XJ11 - Brake line hoses made into one?

[KA1J]

I just removed the rear brake lines from the XJ11 & tomorrow will take them to the local hydraulic shop that made the SS braid one for the front. Looking at what's there, & that I'm doing SS braid, why can't I just have one brake line from the front left caliper to the rear master cylinder, instead of having one hose to the distribution point on the fork, another to the metal tube and one from the metal tube to the rear MC?

Seems like with the SS braid I could make it simpler and just as effective & it would be cheaper as I wouldn't need so many fittings.

Thoughts?

And with this... I might well be done with the brake rehab this weekend!

Thanks!

[TopCatGr58]

Doing a test with this photo image from the recently REVAMPED Yamaha parts fiche site!?


Okay, it worked. Now here's the front and frame brake hoses:


Hey KA1J,

Yes, you can have 1 SS line from the rear master cylinder proportioning valve to the front caliper, but because it's running along the frame, thru the steering neck, etc, that's why YAMAHA put metal lines which are more durable to prevent rub thru damage and such in those high wear locations!

SO...you might want to put some protective vinyl or rubber hose wrap AROUND the SS line where you'll be securing it to the FRAME and steering neck areas.

T.C.

[crazy steve]

Yes, you can have 1 SS line from the rear master cylinder proportioning valve to the front caliper, but because it's running along the frame, thru the steering neck, etc, that's why YAMAHA put metal lines which are more durable to prevent rub thru damage and such in those high wear locations!

While a rubber line would be more subject to damage, that's not why they used metal line.

Metal lines have basically no expansion, unlike rubber lines and even braided lines. If you ran a braided line that far, you'll probably find you end up with an even less firm brake than what you currently have. On other bikes, I've seen metal line from the master cylinder to the bottom of the triple tree, with just a short bit of rubber to allow adjusting the handlebars. Truthfully, I don't know why Yamaha didn't do that on the front of the XS.

I'm also not a fan of running two long lines in the front instead of using the splitter, for the same reason. You're increasing 'expandable' line length, and at least partially negating the reason for using braided lines.

On my last few bikes, I've fabbed all-metal line from the master to the bottom of the trees (after adjusting the handlebars to suit me). This has given me a really firm brake feel, like braided line on steroids. At the rear, given the short line length, it won't be noticable, but you can really tell the difference on the front.

Anyway, that's my .02....

[CatatonicBug]

I have to agree with Steve on this one. Though it is annoying to have to mess with all the separate pieces, the metal lines are really the better choice. Not to mention the fact that they are smaller in diameter, allowing them to stay out of the way along the frame rails under the tank.

[KA1J]

Advice taken... I dropped the lines off this morning & if I can get back there this afternoon they'll be done. If I can't get them today they're open tomorrow till noon.

I had them dupe the existing lines and I'll keep the metal tube. It'll add another $30 or so for the extra fittings & time but I do like following experienced advice rather than inventing an oblong wheel...

Thanks!

[KA1J]

An update on the SS lines & thanks TC for the visual posts. As suggested I took all the lines to Devine Hydraulics (Oakdale, CT) and they made up a set consisting of Teflon hose with SS braid for all the 4 rear hose lines on the XJ11 and all the fittings were new (One local place wanted to reuse my old banjo fittings AND charge me twice as much)...

Grand total for all the lines (5 in all including the R front line from the hand brake to the r front caliper) came out to $181. I had the first one done a week ago and the others were dropped off at 10 AM today & were done at 3PM. They had silver (clear jacket), red, black and green SS braided Teflon hose but I went with the clear which shows the SS braid.

They're now all on the bike and everything is working as it should be.

I did make a pad shim for the missing left caliper and made it from a laminated SS shim with adhesive backing originally designed for use in a car brake system. I cut out a piece with tin-snips that had the same dimension of the original shim on the right caliper pad. I had to orient it in the opposite direction to make everything proper for the rotation but it'll be on there for keeps.

I need to replace one of the hoses for the XJ650J with SS as I only replaced one of them with SS and there's no shim on the pad. I'll make a shim for it from the same material & it ought to work just fine too & kill that horrible screech I get every time with it.

Removed the valve cover & will check the valve shims tomorrow. Need to remove the old paint from it (cover was repainted by a PO and looks terrible) and I need to re-attach the metal gasket to the cover as part of it is loose. What should I use to strip the old paint and what should I use to reattach the metal gasket to the top & what material is good to rejoin the cover to the head?

Thanks!