I have to chime in again. Brake fluid is not a good idea at all for classic rubber parts. Just because the rubber seal stays soft in your master cylinder is not a good indicator of what will happen to your hoods. The rubbers used in automotive applications is specially formulated to resist deterrioration in gasoline/oil environments. Bike hoods do not need to meet this stringent requirement and are not formulated the same way. Petrochemical products can destroy non compatable rubber products. Try this at home, take a laytex rubber glove and rub some vasilene on it and let it set a day and then try to stretch it. You will get a good idea of what happens to non treated rubber when petro products are applied. It is not the brake fluid that is preserving the rubber seal in the master cylinder, it is the rubber seal being designed to handle petro products. A subtle but important distinction.
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ