XV250 front brake leaking fluid

Hi,

I bled my brakes this morning on my virago 250, topping it up a bit too,
and afterwards noticed that when I squeeze the lever now it appears to
have a tiny leak in it and a small amount of brake fluid gets squirted
out of the reservoir on the handlebars (only a tiny amount but enough
to notice).

I've never noticed it before and I've bled them previously without
leaks...the seal looks OK and clean though.

The strange thing is that there seems to be a tiny notch where it is
coming out - is this leakage by design or should I be worried?

 

Start worrying and get new seals or whatever is needed
your brakes are your most important piece of equipment on the bike

 

Gotta agree with Frosty here, Don't muck around, get them checked out
by someone who knows about these things

 

is it possible that u have pinched the rubba gasket when u did the master
cylinder up? I . E is it leaking when u squeezee the lever

I dont no where it is leaking as I cant see ur bike from hear could it be
some fluid that has leaked out during the change over of fluid cos if it is
leaking somehwere when it was not b 4 then I reckon it is something snagged
rather than busted. Get um 1 to look at it 4 u is u r worried

 

Have you overfilled the reservoir? When you place the seal and the lid
back on, what is the level showing?

Was the seal completely dry (both sides) before placing on the
reservoir and placing the lid on top?

Does the Virago have an all metal rectangular reservoir with metal lid
or a round opaque plastic with black lid?

When you pump the lever and then allow the lever to release fully, a
_tiny_ amount of fluid flows back into the reservoir. With the lid and
seal off you can see the tiny squirt at the bottom of the reservoir as
the lever returns.

A note on bleeding brakes..

As most brake fluids are hygroscopic (absorbs water..from the air) it
is somewhat critcal to use from a factory-sealed bottle and not stuff
that was opened a while back, recapped and placed on the shelf.

Most brake systems dont need a standard 500ml bottle to change the
fluid so best use up most of that new bottle by continually topping up
the reservoir as you flush the old fluid out the other end...leave
yourself enough to ensure the reservoir is properly topped off before
resealing the system...and leave enough to do the rear brake too.

Not only do you fully flush and clear the system of any trapped debris/
air/water/gunk (as much as can be done without a full stripdown of
calipers and lines) but you make full use of a bottle that you
shouldnt really leave lying around the garage for another six months
before being tempted to use it for bleeding the brakes and
contaminating the lines with water-affected fluid.

 

The notch in the cap is to allow air to get in as the fluid level
drops in the reservoir, to prevent a vacuum forming in the reservoir.
The seal should be maintaining the separation between this incoming
air and the brake fluid.

Or you have a cracked reservoir.

 

The notch in the cap is to allow air to get in as the fluid level
drops in the reservoir, to prevent a vacuum forming in the reservoir.
The seal should be maintaining the separation between this incoming
air and the brake fluid.

Or you have a cracked reservoir.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Or you've put the seal (the concertina rubber thingie) in backwards or
upside-down or you've put the lid on backwards.....

 

Hi,

Looks like I put a bit too much fluid in, and the bit of fluid between
the seal was squirting out. It isn't coming out now and brakes have
tested out fine with full fluid level.

Thanks guys.