DON'T DO IT! He'll keep you hostage until he's done and you won't get your bike back until Larry has gone thru it with a fine tooth comb!Change it asap! I have found showroom bikes to have jello like brake and clutch fluid in the master cylinders from sitting! Your pretty close to San Jose, you could just ride it over and visit me for your free OCD inspection.
I would ask them to change every fluid in it, including the rear drive oil and coolant.
I respectfully disagree. Removing and tilting the left front caliper is required to completely flush out the hydraulic fluid in the SMC. If it is left in place when bled the old fluid remains in the lower end of it. Given the problems so many owners report it's just not a short cut worth doing and it's just two bolts and a few minutes to remove and do properly.
It would be easy enough to ask him to explain the procedure he will use before he does the job, then checking the proper procedure in the service manual. Alot of dealerships will tell you straight up, "we don't remove the SMC to tilt it, or find we need to bleed the PVC valve" etc. One local, highly recommended shop even bled the bikes on another members bike, and deleted these two steps....he rolled into my driveway like Fred Flintstone dragging his feet. When we called the shop to confirm what they did, they said they didn't follow the service manual's recommendation because they use a really strong commercial mity vac and don't need too. They also told him that if he wanted them to bleed it the correct way it would cost a few hundred dollars more!
Don't trust looking at the fluid(s) through the small inspection glass, as that will not always show you the mud and muck that lies beneath
4:Hold on here. I respectfully disagree - I'm not starting a fight or shouting but the front left brake caliper has brake fluid inlets (the hoses) at the top and in the middle. It also has brake bleed nipples at the top and in the middle. If there are no bubbles in the system, and your new fluid is approximately the same density as the old fluid, when you bleed the caliper, the new juice will flow from the inlet to the open bleed nipple. This is going to happen regardless of the position of the caliper - whether it is on the bike, off the bike, inclined at 15 deg or held upsidedown. There will be some mixing of the old and new fluid , but since the density is virtually the same, tilting the caliper will not cause the old fluid to leave first, and be chased out by the new.
Well we do agree on one thing, using your own words, You don't know the internal geometry of the ST Caliper's cavities
I've read John's great articles on the brake system. I've printed them out and put them in my looseleaf for my 1300. What I don't understand, is if there is no air in the system, why you have to tilt the SMC to get the old brake fluid out. The old liquid will not behave like air. It does not compress. It will not rise to the top or sink to the bottom of the caliper. It will simply be pushed out the bleed nipple by incoming new fluid. The angle of the caliper has no bearing on the pressure exerted by the incoming fluid (well, it actually does, depending on the 'head' or height of the fluid in the reservoir above the open bleed point - but this minor difference is not significant). If removing the SMC from the bike opens a valve that I missed, then THAT makes a difference, but absent opening or closing a port because you have removed the SMC, I see no difference - if there is no air in the system.Well we do agree on one thing, using your own words, You don't know the internal geometry of the ST Caliper's cavities
These LBS ain't your Moto Guzzi's and again....to Flush and or Bleed the system correctly, you MUST (not shouting, just making a point) follow the procedure in the service manual, which indicates tilting the SMC, or you will just be pushing crap from one circut to the next.
You should take a few hours and read John Heaths articles and photo's on avoiding the pitfalls, and getting air out of the system, as well as his diagrams that show all the routing (in color no less) then maybe you'll understand the ST's system a little better.
Bottom line, Nobody, myself included, should direct anyone on a forum to not follow the correct procedure in the service manual for safety reasons, Period.
I have pointed out "shortcuts" to complete certain services, but those are simply how to reach areas to do the work, as far as following procedures, its always by the book.
No dis-respect directed towards you or your opinion, we will just agree to disagree.
Larry, I see there are a couple speech recognition app/add in/extensions available for Chrome browsers which might be useful to you... I have no experience with it myself.
Yeah... the only reason I could see, and I do, tilting the caliper on each fluid change is that air might be accumulating in there that you don't know about.
