Custom brake lines?

[CatatonicBug]

Ouch. That's more than I want to spend.

You're lucky you don't have an LH or an XJ! A full set of lines, not including the hard pieces, is $228.75. Linked brakes = 5 separate lines.

[DELL82]

Chrome or ss

"polished chrome banjos instead of unpolished SS"
Stan Hutchinson bought the chrome banjos and now they are rusted up pretty bad. SS can be polished to chrome like polish and will not rust.
I choose the SS
My $ worth

[crazy steve]

"polished chrome banjos instead of unpolished SS"
Stan Hutchinson bought the chrome banjos and now they are rusted up pretty bad. SS can be polished to chrome like polish and will not rust.
I choose the SS
My $ worth

Chrome is not maintanence-free; you do have to clean/polish it once in a while...

My concern with polishing SS would be the heat put into the metal during the process, possibly damaging the line where it's crimped to the banjo...

[natemoen]

You're lucky you don't have an LH or an XJ! A full set of lines, not including the hard pieces, is $228.75. Linked brakes = 5 separate lines.

when I was looking at their site ii figured I would just do to separate lines for the front then that brings it down to 3 lines.

[Sojourner]

I think you could do the Goodridge lines (buying the lines and banjos separately) for slightly less money.

Ah, but then you couldn't say your bike sported brakelines from HEL(L)!!

In all seriousness though, is $200 expensive for a turn-key solution? I haven't priced any other pre-built kits. If anyone wants to rattle off a few more manufacturers I keep sending/posting emails.

[natemoen]

I want to say but not sure, coastguard on ebay is somewhere around 70

[jetmechmarty]

Have a look at Z1 Enterprises. They sell brake lines and fittings at competitive prices.

[Wet Rock]

Steel Brake lines

"One thing I've done on other bikes (and am planning to do on my XS) is fab a steel hard line from the front master cylinder to the bottom of the forks (after setting the bars where I want them) and using these lines from the forks to the calipers"

Crazy Steve....Do you have a rigid front end on your bike? I cant see how to mount Hard steel lines to compressable forks.

[crazy steve]

My fingers run behind my brain sometimes...

What I meant to say is I run a hard line from the master cylinder to the bottom of the lower tree, then braided lines from there....

[Sojourner]

I'm looking solely for "bolt on" brakelines- no end crimping, banjo juggling, or expletive uttering. That being said, I really like the idea of the hardline/braided line hybrid. That would really be something if someone pulled it off, and thinking about it, it doesn't seem too hard (at first glance).

What about hardline fuel lines, at least partially?

[old_chopper]

You can pick up steel brake lines at the auto store plenty cheap. No need to mess with the fuel line. I plan on doing the same using hard line to the bottom of the trees then braided line to the calipers. You might also check speedway motors and such for the race car stuff. Get an "an" style fitting for the calipers and you're set. I'll post pics and a list when I get to mine, it may be a couple months yet though as I'm working on the carbs currently, then build a wiring harness, then disassembly...you get the picture!

[DGXSER]

One thing to keep in mind. If your state requires a safety inspection annually or periodically, your bake lines should have the DOT stamp on them or you could have issues. I know Ohio does not require this, but some states do.

[crazy steve]

One thing to keep in mind. If your state requires a safety inspection annually or periodically, your bake lines should have the DOT stamp on them or you could have issues. I know Ohio does not require this, but some states do.

Not an issue... this standard didn't even come into application until Dec '06, so there's no way they can apply it retroactively. Unless you own a vehicle newer than a '07, it doesn't apply to the vehicle. I'll also note that the DOT doesn't 'approve' anything, it merely requires that any brake line sold after that date must 'comply' with this standard. It's entirely self-policing with any test data being submitted to the DOT. When you see statements like 'DOT approved', they're not correct.

There was another standard used before this one, but that one only applied to large trucks.

[natemoen]

Not an issue... this standard didn't even come into application until Dec '06, so there's no way they can apply it retroactively. Unless you own a vehicle newer than a '07, it doesn't apply to the vehicle. I'll also note that the DOT doesn't 'approve' anything, it merely requires that any brake line sold after that date must 'comply' with this standard. It's entirely self-policing with any test data being submitted to the DOT. When you see statements like 'DOT approved', they're not correct.

There was another standard used before this one, but that one only applied to large trucks.

Not arguing just asking, why then do the original lines have that ring on theline with the date and DOT on them?

[crazy steve]

Not arguing just asking, why then do the original lines have that ring on the line with the date and DOT on them?

Dunno... Why did that NOS exhaust that sold on EBay recently have a added-on factory-installed EPA data plate on it? That standard didn't come into effect until after the '78-80s that exhaust fit had been out of production for two years... maybe Yamaha was just paranoid. There's a maze of regulations covering what/how new vehicles are built, but there hasn't been as much regulation of aftermarket parts.

Look up 'FMVSS106' (the document that describes this 'standard') and see for yourself. I do know that this wasn't an issue with aftermarket brake lines until just recently; it's only been in the last year or so that you've seen the DOT thing really come up...