DIY SS Brake Lines and EBC HH pads

[ninja250]

DIY stainless steel braided brake lines F/R and EBC HH pads

Ok! My first shot at a Ninjette.org DIY

Saw some residual fluids the other day near my banjo bolts. Figured I'd go inspect and re bleed the brake system since I have 1600mi on my bike now and I can feel the OEM pads wearing down a slight amount from breaking hard in the hills. Never hurts to beef up your braking system on these crazy two wheeled machines either so thought I'd get to some brake upgrades while I was down there.

I realize back braided lines are unnecessary but thought I'd do it anyways for looks as well as to have a stiffer, longer lasting and more dependable line on there. Not to mention, it was shorter. The rear line is a straight shot to the caliper now as opposed to doing a 180 and looping back to it. Still seems like enough line to move the wheel around for chain slack too later down the road.

So I happened across the Fatbikez.com website (no affiliation, honest, I patronize a little bit of everyone!) and found these cool Hel braided lines and the EBC HH pads linked below.

EBC HH pads


Hel coated brake line kit

So I'm still waiting on my front set of pads. I did not order pads for the rear as adding a steel braided line to the rear will increase sensitivity enough already. Since I can not yet do the front line and pads, I will start the first half of this DIY with the rear brake line by itself. Easy enough..

First thing we need to receive the lines.
Fatbikez was great with communication and the lines showed up a few days after order via USPS. Quality looked great!


The second thing that comes to mind when I think of replacing brake lines is messy brake fluid. Already anticipated the lines so picked up some Dot4 a few days ago.


You can do these brake lines up on your race stands or on the floor. No difference really. Pointed out in red is the old bulky brake line we will be removing. Never mind the dirty bike in many pieces. She's getting a make over.


You will need to make a "brake bleeder's friend". A Gatorade cup on a coat hanger does the job well.


Next you will need to attach some CLEAR hose to the brake nipple. Haha, I said nipple. Don't forget to clamp the hose on there so it doesn't fall off. Brake fluid everywhere isn't very fun.


Run your line down into your catch bottle bleeder buddy catch thing.
Get out your 8mm wrench and slap it on the bleeder nipple.


Remove the rear brake reservoir lid.
Loosen the nipple (righty tighty, lefty loosie) 1/4 turn while pressing down on the rear brake pedal repeatedly. You will notice the brake fluid flowing out of the caliper through your hose into the catch can.






Keep pumping until you hear the air in the system pump the last of the fluid out and there is no more fluid coming out of the brake hose. The system should be pretty well drained by now. This step is important.. you don't want to unbolt the hose and have fluid run all over the place. When you are sure you've pumped all the fluid from the system, unbolt the banjo bolts to the old brake line with your 12mm.




The manual said to test fit the bolts for pitch into their threaded holes before going further so I did really quick. The kit came with enough banjos and washers for both the front and rear lines. Note that the new banjos use a 14mm socket where the old banjos used a 12mm.


The new banjos fit fine


Now, to finish removing the old brake hose, pull the last banjo off the caliper which will free up the line and allow you to pull it out the rear of the brake line retainers that are bolted to the swingarm.


Here's the old and new lines side by side. See what I mean by the new line doesn't do a 180 to the caliper?


Love that shiny new material. Take a pic while it lasts. lol


Before we get started installing the new line, let's get rid of the buildup around the caliper where the banjo bolts go so that while we are working there we don't get any grit into the brake system. That would defeat the purpose of us putting these nice upgraded lines on the bike.




Now the part we've all been waiting for. Bolting the sexy new brake lines on there! Woot! Torque specs in the manual call for 18ft lbs on these bolts. Torque specs on the instruction sheet for the lines said between 15 to 21 ft lbs or something like that. I stuck with 18ft lbs. Sounded nice and central to me. Either way, don't torque the banjos down fully just yet. Snug will do for now.

Notice the new routing of the brake line. Spiffy, eh?
Don't forget to get the rubber grommet in the carrier.


Once routed the front banjo lines right up.


Just snug for now, enough to hold fluid but not fully tight yet! I have a trick for you later.


Now you can stand back and admire the new line for a second before we get to bleeding.




OK, that's enough. Let's get down to it.
First, you will need to get fluid in the system. Full the res with Dot4.


Now you will want to open up the bleeder nipple on the caliper again with your 8mm wrench while you pump fluid through from the res out through the caliper to get fluid in the lines. Once you see fluid come out of the bleeder nipple, go ahead and close it off for now and leave your 8mm wrench there.
We have the fluid in the system, but have not bleed out the air bubbles yet.


This is the part I cannot put into pictures. The first bleed.
You need to pump the pedal until you feel the the brakes are engaged again.
Now that they are engaged, you need to have someone step on the pedal while you open the bleeder nipple and let fluids out. Make sure you close the nipple back up again before the pedal hits bottom, or you will introduce air back into the system. This procedure is called bleeding. you will do this 2-3 times on the initial bleed of the brake line until you see that the bleed off fluids contain no air bubbles in them.

Now, top off the res one more time. It will have spent some fluids while you bleed the air out.


Now cap it. It's OK if it's a hair on the full side, we will be bleeding more out. Not too much though! Now you can pump the pedal too until you feel the brakes come in.


Remember how I said to only snug the banjo bolts down a bit for now?
Listen close. You want to bleed the air bubbles out of the banjo bolts because you installed a completely new brake line. Pain in the butt now, but you'll be happy with your brake performance later.

Wrap a rag around the front banjo and use your foot to press on the brake pedal (or have someone do it for you) while you VERY CAREFULLY loosen the banjo bolt the TINIEST amount until you see a tiny tiny tiny amount of fluid come out of the bolt. Then, while the pedal is still going down you need to tighten the banjo bolt back up. This time, torque it down to the 18ft lbs for good, because you bleed it out and it's done.

If you are like me, you can do this by yourself. I used my own foot to step on the pedal while sitting on my butt on the ground and bleeding the banjo.
Here I am loosening the banjo while pressing the pedal..


...and here I am tightening the banjo back up again before the pedal hits bottom. It's very important that if you want the time to bleed the banjo before you bottom out the pedal that you only let the banjo bleed a very tiny amount of fluid by barely opening it.


Now that the front banjo is bleed out, time to bleed the rear banjo. This ensures ALL the air is out of the entire system. First, pump the rear brake pedal until you feel the brakes come back.
Since the rear banjo bolt is still only snug, press the rear brake pedal loosen it up a VERY CAREFULLY and only let a very TINY TINY TINY amount of fluids seep out of the bolt. Then tighten the bolt back up quickly again before the brake pedal hits bottom. Now torque the final banjo bolt up to 18ft lbs. Both banjos have been bleed!
you can see a tiny bit of fluid sitting on the swingarm in this pic that came out from bleeding the banjo.




Since you pre-bleed the system once, and then bleed both banjo bolts by pumping while letting them seep, it's time to do the final bleed on the rear brake.

Top the fluids off one last time. This time, you need to be sure you don't have too much fluid in the system.

Pump the rear brake a few times until you feel it come back full. Now have someone hold down the rear brake while you carefully open the bleeder nipple a little bit and let out some fluids. Close the bleeder nipple before the pedal hits bottom. Pump the pedal again until the brakes come back.
Do this one more time and look to see that there is no air bubbles coming out of the brake fluid when you loosen the nipple and then tighten it again before the brake pedal hits bottom. Also, one more check that the brake fluid in the reservoir is between high and low. If it's too high, pull off the cap and soak some of the fluid into a clean shop rag until it's right. Too low, add a drop or two.
You should be done bleeding your brakes and replacing with new lines!. Congrats! It was fun wasn't it!
Be sure to wipe any brake fluid off your bike.


Now to finish up, pump the pedal until the brakes come back for the final time. Make sure you don't go riding down the street until you are positive your rear brakes are engaged. You will need to take it easy on them the first 100 miles or so to be sure you did everything right.

Now is the time to see how they feel. If you are doing the rear line, you will notice the rear brake seems pretty sensitive now. That is because you are removing a large amount of flex from the rubber cable and even the 180 degree bend with flex in it from the old stock cable. Be a little careful on your new rear brake cable for a bit until you get used to the sensitivity!
If it feels too spongy, you might need to come back in and bleed it again, minus the banjo bolt bleed-out. It's OK though because bleeding a motorcycle brake system is nothing but toping off a res and pumping the pedals or levers while removing the air from a bleeder nipple. One tool and a bit of fluids and you can redo it no problem.


Here's a few angles on my rear brake line. To be continued on the front Hel SS coated brake line and EBC HH pads once the pads get here! Thanks for stopping by.




See you in the twisties!

[Alex]

Nice job! Can't wait to see the update for the front end!

[ninja250]

This post saved for the front end. (will edit soon).

Will try and knock out some of those grammar and spelling errors as well.

[Locksmiff]

Can't you bleed the brakes (the end bit) by putting fluid in the bottle, making sure the hose is below the fluid level and just keep pumping then nipping the nipple back up seeing as it will only be sucking fluid back in after each pump to expell the air ??.

[ninja250]

I believe you can bleed that way as well.
I don't fully understand it though. I guess you are just drawing the fluid into the system by pumping the lever and watching the bubbles come up through the res.

I have been bleeding brakes as I show above for years on cars and I did my old GSXR like this as well. Works fine, but many other ways to get the job done A lot of people have their own tricks for bleeding.

The main thing is to be sure you got all the bubbles out of the lines. You may want to even re-bleed them after taking the bike for a ride, because the vibrations from riding the bike can help to dislodge more "stuck" air bubbles in the system.

If you guys have anything to add, feel free! This is just one of many ways to get the job done.

[sharky nrk]

really good job on the diy - lines and pads are a great upgrade

[arcman]

FYI the HEL lines for my '09 were also shorter than the stock lines. The back line on mine was somewhat pinched going through the new routing but the front was a real problem: when I used a head lifting stand the line pulled taught. You could have played a tune on it. I emailed HEL in Australia and told then of the line length disparity and also my concern about the front line being potentially damaged from being stretched (visibly one of the rubber over boots had moved slightly).

Front Kawaski line 680mm
Rear Kawasaki line 500mm

Front HEL line 650mm
Rear HEL line 330mm

After a few emails back and forth the guys sent me a new set of lines exactly the same length as the originals at no cost. Now that's what I call customer service.

However, I think they need to go the next step and update their data for the '08/9 and match the OEM line lengths.

A.

[g21-30]

KC, as you probably remember from bleeding automobile brake lines, you always want to start bleeding at the most distant point from the Master Cylinder. This is so the air in the system is bled out at each valve, with any remaining air coming out the master cylinder. With that said, you may want to consider, bleeding the caliper first, then the caliper banjo fitting, and lastly the banjo fitting closest to the master cylinder.

For an alternate method, check out:

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=35238

Thanks for sharing!

[ninja250]

Woops,
Went out of order on direction.

I did bleed the caliper first, but then went to the front banjo before the back.
I also went back to the bleeder valve again but just as precautionary air bubble check. Seemed ok up in the hills yesterday but couldn't hurt to bleed it out one more time and only takes a minute.

As far as the front line not fitting, I didn't notice if that was the case or not yet. I think I compared the new line against the bike and old line and it looked ok, but didn't measure.

I think the length of the rear line is fine. You can bend the cable routing tab on the frame to help with the angle of the line. It's not really pinched off or hard bent or anything though.

No problems to report with the rear brake line in the hills yesterday so far accept for the fact that the SS lines are a bit more sensitive than the stock ones are. (good sign that the bleed job went OK as well) Still waiting on those pads before I can get to the front. Will take the advice posted here into consideration. =)

Thanks guys!

[mike_sema]

nice write up

[ninja250]

Test fit the front cable to the bike while it was on a fork stand. Looks like the front cable has extra slack even when the forks are completely extended! Shouldn't be any fit problems.

Just need them pads to show up. Maybe today..

[dave hendy]

Good detailed write up, well done Just ordered some EBC197HH pads for my wifes Ninja not sure if I will change the lines yet though?

Dave

[arcman]

Originally Posted by ninja250

Test fit the front cable to the bike while it was on a fork stand. Looks like the front cable has extra slack even when the forks are completely extended!

Great stuff! Tell me though, how long is your front cable? Maybe it was just the Australian HEL manufacturer who had the lengths wrong when he made mine up.

Tks,
A.

[ninja250]

Sure thing,
Will get measurements and pics of both front cables for you when those pads show.
I assume you're going from center of the banjo so will measure banjo center to banjo center.

Who knows, maybe you're the reason my line is correct? I assume it is anyways, still have yet to fit it on to finish.

[ninja250]

Pads finally came around, but they were the reversed ones! I don't think these fit! I'll check them out later.
The dude had trouble getting them at all I guess and now their backwards. I guess I know why. Funny thing they came from EBC and were still incorrect. Wonder why they wouldn't just ship proper ones and save us all some shipping. They must not have them yet.


Hang in there folks I'll get this done sooner than later.

[g21-30]

Bummer I know the feeling. Hang in there.

[ninja250]

Oh crap! I might be wrong, these might fit!
I guess I'll pull it apart tomorrow and find out. At least get that front line on there even if it's without the pads. Doesn't do me no good sitting here.

Edit:
Nope! They are wrong! Doh!

[ninja250]

Received the proper set of EBC HH front pads yesterday.
I'll get the DIY finished up today.
Assuming the front line is long enough now.
Will find out shortly.

To be honest I notice that the stock line will come very close to bottoming out if you lift the front end and extend the forks. I won't be surprised to see the front Hel line do the same thing somewhat. If it does pull too tight, I will write in for a replacement.

[ninja250]

Sure enough,
The Hel front line is too short.
By about 5-10mm.

For what it's worth, the stock front line is kinda short too.
Doing wheelies could easily stress either brake line. Stock or Hel line.

I wrote in to Hel and to Fatbikez to let them know they're selling short lines.

Hopefully they take care of me quick. This has surely been one "Hel" of a brake upgrade
Will be nice when I get it done though.

Until then, bike remains in pieces.
I did get the HH pads on there!

No problems with the rear line as posted above yet either. All seems OK with the rear shorty Hel line as far as road testing.

[ninja250]

I have been in contact with Jim at Moto-Heaven. I believe he is the Hel dealer for Fatbikez.

Jim
moto-heaven
HEL Performance USA

I informed him that the stock line on the 2008 and up Ninja 250R is almost too tight in itself when the bike is set up into a front race stand and the front wheel is off the ground. Being that my front Hel line was even shorter, it was also pulling tight. I stated that there is a chance I will stunt the bike and lift the front end off the ground, bottoming out the front Hel brake line.

I requested an additional 20mm be added to the factory specs of the front 2008+ Ninja 250R Hel line.

If reference Jim wrote:

I can double check the specifications for the 08-10 models in my database and compare those to that of which I personally measured at the Cleveland show last weekend. This should tell me what or why the changes were made from the OE hoses in the first place. Also, I will be able to reference your email for the additional lengths you specified and pull everything together for our new specs. As you know from experience on your OE line, I am not looking to duplicate them in this case due to it being short as well, but rather use the feedback from you and other 250R riders to assure that you get the best possible fit when I put the lines out the door.

The additional bit of line to the front is not a problem at all. I can work that out from your last email and my measurements, so we'll move to the rear.

All sounds good.
So I told him about the rear line being a direct shot to the caliper instead of doing the normal 180 to the caliper like the stock line does. I told him I actually liked this, but I think that if you were to keep the straight shot cable from the cylinder to the caliper that he would probably want to add some length to the line to leave room for chain slack adjustment and just to have some slack on the line so it does not pinch or kink so tightly.

I also said that having a shorter rear brake line can be controversial because of the fact that the fluid could heat up faster since there is less of it, even though a rear brake isn't used mainly on this street bike. I said I don't mind the shorter rear line myself but others may because of this factor (easier to heat the rear system up with a shorter cable).

Here is what he said. Basically he wants our input on this. If you guys could reply back here and I'll get it back to him, I would greatly appreciate it.

I see the difference in lengths of the rears through your pictures and now (since the Cleveland show) know the proper routing and length of the OE hose. My question to you and other 250R riders is - Do we stay with the stock routing or change it to the more direct routing for all of the kits that I supply? Regardless of the majority ruling, I can make your rear line a bit longer and provide the direct route for you- since you like it, but I would like to know from the others if they agree so I can adjust my database to your custom length? If they agree on the direct routing, by the looks of your pictures I can use a straight banjo on the caliper end of the line to provide for a more direct route and less binding. This would not put such an arch in the line when routed the way you have done through the first holder. If you agree, then I just need a confirmation on how much to add to the length to accommodate chain slack.

Our shipping is over for today, but I will come in tomorrow to get your replacement lines made up and on the way. For now, I will wait to hear back from you, but like I said, I will make the replacement lines to your liking and hope that you will help me with the feedback of others through your DIY to correct my specs for all.

It seems as though Jim is a stand up guy. He wants to get us the right lines for our bikes and will go so far as to ask us how we want our lines on our bikes. He is going to replace the lines I have now with a longer strait shot (plus 15-30mm's or so and a different banjo) rear and longer front, but needs our input on how the kit should be that ends up going out to customers from now on so he can update the database.

Any feedback you guys want to give on the subject could effect the outcome of their product.

[arcman]

Make them the same length as the OE rear & the same or 5-10mm longer than OE on the front.

A.

[ninja250]

Thanks for the reply.
That's one vote for stock length in the rear and one vote for "straight shot" length (with the addition of a few MM's to the length and a new banjo style) rear lines.

Perhaps they should make rear line length a kit option, but may not be possible for all I know.

The front cables should have an extra 20mm on them from now on, to cover the slack that the stock cable doesn't even provide when in a race stand or lifting the front wheel. 5-10mm to match stock length, and an additional 10mm to account for slack.

[ninja250]

Time for the Pads DIY (plus removal of the stock cable).
I was told the brake lines were made up and shipped out today. Will get there soon. The basic idea of bleeding a brake system has been conveyed above at least before all the confusion.

First you will need to make sure you have the right pads.
Pads on the left are correct, pads on the right are incorrect. Thanks for pointing that out somewhere previously Paul. I would have never caught it before tearing everything apart and finding out the hard way.


Now hook up your gatorade brake bleeder and set up your 8mm wrench, open end to the brake bleeder fitting.


Loosen the bleeder valve, then start pumping the front brake lever.


You will notice fluid coming out of the bleeder into your catch bottle. This is good. Keep pumping until it stops coming out and you hear air being forced through the system. Again we want as much fluid out as possible.


Go ahead and close off the bleeder valve now. Level off and check the front brake reservoir window to be sure most of the fluid is out. There will still be some in there for now and you'll never really need to get it ALL out so just leave it.


Back down to the caliper end of things..
Grab a 12mm and pull the front caliper banjo bolt and brake line. Use a rag around the banjo when you pull it off to make sure you don't drip any residual brake fluid on your work space or motorcycle paint.


While keeping the left over brake fluid that is sure to be hiding and waiting to spill all over you in mind, slip the lower half of the front cable out through the cable guide attached to the front wheel mud guard.


Now remove the upper cable guide bolt. 10mm


..and then you can finally pop off the upper brake line banjo bolt. Keep a rag handy again under that reservoir before, during and after you remove the line or you will end up with oily brake goo all over.


Leave the rag there.. it will drip while you work on the caliper.


A picture showing the stock line length against the first front Hel line I received, being too short.


Back down to that caliper again. Now for the fun part. Upgrading the pads! This is nice and easy provided you like cleaning off your dirty bike and making it look new again. Also, be aware that more brake fluid is lurking in the caliper to ruin your day if you don't drain it first through the now open banjo bolt hole when you get the caliper off. You will need a 12mm to remove the front caliper bolts.




Go ahead and empty the caliper of fluid now by turning it upside down and left and right and all over while over a drip surface until it's all out. Use some cleaning materials to clean the entire caliper. You can't assemble things correctly when they are dirty. Clean all the brake dust off the caliper too and any dirt you see anywhere. Make sure none actually enters the caliper! Then we would have to rebuild the internals.


Yank the pad hanger bolts. Easy enough.


When you have them out, the pads will drop right out. This will leave you free to pull the pad spacer spring and clean the actual caliper cylinders.


Scrape as much of the gunk off the caliper cyliders as you can. Be careful not to let these fall out of the caliper while you are doing your work. Push them in and q-tip them to be sure they spotless.


Doesn't hurt to check the condition of the spring and clean it off too real quick.


So here's our new meat on the table.


Go ahead and put the cleaned spring bracket back in place and put the right hand side pad in.


As well as the left.


Line up the pads and spring and replace the pad hanger bolts. When I did so, I used a toothpick's drop worth of loctite on them. (not shown)
Just my own little security thing.


Now be sure the pads and spring are all set up right. They should be if the pad hanger bolts got back in place right but you never know so double check. Then hold the pads apart and slip the caliper over the brake rotor disk and back into mounting position by the right fork. Install the caliper mount bolts to 18ft-lbs (25N-m, 2.5kgf-m), then stand back and admire your invisible new upgrade!


That's it! The pads are on there!

If you are just going to use your stock line and test the new pads, make sure you bleed the lines correctly first. If you don't know what you are doing you might not have any brakes if you just slap them back on and forget to bleed and double check them. They must operate 100% correct before you ride. Please refer to the brake bleeding section above. The pads also must be broken in for several hundred miles before they are operating at top performance again and your bike will have reduced braking capabilities until they have! I will detail this more when my new lines show up along with a re bleed and some pics of the new line lengths.

If it's been a while before you have looked at your brakes and you are just now upgrading to the EBC HH pads, might want to consider replacing or measuring the wear on your your rotor too. My bike still only has 2k on it yet so I'm not going to worry about that right now. When the rotor is ready for replacement I'll just do the pads again at that time.

[islanderman7]

So are the pads on the right a manufacture defect, or do they sell them reversed like that? I'm confused, they are both the same part number right?

[Banzai]

Originally Posted by islanderman7

So are the pads on the right a manufacture defect, or do they sell them reversed like that? I'm confused, they are both the same part number right?

EBC had their visual ID quality check system set up to recognize the backing plate as "Present" instead of "Present and correct orientation" for a while (it has since been corrected), and someone loaded a bunch of backing plates upside down. They passed computer check, got packaged, and got shipped. They show up now and again. Inconvienent, but if you've bought them from a reputable dealer, they'll exchange them no cost.

[ninja250]

Will be nice to have when I find an opposite matching rotor like I saw somewhere. Then all I need to fab is a brake disk mount for the left side and get dual fronts.

[2WheelGuy]

Originally Posted by ninja250

Good to know. I tend to stock up and change pads at the track (I like new ones on Sunday). I would hate to have the wrong pads. I just checked the garage and I have two sets of good ones. I'll keep and eye out in the future.

[Momaru]

Originally Posted by Banzai

Inconvienent, but if you've bought them from a reputable dealer, they'll exchange them no cost.

Alternately you can contact EBC directly, who will swap with ya also at no cost. Glad you didn't have to find out the hard way KC!

RE:HEL lines, I'm definitely in favor of the stock+20mm up front and a stock length in back. The way I got my stock lines I had two loops in the rear that was really awkward, but prefer having that loop vs a straight shot. Thanks for working with HEL to get us a better product! I had been considering Galfer, but after hearing how accomodating HEL is, I think they've won another customer.

[ninja250]

I got a response from Hel today and they said they will do either back line length for you if you contact one of the vendors that sells through Jim. (like Fatbikez)
He said he will have a list for me of those vendors soon.

The lines seems strong to me, I don't see anything wrong with the ones I do have on hand.

I gotta admit I wasn't in the mood for any R&D on my braking system in the beginning but I think this is going to work out nicely now working with them directly to get the lines exactly the way I want them. Just haven't been able to ride with the bike in pieces for a couple weeks though. Starting to get itchy throttle wrist and clutch fingers.

[Momaru]

Originally Posted by ninja250

Just haven't been able to ride with the bike in pieces for a couple weeks though. Starting to get itchy throttle wrist and clutch fingers.

Very much understood! I'm in the same boat due to lots 'sky dandruff' around, so I've been knocking stuff off the maintenance and mods lists for the last 2 weeks, waiting for ice and gravel coatings on the roads to go away a bit.

[ninja250]

Woot! Got to ride for a minute or two tonight and tear up the 'hood. lol
The new lines showed up today along with a nice beanie cap (for my head) and a Hel brake reservoir cover (for the bike).

I already threw the new front line on and the length is perfect!
Haven't done the rear yet but maybe tonight between programming the gauge.
Update sooner than later! Lots going on..

The brakes feel brand new right now and you can tell. I have to break them in before I know how they'll really feel. Definitely don't feel like the stock broken in brakes just yet that I raced through the hills a few weeks back, but I'm sure they'll get there after a few hundred miles.

Gotta send some pics of the new lines to Jim at Hel as well. They took care of me!

[Timm3h]

Nice write up!

[randomwalk101]

Anyone experiences this with Galfer lines??
Posted via Mobile Device

[ninja250]

Here is the new line kit before install


Here is is after




Look at all that nice lovely slack in the front line. No pinch when you hang it in a front race stand.

Need to get install pics on the front line. Will get to my PM's later on the brakes too.

[ninja250]

Yeah the rear line like I have it feels great! I don't think I could get a more responsive brake until I upgrade the pads in the rear but I really don't need to. lol It's plenty sensitive like this! I definitely like the feel of the rear brake with the shorty line.

My front one is just a tiny bit squishy right now.
I bled the front line according to the manual and added in some common tricks we all know here and there but still feels just a little squishy.

I'm thinking it's the pads newness.

I bled the front line twice separately now and don't think it's anything I'm doing wrong. Just have to work the front system in a bit before I can judge how it feels. I'm pretty sure I got all the air out. I don't think I need to move the caliper upside down or anything.. the bleed valve is at the top. I bled it out after a good bumpy ride session too.

I was not able to get to any twisty roads so could not load up the front brake system much at all today. Had to turn around at the snow. It was cold and late already too.

Playing with the front brake so much makes me want to do my forks now.

[DEXSPEED]

rear brake feels solid w/ ss line.really recommended.this is a galfer brake line

[MKlein3004]

KC, did you do the proper breakin for a new pad. Where you are supposed to get the bad material to embed on the disk. I believe its something along the lines of a 20-0 stop multiple times, followed by a 60-0 stop multiple times, then a 70-20 stop multiple times, or something along the lines of that.

[randomwalk101]

Just checked. Galfer has tons of slacks
Posted via Mobile Device

[Banzai]

Originally Posted by MKlein3004

KC, did you do the proper breakin for a new pad. Where you are supposed to get the bad material to embed on the disk. I believe its something along the lines of a 20-0 stop multiple times, followed by a 60-0 stop multiple times, then a 70-20 stop multiple times, or something along the lines of that.

My EBC pads were at 90% after a similar break in cycle on the first ride. 100% by the third regular ride, and that includes installing a galfer line. My front and rear brakes are rock solid, and feel like there's a steel rod connecting the lever to the brake, very direct and proportional, and VERY responsive.

[ninja250]

Originally Posted by MKlein3004

KC, did you do the proper breakin for a new pad. Where you are supposed to get the bad material to embed on the disk. I believe its something along the lines of a 20-0 stop multiple times, followed by a 60-0 stop multiple times, then a 70-20 stop multiple times, or something along the lines of that.

Yeah still working through the break in period.
Figured I'd save that for the front line DIY pics and info.
Want to make sure I have experience setting it up right and testing it to perfection before I post it! Anyone can do a rear line and front pads but a front line and bleed job is a bit more intricate. Or so it would seem now.

Yes my front will stop good but not like my stock ones did. That's because 1) they are not broken in yet and b) there might still be some air bubbles hiding. I might pull the front master cylinder and caliper off the bike and flip it around to see if any air bubbles left in there.
I've triple checked so I doubt it, but but the brakes still don't feel like stock did yet.

I got a million things going on today but I'll get back to that later. Yes, they should be rock solid in as Bonzai states. I will report so when I get them there and how I did it. The rear is perfect right now, but the front might need more work.

If I wasn't comparing broken in pads to new unbroken in pads on a broke in rotor, I'd know for sure how the new front line felt right off the bat. It's all uneven up front for me right now so will be a few rides before I can say for sure how they feel.