motorcycle brake hose

[e30bradley]

The manual for my 1994 Suzuki GSX600F (katana) says to replace the brake hoses every 4 years.. This seems excessive and is rather expensive. How many of you actually do this? Should I really drop the coin to replace them? If I do, I'll go with stainless ones.. I figure if I can't blow the brake line squeezing the lever and stomping on the pedal in my driveway how could I possibly blow it on the street since my tires can't even handle that kind of braking power without locking..

 

[Faria]

Rubber OEM hoses tend to get faded with time...The brake fluids "attack" them,making it loose eficiency.
When you consider to replace it use stainless ones like you said and you'll see the difference!

 

[e30bradley]

I guess I'll just get the stainless ones when money allows.. I am struggling to get my bike and my ranger ready for when I get my license back at the end of June.

 

[AZ Pete]

What Faria says. Get some braided stainless lines and you will never have to change them again. Gafler have a life time warranty on their lines, and I believe that Goodridge and Hel do as well.

 

[Seagoon]

The OE ones weaken over time so when you squeeze the lever the pressure partially goes into "ballooning" the hose before it moves the pads. If you fit metal braided hoses they can't "balloon" and so all the pressure goes to work the brakes. The difference in efficiency is often quite startling.
Plus when you have fitted the braided hose you never need to change them again unless they get damaged in an accident.

 

[bowlofturtle]

Gafler have a life time warranty on their lines, and I believe that Goodridge and Hel do as well.

Well I'm going to assume if the ss lines fail, most people won't be around to make a claim on the lifetime warranty.

This isn't me saying they aren't good or worth it. I'm most likely grabbing galfer SS lines for my sv650 this year.

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

 

[Lassen Forge]

OEM lines can crack also after sitting in the sun. The stainless ones don't. The old lines may work fine well past that 4 years... until the one time they don't.

How often do you flush your brake system? To me, that's as important. Had an old '75 Z1 cop bike and figured all was well; little did I know the rubber from the inside of the lines started decomposing (bad news) and that crud got into my master cylinder & front caliper.

Ended up having to replace the whole front brake system from the calipers up. And went stainless for the brake lines. And never looked back.

Sure, stainless are spendy, but they're worth it.

 

[MFolks]

Brake Pads & Parts
http://www.cyclebrakes.com/index.html
http://www.alth.it/default.asp?content=2,8,0,0,0,Home,00.html
http://www.pretech.co.uk/
http://www.apracing.com/info/index.asp?section=Motorcycle+Products_4
http://www.sbs.dk/index.dsp?area=98
http://www.dp-brakes.com/
http://www.spieglerusa.com/
http://www.isrbrakes.se/
http://www.metalgear.com.au/
http://www.ebcbrakes.com/motorcycle_brake/index.shtml
http://www.perfectbrakes.com/products.asp?cat=4924
http://www.apracing.com/info/produc...idecar+2+Piston+Caliper-CP2696-38E0_2536_1085
http://www.truedisk.net/ (Disk Rotor Resurfacing)
Brake Lines
http://www.galferusa.com/html/ss_line_kits.html
http://inlinetube.com/
http://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/brakelines.cfm
www.helusa.com
http://www.russellperformance.com/metric_two-line.shtml
http://www.goodridge.co.uk/motorcycle-brake-lines/kawasaki.htm
http://www.cyclebrakes.com/html/galfer_brake_lines.html
Brake Line Bleeders
http://www.speedbleeder.com/size.htm
http://www.pingelonline.com/brake_bleeder_kit.htm
http://spieglerusa.com/brakes/speed-bleeder.html

 

[roofster]

Every 4 years seems excessive, but if it's a '94 on original lines you may be due. My '83 Suzuki has the originals and there is some give due to swell. I had a local brake hose shop make me a set for another bike for $100 a few years ago. You might look into that. In any event, they will probably be fine until you have extra coin.

Brake hoses will also collapse internally causing the brake to stick on. Before you ride just make sure they are releasing normally. If you dwell on it, spend the money, if not, ride and enjoy.

 

[gball]

never heard of anyone replacing brake lines on a bike for any other reason than cosmetic... and i am around a lot of old motorcycles. another thing i guess to consider is the type of brake fluid that the system uses... not saying the lines can't/wont fail, but to say they need to be replaced every 4 years is ridiculous... most don't even change brake fluid in that time...

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Remember, braided lines are a scheduled replacement item, too, more frequently than rubber. Especially if they're not DOT approved. The Teflon liner hardens with age & can crack if they're flexed. I used to replace all of them on the GT1 car every three seasons. My experience has been exactly the opposite of gball's, they're used to increase braking, not for cosmetic reasons. I could see them being used on customs or dressed out machines just for the aesthetics.

Tommy