stainless steel brake lines

[xswilly]

does anybody here still make stainless steel brake lines for the xs11

i thnk my frnt brake lines may be breaking up inside
i have cleaned the sponghole twice in a month, so far.
when i poke a wire thru, it squirts fluid out, and all is well for a couple of weeks, then the brakes start to drag again.

thinking i should replace the lines
any suggestions?
thanks
willy

[Rasputin]

I got mine from cyclebrakes.com. They were 129 bucks for a three line set for my 79 special (IIRC). the part number was FK003D611-3 for mine. They were very fast. I ordered one day and they shipped the next including a custom rear brake line I ordered. I phoned em up and talked to ED who was very helpful in the order. If you require any custom made lines you have to complete the order form they have on their site and either email or fax it in even if you phone them though. They can be ordered with a color coating as well as clear. You can do a search for stainless or S/S brake lines on here and find many different places that will help you out as well. I love them on my bike, makes braking much better. I also did the master cylinder and caliper rebuild kits that I got from Georgefix on the old ebay. I could not believe the crud and sh^t that was in my lines and system. Good luck

[tomatao]

Z1 enterprises sells them online. You put the ends on yourself. I just did my rear line this morning. Most Harley shops also have them if you can bring yourself to go into the hated Harley dealer. I did that for my front cause I needed them asap and couldn't wait for them to be delivered. Z1 is cheaper and ships pretty quick.

http://www.z1enterprises.com/

[DavesXS]

Thanks guys,
I was thinking about some new lines and wondering about where to get some custom lines

[John]

Willy, you could probably finsd some at a bike shop in Portland. I redid some a few years ago, and I just bought the hose by length, and it had a female flare fittings on them. The banjos were seperate, and they had a male flare fitting, and you could chose which angle of banjo you wanted. I bought them at a shop that deals primarily with h-d's, but all the stuff was the right stuff.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Willy and Dave,

Most of the time, the cost is in the fittings more so than the hoses, and so IF you can use 2 long lines(personal choices vs OEM look) for the front instead of 3, it'll save you $$. Just use a longer Banjo bolt at the MC instead of at the junction below the headlight! The same amount of fluid has to flow whether it's the 1 into 2 lines or just 2 lines!

I got mine from HELUSA because they had a collection of COLORS and I wanted GREEN! But I got mine before I learned about using just 2 lines!
T.C.

[xswilly]

thanks guys
i knew i would find some good sources if i asked
i will check them out

[Korr]

What length do we need? I noticed how soft and thin my front brake line felt today when i squeezed it with my fingers. I wonder if that could be causing the squeel?

[xswilly]

mine were not soft but when i bleed the brakes i got lots of little pieces of something
black in color
i assumed it was brake line that was coming apart

[bikerphil]

SS brake lines

Originally posted by Korr
What length do we need?

Just measure the old ones to be safe. The legnth will depend on the type of handlebars you are running. Squeal comes from heat glazed rotors or brake dust. I sand the glazing off my rotors from time to time and blow out the brake dust, quiets them right down. Also, metalic brake pads will make 'em squeal.

[mro]

being able to stop is good

originally posted by xswilly
when i bleed the brakes i got lots of little pieces of something

The current condition of your brake lines and/or fluid is literally dangerous.
Old brake systems (even cages) the fluid should be flushed every now and then (I do every 4/5 years). I think the Yamaha manual says to REPLACE the stock brake lines every 5 years also.
On Xses I have with rubber lines, get flushed, calipers/MC's disassembled and cleaned. The lines get vacuumed to suck out the old fluid, then one end placed in a bottle with some new fluid and sucked thru the lines to flush out any gunk (compressed air might be a better way).

Even if you change to SS lines you should remove and clean the calipers etc...


mro
I have SS lines on one XS, big difference. Will eventually put them on daily ride and any other I plan to keep.

[EGRon]

TopCat suggest using Two SS lines as opposed to three, the PO on my bike did a pretty clean job of this. The line from the MC attaches to the Left Caliper where the two ends and Double Banjo is used to stack the ends to the caliper and loop the second lone over the front fender and down to the right caliper. He used a small zip tie to hold the lines together near the brake line holder mounted to the front fender above the left caliper.
Just a suggestion

[egleaves]

I don't know about everyone else, but I'd love to see some pics of the SS brake line installations people have done. I'm considering the upgrade and would like to see some ideas.

[mro]

Pics

Was not taken for the lines but you can see em...



mro

[madmax-im]

Mr Procrastination

I am finally getting around to doing my brakes...I too am tossing the old hoses for new SS lines...I have dis-assembled evrything from the bike...and I will start the cleaning process.I went with a 3 line front brake kit from Cyclebrakes.com the kit is made by Galfer.This kit is for the '81 Special.I dint have to measure anything and the correct banjos' and bolts were included.I still need to use a splitter.On the rear brake line I had to custom order it and then I sent them the old line for them to match.They were very quick to get it to me and their communincation was excellent.
I should be done with this by the end of the week...the thing that is limiting me is my aching back...It started going out on me back when I was at TC's fixing MadMax.It has progressed to the point where I can only stand for abt 5 mins...sitting or laying down relieves the pain...