I just bled the brakes on my '94 ABS R 1100 R and cannot help wondering about the quantity of the fluid i had to exchange. Namely, very little. It was the first time i bled the brakes myself, previously it was done by bmw people abut 2-3 years ago. The fluid in the containers on the bike was pretty brown and the level was low. Today, after pumping the brakes just a few times the liquid coming out was already clear, so all together for both front and rear brakes the amount of exchanged fluid was no more than perhaps 150 ml and most of that was clear (non-brown) fluid which i pumped out to make sure the brown fluid is gone. Since this is the first time i did it i have no statistics on how much liquid on average needs to be pumped out. I must say i do not use the brakes very much, my driving style doesn't require hard braking very often, i usually jut let go of the throttle early enough to slow down in traffic, and hence the brake fluid is not exposed to a lot of heat etc. My brake pads look like new even though i haven't changed them in at least 4 years. I guess i'm not a racing type
Anyway, if someone here would care to comment on the amount of brake fluid affected while bleeding it would be great. Also, i understand that when i pump the brakes, i am actually pushing the fluid in the whole system, meaning the ABS unit as well, right ? So, for example, the leftover brown brake fluid in the bike top container, which is being sucked into the system while bleeding, travels towards the ABS unit ? And hence, to get it out of the system in this way i would have to bleed the brakes for much longer , effectively pumping all of the 'old' fluid out (hence the amount of exchanged fluid equaling the total capacity of the brake system ) ?
Thanks, cheers
luk