nearfreezing

When replacing the fluid, it's a good chance to lubricate the tip of the master cylinder piston, where the brake lever makes contact with it. I used silicone brake caliper grease per the shop manual, and the lever slides much more smoothly now.

This is a great thread, very helpful for when my '02 has an extra-crispy stator. Does anybody know if there's a way to tell if the upgraded stator/rotor have been installed in a 2002 without removing the stator cover and measuring the flywheel diameter?

Great thread! Thanks for posting the how-to, came in handy when trying to figure out the rear hydraulics. This process took about 3 hours. If I had to do it again, I could do it in 1. Mechanically it's not tremendously challenging, the hardest part is accessing the center bleed screw on the rear caliper. Other notes: -Fancy expensive metal Mityvac was useless for this job. It pulled in far too much air through the threads of the bleed screw and I had to finish bleeding air with a gravity bleed or engaging the brake lever/pedal. A snugly fitting hose on the bleed screw and a waste bottle were all that were necessary. -My 2002 non-ABS does not have a bleed screw on the rear PCV. -Both the clutch and front brake master cylinders are seeping fluid post-bleed, because the diaphragms are a one-time use only item. Will replace them ASAP. -I used a $1 condiment squeeze bottle from Sprawlmart (kitchen section) to add brake fluid to the master cylinders--much less messy than trying to pour directly from the bottle. -Took about 700mL of fluid. If I did it again, I could probably do it with <400mL. -Did my best to be careful, but brake fluid still got everywhere. Next time I'd use more protection for the ground and the motorcycle. I wrapped a rag around the front master cylinder to catch any spills. Also, I wiped up spills/splashes immediately with a wet rag. After the bleeding was done, I double checked all the areas vulnerable to splashes for brake fluid, then washed down parts of the motorcycle that were (potentially) exposed to brake fluid. Not as bad of a job as I thought.

Great write-up... shows there are a couple ways to remove the chain. Will be using this to help me replace the chain on my '02.