Changed brake bluid in my Ninja 650 today

[Merek]

My buddy and I changed the brake fluid on my '13 Kawasaki Ninja 650, I had been meaning to do it but he bought the air operated bleeder tool from Harbor Freight awhile back and did his Scout with it. I don't have a stand for my bike and has the muffler underneath so they won't really work anyways. I'd like to get a rear stand just haven't bought one yet. I bought it new and never changed the fluid but probably should have, it really wasn't too bad but was definitely a bit darker than the Liqui Moly DOT 4 I ended up using. I had planned on changing it last year and bought a bottle of Prestone but couldn't find it and wasn't exactly sure if it was DOT 3 or 4 but found it listed in the owners manual but then also said for replacing the fluid to see the Kawasaki Dealer.

It went well, didn't take any pics of it but it was straight forward, mine has dual discs up front so we started with the caliper on the left side since the line runs down to the right side and then goes up and over to that side as it was the farthest away from the reservoir, once we did that side the other was easy as we had already put all new fluid in there and should've only been a tiny bit left in the other caliper, the rear was super easy as it's just a single disc.

He even checked my tires and has the same Slime tire pressure gauge that I keep with me on the bike, even washed it for me too. I need to do the chain but I'll get that when I get it back out next time. The bike is running great and didn't notice anything different about the brakes, should've changed it way earlier I didn't realize they hold so little fluid so it's better to keep it changed more often.

 

[JWC86]

Good idea to do it at minimum once a year, spring makes the most sense or anytime you boil it if your running it that hard.

Also a good ideal you get a new bottle of seal fluid once a year since once opened it will start to attract moisture.

 

[Merek]

Thanks after I got home I started checking around online but couldn't really find anything on which side to do first, one video showed a mechanic do the right side first but RevZilla had an article on their website that said to do the farthest away first but to check the manufacturers recommendations. I actually do have the service manual for my bike so I dug that out and finally found it in there which stated to do the right side first.

I don't think it's really an issue as long that you get all of the air bled out. I can see doing the right side first because you could possibly bring fluid from the line that goes over to the other side, if you come back to the left side afterwards there is virtually no chance of air getting introduced into the line. The bike seemed fine and I didn't notice anything different about it, worst case I can just re-bleed it myself manually using the brake lever. I have the other bleeder they sell but the cheaper one that just has the small bottle and hose.

They actually do make a bleeder that will do both at the same time but it's not really needed.