Clutch and Brake Reservoirs

[flogger]

I bled and replaced my brake fluids in a 1500 SE recently, including the clutch system. I believe this is a good question that applies to all Goldwings. I found my front brake side reservoir had a float part in it located on the bottom, lowest part of the reservoir parts. I noticed my clutch side did not have this part. It seemed logical that both reservoirs should be the same so I checked my service manuals and confirmed that... I ordered and replaced my missing float. They are not expensive. My question is this, what does that do and is it necessary? I do not know how long this was missing and I never noticed any operating difference between the brake and the clutch. Was it possibly removed on purpose for better operations? If so, why not the brake side?

[Happytrails]

Both of mine had them and I assumed this was to prevent splashing off the top of the reservoir and air bubbles. But I've been wrong before

[rampal55]

I thought they were in there to help see the fluid level via the bubble glass?

[WingAdmin]

Happytrails got it. The float is there to minimize the amount of surface area of hydraulic fluid exposed to the air. This keeps it from sloshing around and generating air bubbles from vibration and bumps on the road, which then prevents you from pumping air into your brakes or clutch.

[Bluewaterhooker0]

I was on the VTXOA Forum the other night, and came across this very issue regarding VTX 1800's. These guys had installed braided lines on the brakes and clutch, in addition to some sort of reservoir down low. Anyway, they were having to bleed their brakes every month or so. The solution was to install those floats in the reservoirs. They were not shipped with the floats, and apparently caused the sloshing, bubble issue that was described. Causing the need to bleed frequently. They had to buy standard Honda floats, and trim them down to fit their add-on reservoirs. It solved some long term problems for those guys.