HEL Braided Brake Lines just arrived!

[buzzbomb]

Well I finally splurged out and got a set of Hel braided brake lines for my Fazer! I'd been considering new brake lines for a while, and found Hel Performance had an outlet in Queensland which ships all over oz. I put the order in on sunday, and the parcel arrived today (thursday) so I was really happy with the speedy delivery.

The lines and hose fittings look very high quality. I went with the full race setup rather than over the fender, as this might be easier to bleed, but that's only a hunch I have.

The only thing is they forgot to send an extra set of bolts and washers for the rear brake, but I will just get some new washers for the original banjo bolts.

They're a chrissy present for me/my bike, so I'm not sure when I'll install them. It's been so bloody hot here, so I'll probably wait til it's cooler.

For those who have changed their lines, how did it go? Are there any traps for things to watch for?

I'll start taking photos of the install and post them up soon!
BB

 

[Stumbles06]

Well I finally splurged out and got a set of Hel braided brake lines for my Fazer! I'd been considering new brake lines for a while, and found Hel Performance had an outlet in Queensland which ships all over oz. I put the order in on sunday, and the parcel arrived today (thursday) so I was really happy with the speedy delivery.

Nice, can't wait for the photo's. How much did you get them for Buzz??
Any chance of a link to the supplier??

:rockon:

 

[buzzbomb]

Nice, can't wait for the photo's. How much did you get them for Buzz??
Any chance of a link to the supplier??

:rockon:

$240.90 for front and rear, including postage. (not sure if taht's a great price to pay or not, but I couldn't find any other suppliers in oz. Goodrich was hard to find, so I went with Hel.)

HEL Brake Lines - Stainless Steel Motorcycle Performance Brake Line And Brake Hose Kits is the linky, and they make them to order, so if your bike is in the list, they just make the lines to order then post them out. If you want to indulge, they have titanium lines available too, but checking the price was a bit scary, about 400 bucks for just one brake line!

 

[huxy]

Hux's Bike Blog: Putting the brakes on
Hux's Bike Blog: But I've still......got the blues..... for my bike

The main gotchas are, you'll need some p-clips to clamp the lines to the various mounting points where the old lines tied in. A hose-separator to hold them together above the front wheel also makes it much neater.

There are plenty of pics on the two links above that I took fitting mine so have a look at those and it should go fine.

Oh... and it took me ages to bleed the brakes. But they're excellent now :rockon:

 

[Speedygonzales]

Fitting brake lines is not hard at all. Just take time your time, don't spill the fluid on painted parts and bleed the brakes good. It's pretty much bold on.

 

[Wolfman]

$240 is bloody cheap i reckon, i seem to remember paying over $300 for my Goodridge braided lines (front & rear), but the Goodridge lines are very very nice, and i did get all Stainless fitting's as well...which i think bumped up the price a little.

Would love to see what you think, once you have yours fitted.

And by the way, they are pretty easy to fit...

:thumbup:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I had longer lines made up for the front as I have bar risers. Bleeding was typical, however I used a Mighty Vac. Drain the entire front system so its not dripping about the bike(disconnect lower banjo bolts and let drain). The only other thing worth mentioning re bleeding, make sure all the air is out of the master cylinder. With the cover off, full of fluid, flick the lever back and forth SLIGHTLY. You'll see lots of air bubbles come out. As for mounting, I copied the flange that came on the right side of the fork, (made of steel). I made a right and left aluminum bracket to secure the lines to the lower legs(same place as the factory steel). The left line goes thru the center fender holder, the both lines tie together with zip ties, then up to the master cylinder. Looks very professional and works great.

The rear line was about 1 3/4" longer than stock (not requested). I sent the rear one back and they either shortened or replaced it (the nearest manufacturer is, I believe in Miamai-not far). Back in my hands 3-4 days.The rear is now the correct lenth and looks also really good (all lines are silver SS). The rear is considerably easier to bleed. R&R the line right there without removing anything else. It bled out quickly and easily.

Big difference with these lines, especially the fronts (with stock pads). Excellent investment.. Mine was about $130 for all the lines..

Scott

 

[Norbert]

I haven't done this yet, but I am planning to.

What I don't get is if you have to make sure the holes in the union bolt line up with the holes in the banjo bolt.
Do they just line up automatically as you screw the union bolt into the master cylinder?

 

[huxy]

What I don't get is if you have to make sure the holes in the union bolt line up with the holes in the banjo bolt.
Do they just line up automatically as you screw the union bolt into the master cylinder?

Link to article about banjo bolts

The whole idea of banjo bolts it they don't need to line up. There a channel around the inside of the donut shaped half so the brake fluid flows out of the hole in the middle of the bolt and into that channel and from there down the hole to calipers. The copper washers (don't forget them) form a seal and stop anything leaking out of the top. Nothing needs to be aligned so don't worry

 

[Speedygonzales]

Plus HEL are top notch !!! Maybe the best out there for that price. :rockon:

 

[buzzbomb]

Hux's Bike Blog: Putting the brakes on
Hux's Bike Blog: But I've still......got the blues..... for my bike

The main gotchas are, you'll need some p-clips to clamp the lines to the various mounting points where the old lines tied in. A hose-separator to hold them together above the front wheel also makes it much neater.

There are plenty of pics on the two links above that I took fitting mine so have a look at those and it should go fine.

Oh... and it took me ages to bleed the brakes. But they're excellent now :rockon:

Hey Huxy, I found your links a while ago, not sure where, probably somewhere on this forum methinks...I was only looking at your site yesterday in fact!
I haven't planned out the P clips yet, but I want to get everything I need before getting out the spanners.

Also slightly off topic, on your website, you installed a Stebel Nautilus horn, and you mounted it with some brackets that bolted into the fairing, on the left hand side. Were the bolts visible from the outside of the fairing? I've read that people have had issues mounting these horns properly and not running out of room...

 

[buzzbomb]

$240 is bloody cheap i reckon, i seem to remember paying over $300 for my Goodridge braided lines (front & rear), but the Goodridge lines are very very nice, and i did get all Stainless fitting's as well...which i think bumped up the price a little.

Would love to see what you think, once you have yours fitted.

And by the way, they are pretty easy to fit...

:thumbup:

Yeah I'm looking forward to trying them out once they're on, it should give a bit more bite and feedback to the braking experience.
This is probably the biggest mod I've done to the bike (well, about to do), meaning the bike is pretty standard, but the modding bug is starting to bite....hmmm, I wonder if there are any specials on some Pazzo clutch and brake levers....?

 

[Stumbles06]

This is probably the biggest mod I've done to the bike (well, about to do), meaning the bike is pretty standard, but the modding bug is starting to bite....hmmm, I wonder if there are any specials on some Pazzo clutch and brake levers....?

Cyclesector sell stuff on the forum, check out their stuff...
CycleSector.com - Levers

:rockon:

 

[huxy]

Also slightly off topic, on your website, you installed a Stebel Nautilus horn, and you mounted it with some brackets that bolted into the fairing, on the left hand side. Were the bolts visible from the outside of the fairing? I've read that people have had issues mounting these horns properly and not running out of room...

From the outside you cant see anything. There's the main outer fairing (the one you put the bolts through that holds the inner fairing on, the one you need to remove to get the tank off). There's then an outer-outer fairing that covers part of that. Slightly different colour and raised a bit. This can be pulled away by removing some screws inside the inner fairing. One of the pics shows me pulling it away and you can see the piece of bracket plus screw hidden inside there. When it's all back together you can't tell it's there. You do have to drill a hole in the middle fairing for the bolt but it all gets hidden.

One note of caution. It's loud. DAMN LOUD!!! :thumbup:

 

[SANGER_A2]

You're lucky! I can't get steel braided lines for mine as they are ABS and go into annoying little metal blocks that going into the ABS blocks. I rang HEL direct and they don't have them made for ABS yet. I wish someone else made them.

 

[buzzbomb]

You're lucky! I can't get steel braided lines for mine as they are ABS and go into annoying little metal blocks that going into the ABS blocks. I rang HEL direct and they don't have them made for ABS yet. I wish someone else made them.

buggar, that's a shame they don't make lines for the abs braking systems. I've seen they make lines for some honda bikes with abs, so hopefully they might be able to create one in the future...

 

[OneTrack]

Fitting brake lines is not hard at all. Just take time your time, don't spill the fluid on painted parts and bleed the brakes good. It's pretty much bold on.

I've never seen this mentioned here, but here's an old Mechanic's trick:-
If you do spill brake fluid onto painted parts, or if you simply want to clean up a brake fluid spill, don't wipe it....The simplest, safest and best method of cleaning it off is to simply wash it away by pouring clean, cold water onto the spill. The brake fluid absorbs the moisture, neutralizing it. Once you've poured water onto the spill, simply mop it up with a clean, non-abrasive cloth.

It works. :thumbup:

BTW, do NOT let any water get into your reservoir....brake fluid absorbs water (moisture) like a sponge.