Down under, an idiot and a 400F

I am about to measure and build my custom brake lines, going with HEL as they are approved for use on Australian roads, plus they have a very handy build your own feature. Im going single line to the right hand caliper with an extra line over the fender to the left caliper... seems simple enough, however I need some help from those in the know.

1. I was going to measure the length of the hoses using a piece of rubber pipe to simulate the brake hose and copy the same lines down to the caliper. Plan was to measure from the master cylinder to the caliper hole. Any issues with this?


2. I was going to get a 90 degree bend for the master cylinder mount, anyone see any problems with this?


3. Do I get the same bend for the banjos where they meet the calipers for all the hoses or should I get straight for the main line down, then a 20 degree bend for the over the fender line (like the pic below)?



4. Any inputs on the mounts I should use for the lines? I would prefer to get something at least and if I cannot mount it, then simply cut it off and run nothing.
 
So in order to answer some questions myself I got out some clear tube so I could mock up the brake lines. All these were done with the bike in the air so the forks were completely fully extended:



I think a 45 degree angle out of the master cylinder will work to clear various bits:







The plan is to run the lines through behind the headlight bucket and behind the lower triple clamp down the the right caliper:



I plan on running the over fender piece on the inside and the main run on the he outside as it will work better to go over the fender that way. Also looking at this angle I think both banjos being straight is the best way to run the lines:





Lastly I cut the tube to as close to the centre of each banjo hole and came up with very similar lengths. Main line:



Over fender line:



Lastly I tried to measure the banjo bolt, I got a clear 1.25 thread pitch and it looked like an M10 but for some reason I couldn't get a die over the bolts easily. It's an R6 master cylinder matched to CBR F3 calipers, I'm assuming all are M10 x 1.25.

 
Rethinking the routing of the main line. Will copy this I think:

01_Front_all.JPG


Also turns out there is almost no difference in the length of the main line.
 
indeed it is a better idea to run the line to the front of the bottom triple clamp, running it behind could lead to problems getting crimped/trapped in the steering stops
 
spotty said:
indeed it is a better idea to run the line to the front of the bottom triple clamp, running it behind could lead to problems getting crimped/trapped in the steering stops
Click to expand...

Yeah that was my major concern. Plus that image above helped me big time work out the routing and the mount point on the front of the lower triple was a big bonus.
 
Personally, I run line to left caliper then over the top to right side. Pretty sure manufacturers don't do it that way as you need a longer line. It will be a PITA to bleed secondary line, don't even think about doing it with calipers on bike, you won't et all the air out from top of 'U' bend.
I've found it's best to have secondary caliper lower than primary and fit piece of wood between pads (I use a spare clipboard)
As long as you remember there are various places air bubbles can get 'stuck' and move things around (including master cylinder) it will be easy, takes me about 20~30 mins now but I've seen people spend days messing with them ;D

My XS with Katana brakes
KatanaBrkesonXS650Left.jpg


Just decided to add pic of the other side as well ;D
KatanaBrakesonXS650Right.jpg
 
Thanks PJ. Turns out that fork mount makes no difference to the main line length. Thanks for those pics, very helpful.

I pulled the trigger and will see how they fit once they come in.
Still the potential to run down to left caliper if lines are a little long.

No probs on the bleeding, thought it would be a challenge. Had no intentions of doing it on the bike, that would be a nightmare. Pretty comfortable with bleeding brakes as I have had issues with my KTM, although this will be first twin caliper setup.
 
Neevo - go to your local vet and pick up a 40ml syringe. Attach a 6" piece of bleed hose and push the fluid through the bleed nipples (this is called reverse bleeding). Wrap some teflon tape around the threads of the bleed nipples before you start to eliminate any leakage.

If you are bleeding a dry system this way you can push / pull the fluid back and forth multiple times until all the air is gone.

You can move a lot more fluid through the lines with a syringe and you can leave the calipers and lines on the bike.

And it's pretty quick. I did my twin caliper ZX9 front from dry in about 10 minutes.
 
I have a 50ml syringe here for my fork oil height setting. Seems a bit small to move enough fluid though.
 
I would get a new syringe, brake fluid will probably destroy it plus there is a very slim possibility you could get fork oil contamination?
 
I wrap bleed nipple threads with PTFE tape even when I'm doing 'conventional brake bleeding, it prevents them seizing when you do it again in 4~30 yrs ;)
 
I think my brake bleeding syringe is about 6 years old now and still going strong.


But yes it's probably a good idea to get another one - they're too cheap not to.
 
Couldn't resist stealing 15 minutes this afternoon to fit up my recently arrived HEL brake lines. Very pleased with the fit and finish (although I would have preferred an extra 10mm on the over fender part). The routing in front of the lower triple clamp and around the fork leg is spot on:







Looking forward to bleeding the things on Sunday and maybe getting it out for a quick trip down the hill in front of my house ;)
 
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