side-panel off, vent screw exposed
Grub screw end
Cutting the tie
Inserting hex/allen key
Vent screw adapter (fully exposed)
Rounded-out grub screw end
Speed Bleeder installed (in place of adapter)
Clutch fluid - low
Extracting clutch fluid (with turkey baster)
Speed Bleeder hose attached
Pumping fluid into Speed Bleeder bag
Bleed hose reattached (without adapter!)
I can’t say it’s made a huge difference to the feel of the clutch lever one way or the other, but at least I know I have clean clutch fluid in.
My next challenge is to see if I can remove the damaged grub screw from the adapter.
Rounded-out grub screw
Motobins sell a replacement (part #99820 Clutch Bleed Adapter) for UK18.50.
Didn’t realize it was such a (relatively) expensive little item. Hopefully I can rescue mine…
