stainless brake hose, yes or no?

[Toutsuite]

Anyone have a stainless break hose fitted to their bike? Do they actually improve breaking? I'm thinking of getting this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-XVS650-DRAG-STAR-97-03-Goodridge-Stainless-Front-Brake-Line-Race-Kit-/400364533890?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item5d3795f882

Any thoughts?

[Noise]

I haven't yet, but every bloke i know that rides bikes fit them within a matter of weeks of getting their two wheeler.

My Step dad swears by them, all it is is that the rubber ones swell when brakeing, where as the stainless ones stay solid thus giving you more pressure at the piston end. (hope this makes sence im still waking up ha ha)

[nayruf]

Hi

I fitted some SS (Goodridge)brake hoses to a 900 Divi, once fitted the braking feel was always pretty good and I did about 5 yrs of riding with these hoses fitted with no problems, I eventually sold the bike with them. The original hoses were replaced because I could not get the brakes to feel solid whilst the lever was applied, the SS brake lines were cheaper than Yamaha OE, I chose clear plastic sleeved braided lines, eventually the plastic coating became less clear and road dust worked its way under the sleeve so they looked a bit dirty although they worked fine and never corroded, If your bike brake lines are like a Divi with twin front discs you will have to ditch the pipe junction over the top of the front wheel and use a double depth banjo bolt in the master cylinder for the brake lines down to the brake callipers on each side of the wheel. This meant that I had to use a couple of extra ‘P’ type clips to fasten the brake lines out of the way to allow for steering and suspension movement,

[mervin]

Definetly give a more positive feel to the brakes , go for ones owht stainless ends if you do HEL are good thay fit stainless fittings a standard, when i got a set for the RD Goodridge charged exta for stainless ends HEL where standard ands worked out cheaper

[Ttaskmaster]

Braided lines, all bikes, wherever I can get them!!

They even come in different colours now, so all is cool!!

[drewpy]

fitted them to my XR3 in the 80's, great braking feel same for bikes too.

HEL has always been the cheapest and I got a set from Top Banana racing a few years ago

[neversaydie]

Fitted a set of HEL on the Virago 18 months ago, no sponginess/rock solid, brake feel is excellent. HEL supplied all banjos/washers etc for the bike in stainless (part from the washers of course)

Having said that, that looks a bargain price for Goodridge, if all the parts are there

[Toutsuite]

Thanks peeps, the consensus would be yes then! I'll have a look at the HEL ones as well.

[mervin]

HEL are cheaper if you live in Devon and ride into their factory and get em made up there

[Russbiker]

Heya mate, Ive worked in a shop and bought dozens of sets of Hell and Goodridge braided lines. Ive also fitted braided lines to 90% of the bikes Ive owned. My personal view is the biggest benefit is cosmetic improvement, carbo-look lines in particular look nice because I think the stainless ones look a little bit like they belong on a forklift truck or something (industrial looking). As far as performance goes I think youll only really notice a difference if you previously had very poor condition old rubber lines that were far past their best. I think the difference is often overstated due to the fact that new lines are fitted alongside new fluid and a good bleeding of the system (this prob accounts for a large percentage of increased performance).

As far as different brands go, theyre all more or less the same except for quality control. Hell customer services can vary massively, I have had numerous incorrect kits sent out including wrong length, incorrect angles of fittings and also had some kits come through containing bolts that have not been machined properly with peices of metal swarf still inside them! Very dangerous as could get inside you caliper and damage the rubber seals!

We have now switched to only ordering goodridge lines which are packaged better and have not yet had any incorrect parts sent out. The goodridge hoses came with better quality banjo bolts which were "dished out" to save weight, racing bolt style. You can get goodridge kits online or theres a company called bike torque racing that puts goodridge kits together slightly cheaper and puts their own logos on for slightly reduced price

[Toutsuite]

Cheers mate, that's really useful!

[Preload]

I have some fitted half about my bikes and the main difference to me is if you are really hard braker you may notice less travel on the lever however, on the other hand if you are a progressive braker they'll tend to feel wooden and disconnected.

[Toutsuite]

I like a good firm feel to the break levers, so it's kinda what I'm after.

[trodd69]

I fitted a braided line to my XV535S, I got it made at Brakes International - maybe they have a branch near you. Just took in my original brake line and they made it there and then to the exact pattern, only took about 30mins and fitted perfectly. Cost about £15 if I remember rightly. They also had all the different colour sleeves and ends.

[gizmo666]

in a word

yes

[beemer328]

I would be interested to see what they look like on a dragstar, anyone got any pics please?

[Toutsuite]

I'll try and post a piccie when I get round to having the hose fitted.

[beemer328]

Hi toutsuite, have done them yet ?

[stewarty]

ive got them on ma xjr 1300, I did notice difference its a ye. from me

[stewarty]

ive got them on ma xjr 1300, I did notice difference its a ye. from me