Braided hoses

[phillvr6]

Ladies and gents,
How easy is it to swap you brake lines for braided hoses, I'm considering this as I find the brakes a bit weak, any advice apreciated.

Thanks,

Phill

[DennisTheMenace]

Do you know how bleed brakes and use a spanner ?

if answer yes .... Peice of wee
if answer no .... take to dealer

[phillvr6]

DennisTheMenace said:

Do you know how bleed brakes and use a spanner ? if answer yes .... Peice of wee if answer no .... take to dealer

I can use a spanner and I'm sure. I can learn to bleed brakes. Sounds promising.

[dirkgently]

phillvr6 said:

I can use a spanner and I'm sure. I can learn to bleed brakes. Sounds promising.

Take hart. You only get it wrong once

[GreenV8S]

I think the issues you need to be concerned about are: getting end fittings with exactly the right thread and sealing face shape; coping if the old end fittings are seized and snap off or damage the thread on the way out; making sure the braded hoses are assembled properly. Some of the DIY assembly ones are easy to get wrong and not always obvious if you do.

[hyena]

It's fairly easy to change the hoses but you might not notice a great improvement in braking.

The brakes on my bike were feeling pretty weak. They felt quite spongy with the bar coming back to the handlebar. The calipers needed stripping and cleaning as two of the pistons were seized. Thank God Winter is over.

[F.M]

Go with the model specific kits....it`s a nightmare trying to match threads/sizes...careful with the brake fluid...!!

[dern]

The problem you're trying to solve... are you sure it's the hoses? I find that brake fluid really needs to be changed yearly to keep brakes feeling sharp and if you don't do that then performance can fall off pretty quickly. Also crud tends to build up between the caliper and the pad so if you take the caliper off (no need to remove the hoses) and clean carefully around the pistons with a toothbrush and some wd40 to remove all that gunk (if you can ease out the pistons a little then you can get to the ridge that forms) and then wipe off all the wd40 you should at least get the brakes back to a standard feel and then you can see if you still need the hoses. Just cleaning up my calipers in the way described after the winter had a huge effect on the feel of my brakes.

Regards,

Mark

[catso]

phillvr6 said:

I can use a spanner and I'm sure. I can learn to bleed brakes. Sounds promising.

Speedbleeders are an excellent addition to your braking system, make bleeding so much easier & quicker.

www.speedbleeder.com/

[rsvmilly]

catso said:

phillvr6 said: I can use a spanner and I'm sure. I can learn to bleed brakes. Sounds promising. Speedbleeders are an excellent addition to your braking system, make bleeding so much easier & quicker. www.speedbleeder.com/

Nice one for posting that URL. I remember seeing it here previously.

I'm just about to change the lines on my R1. Just ordered a set of HELs from Ebay - £55 in stainless and overcovered lines.

I bought a vaccuum pump for the last lot I changed although I was never happy I'd bled the brakes properly as the instructions for the pump said that 'some small bubbles were expected!'.

[Robbo SPS]

Goodridge hoses direct from the company via the web and have added huge amounts of confidence to braking.

They still look good after 2 years and 2 winters on the bike

[catso]

rsvmilly said:

Nice one for posting that URL. I remember seeing it here previously.

Speedbleeders; Well worth the investment, IIRC about a fiver each (from Demontweeks) - 4 for the Ducati (3 brake 1 clutch) bleeding is so much easier, I recently changed all the fluid, saved me a lot of hassle and time.