j-maul Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Are brake lines easy to change your self, bear in mind i'm a crap with a spanner. Is it a job a spaner twat like me could do, or should i pay a professional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tootall Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Are brake lines easy to change your self, bear in mind i'm a crap with a spanner. Is it a job a spaner twat like me could do, or should i pay a professional. Piece of piss mate. Don't worry about it. If you want I'll pm a step by step guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intra Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Take the rear caliper and master cylinder off your bike when you go to bleed it. Gravity is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Simplest method I found was self bleeding the new lines before attaching them to the calipers. Unless you have a bleeder that pulls the fluid through the new lines from the bottom end, it will take you ages. As the above post, gravity is your friend. Step by step Empty the resevoir, remove the old lines, fit the new lines (should fit new copper washers too) to the to your master cylinder only, fill the resevior and let the fluid make its own way down to the bottom of the new lines (to help it along, you can gently pump the lever if you want), when it starts dripping from the bottom fit them to your calipers (again, with new copper washers), then bleed as normal. The bleeding may take a while as there'll be lots of air to clear. I usually let the bike sit for a day then bleed the lines again to make sure the lines are totally clear of air, anal I know but there's nothing more important on your bike than your brakes, steering and tyres so when making changes or carrying out repairs to any of them always be double sure everythings as it should be. You'll spill a fair amount of fluid doing this so have plenty of rags and warm soapy water at hand at all times. Good luck mate Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cibbersicks Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Simplest method I found was self bleeding the new lines before attaching them to the calipers. Unless you have a bleeder that pulls the fluid through the new lines from the bottom end, it will take you ages. As the above post, gravity is your friend. Step by step Empty the resevoir, remove the old lines, fit the new lines (should fit new copper washers too) to the to your master cylinder only, fill the resevior and let the fluid make its own way down to the bottom of the new lines (to help it along, you can gently pump the lever if you want), when it starts dripping from the bottom fit them to your calipers (again, with new copper washers), then bleed as normal. The bleeding may take a while as there'll be lots of air to clear. I usually let the bike sit for a day then bleed the lines again to make sure the lines are totally clear of air, anal I know but there's nothing more important on your bike than your brakes, steering and tyres so when making changes or carrying out repairs to any of them always be double sure everythings as it should be. You'll spill a fair amount of fluid doing this so have plenty of rags and warm soapy water at hand at all times. Good luck mate Pete You messy Git thats the sloppy way!!! Also a tip for after you've bled the system... cable tie the lever to the bar and leave the res cap loose for a few hours, this will allow any tiny bubbles to work their way out of the system, you'll find after you cut the cable tie, the lever will feel fantastic! p.s. do you suffer with the lever coming too far back on your 10r? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-maul Posted August 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 You messy Git thats the sloppy way!!! Also a tip for after you've bled the system... cable tie the lever to the bar and leave the res cap loose for a few hours, this will allow any tiny bubbles to work their way out of the system, you'll find after you cut the cable tie, the lever will feel fantastic! p.s. do you suffer with the lever coming too far back on your 10r? Yeah, with the standard lines i'v got on now the lever goes bake after about 4 or 5 laps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morepower Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Yeah, with the standard lines i'v got on now the lever goes bake after about 4 or 5 laps They all do that..... if the bike is less than 2 or 3 years old changing the lines will not make as big a difference as you expect. If you buy new lines try and get -2 (dash 2) brake lines. The normal ones are -3 which have a 3mm bore so swapping to the -2 is supposed to make the brakes more positive and more fade resistant. The Kawasaki has a master cylinder bore which is too small for track use and even the superstock bikes used to cheat by using the ZX6R master cylinder or some little cheat with a packing peice to remove almost any freeplay in the master cylinder to get a bit more piston travel. You will find you can pull the lever back to the bar with the bike stood on the stand and really the lever should not be able to be pulled back to the bar as once hot the travel will increase anyway so you really want a lever that will stop before you get about 10mm before the bar this will mean even when hot you still have some lever travel when needed and will still allow you to brake that bit harder if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark/Foggy Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Good trick if you're re-using copper washers (wherever) is to anneal them. Pair of pliers over a gas stove & get them red hot. Drop them straight into cold water and you'll see all the impurities scale off leaving a softer washer for you to crank back down. Reasuring if nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morepower Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Good trick if you're re-using copper washers (wherever) is to anneal them. Pair of pliers over a gas stove & get them red hot. Drop them straight into cold water and you'll see all the impurities scale off leaving a softer washer for you to crank back down. Reasuring if nothing else. I hate copper crush washers! I use dowty washers and give customers them and just throw the copper ones in the bin! So if anyone buys a brake line kit you can ask for dowty washers instead but they are about £1.20 each. I buy them by the 1000 so I get them cheap so I just put them in with every brake order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerich Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Not easy to change if it's a VFR800 with a linked brake system and 8 different hoses! Spent the weekend helping with brother in law putting braided hose on his. Even with a vacuum bleeding kit and gallons of brake fluid I reckon we would have been quicker leaving the whole bike immersed in DOT4 overnight with all the bleed nipples open! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark/Foggy Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 I hate copper crush washers! I use dowty washers and give customers them and just throw the copper ones in the bin! So if anyone buys a brake line kit you can ask for dowty washers instead but they are about £1.20 each. I buy them by the 1000 so I get them cheap so I just put them in with every brake order. This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gook184 Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Get a Mityvac to bleed it out. Saves hours of pissing about and does the job properly with no chance of any air bubbles left in the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cibbersicks Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Dont do this. Once the lever is pulled back, the master cylinder (from the piston anyway) is sealed off from the reservoir (how else would it build pressure??). By leaving the cap off the reservoir all you are doing is allowing the fluid in the reservoir absorb moisture from the air. Apologies, bit of a mind blur then didn't mean to type that bit, of course DOT4 and DOT5.1 are polyethylene glycol-based fluids which both absorb water. You can still cable tie your lever back though...thats bits ok lol. Yeh the reason i asked if the lever was coming back was exactly what morepower said. All the 10r's i've seen have a lot of excess movement at the lever. A couple of mates found the only real way to solve it was DOT5.1 fluid and a Brembo M/C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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