Who's got braided brake lines?

[NordieBoy]

Please excuse my earlier delyed post.

Sounds like your prestretching your brake lines so that they have less give under load. As the lines return to normal shape/size your brakes will return to their normal feel.

You're pressurising the system and agitating the air.
Works even better if you can pull the lever off the bike and raise it up so the brakeline doesn't have any downwards loop the bubbles can rise to the top of and they go right up to the reservoir.

[jimmy 2006]

spongy brakes?

you have not mentioned when they were last bled? air in the system or containminated fluid???

give them a good bleed, new fluid, new brake pads = amazing improvement in brake feel

my 2c.

[soundbeltfarm]

yeah put new "braking"pads on.
new brake fluid.
bleed it so many different times.
but it still not too great .
zip tie has helped heaps but will see what happens

[paultz250]

i have braided line on front on my ktm they look flash performance? when i learn how to ride il let you know .But noticed huge inprovment with new pads and roughing up rotors with emry tape gives pads somthing to grab .Braided lines are so cheap now you cant go wrong with them

[pete376403]

Braided lines improve braking because all the effort you put in at the lever goes to pressing the pads against the disk instead of merely swelling the stock rubber hose. The braiding as such doesn't add a knob of shits worth of braking improvement - it's just to protect the teflon hose within.
As for zip tying and other assorted tricks - there shouldn't be any air in the system to start with. If you do zip tie the lever to the bar to compress it, all you're doing is temporarily causing the air to be absorbed by the brake fluid. After a short time it will come back out as a bubble. Scuba divers call this the bends, and it can be fatal for them as well. Change the brake fluid and bleed the brakes properly and you won't have to resort to cludges like this.

[paultz250]

rubber hoses expand with pressure there for less on the pads were as braided steel lines dont expand as much so more presure for the bakes so they should impove braking wouldnt they ? or why would you use them oh yeah they look flash

[Quicker_with_age]

Change the brake fluid and bleed the brakes properly and you won't have to resort to cludges like this.

haha I personally helped Karl replace his brakepads, fluid, and bleed the brakes we spent alot of time bleeding them without great success, I have bled many many bikes brakes before but this one is bizare and I believe there is an underlying problem with his brake but im stumped as to what it is.

[GaZBur]

rubber hoses expand with pressure there for less on the pads were as braided steel lines dont expand as much so more presure for the bakes so they should impove braking wouldnt they ? or why would you use them oh yeah they look flash

The DR has a rigid plastic liner outside the rubber line going most of the way up the hose to above handlebar height anyway must do the same job of keeping the lines compressed.
The DR's brakes can get smoking hot due to lots of braking mostly when not a lot of high speed for cooling especially at motards, and the front has always be rigid 2 finger braking no matter what the temperature. Perhaps you could look at finding rigid plastic coated lines too!

[pete376403]

haha I personally helped Karl replace his brakepads, fluid, and bleed the brakes we spent alot of time bleeding them without great success, I have bled many many bikes brakes before but this one is bizare and I believe there is an underlying problem with his brake but im stumped as to what it is.

Bleeding bike brakes the conventional way (pump the lever a few times, hold it in, release the bleed nipple, lather, rinse, repeat) is a turd cos you're trying to pump air bubbles downhill. In the absence of anything better, when I fitted braided hoses on the GS I ended up removing the calipers and suspending them from the gargre roof, with a piece of wood in between the pads and then doing the pump, hold, release thing.
You can buy a brake bleed pump that forces fluid from the caliper to the m/cylinder, and the bubbles go uphill like they always want to.

[CRF119]

My old CR125 had braided lines and had a really nice feel. I spent about 1 hour of practising stoppies on the road no fade These wernt the slow stoppies tapped 5th then pulling front brake. Only works with no nobbs on tyre.

[NordieBoy]

The DR has a rigid plastic liner outside the rubber line going most of the way up the hose to above handlebar height anyway must do the same job of keeping the lines compressed.
The DR's brakes can get smoking hot due to lots of braking mostly when not a lot of high speed for cooling especially at motards, and the front has always be rigid 2 finger braking no matter what the temperature. Perhaps you could look at finding rigid plastic coated lines too!

That plastic is only to keep the rubber from abraiding and also keep it straight. There's actually a slight gap between it and the rubber.

Grab the rubber brake line in your hand and squeeze the brake lever hard.
You'll feel the line expand.

The braided line for the DR was $100. Cheaper than OEM.

[GaZBur]

That plastic is only to keep the rubber from abraiding and also keep it straight. There's actually a slight gap between it and the rubber.

Grab the rubber brake line in your hand and squeeze the brake lever hard.
You'll feel the line expand.

The braided line for the DR was $100. Cheaper than OEM.

Cool thanks for that. I am really happy with the standard front set up so far but I do notice the rear brake looses bite and requires heaps more welly when they are real hot, so hot the disks appear dark and if you brush your fingertips over the disk it sizzles and steams. Do you think a braided line would improve the rear - or is it just coz its overheating the disk that makes it less efficient? Obviously the rear disk is smaller and doesn't get near as much airflow over it as the front either.

[NordieBoy]

Cool thanks for that. I am really happy with the standard front set up so far but I do notice the rear brake looses bite and requires heaps more welly when they are real hot, so hot the disks appear dark and if you brush your fingertips over the disk it sizzles and steams. Do you think a braided line would improve the rear - or is it just coz its overheating the disk that makes it less efficient? Obviously the rear disk is smaller and doesn't get near as much airflow over it as the front either.

The braided line on the front makes a big difference to the amount of pull needed.

Going down Mt Arthur with the engine off on the Dusty Butt I found the back brakes were good for about 3/4 of the distance before they dissappeared

Some fluid with a higher boiling point would be a better bet - race fluid rather than standard.

[pritch]

I seem to recall having noticed recent ads for braided lines specifically designed for off-road use. HEL brand from memory, and they have an NZ agent in Auckland I believe.

Sorry, the relevant mag is at home and I have two Moto GP races to watch when I get there...

[cheese]

Hmm my brakes need a bleed. So should I take the calliper off and hang it up in teh air so teh air goes up???????wouldn't be too hard for me to do....