I noticed last year the rear braking action on my 2006 KLX 250 was going bad. I noticed as I was putting it away for the winter that the rear brake reservoir looked empty, and I figured I'd fix things in the Spring.

So it's Spring, and I pull out the bike, go for a quick spin, and pump the rear brake a few times just to make sure it didn't magically fix itself over the winter. Sure enough, still bad.

So I pull the rear bleeder cap off and it's wet. So the fluid has been leaking out the bleeder it seems. The bleeder is tight.

What does this mean? New bleeder valve? Or am I in for something bigger?

 

One thing I NEVER skimp on is Brakes. If your brakes are bad and you can't stop the rest of the bike does not matter.
I would take the caliper off do a thorough inspection; you could have a micro-crack in the caliper bleeder threads?---Seriously I would replace the bleeder valve or the caliper. Fill the Reservoir up and push down hard and HOLD on the brake maybe you can see where its leaking in real time?

Stashu

 

I don't think it's from the threads, because there was no fluid there, just in the cap when I pulled it off.

A new bleeder valve is something like $10 from BikeBandit. I'll pull it out, clean it, and inspect it. If it looks ok I'll re-install and re-bleed. If after testing it still leaks then I'll go with a new valve and last case a new caliper ($$).

Thanks for the advice.