SS Brake Line + Murphy's Law.

[s4gs]

If i ever catch this Murphy guy, he's a dead man.
Why is it that the simplest of jobs NEVER go smoothly.

Ordered a Goodridge front SS brake line on Friday afternoon last week & had it by Tuesday. No problems.
First thing i did was check the length of the new line & the banjo alignments to ensure i'd received the right part BEFORE i took the old line of the bike. No problems.
Yesterday. laid out all the tools i needed for the job plus new fluid, the new kit, rags etc. & proceeded to drain the old fluid & removed the old line from the bike. No problems.

Went to fit the new line to the master cylinder & the bolt that goes through the banjo fitting says "up yours, i'm not going into that hole". Tried the second bolt from the new kit, same deal.
Checked the new bolts up against the old one's & it seems Murphy's swathed one on me when my back was turned.

Who was to know that the calliper bolt is a coarse thread & the master cylinder bolt is a fine thread.
Nothing in the writeup's here about that. I'd received two coarse thread bolts in the new kit.

Being 4pm on a Saturday & needing the bike for work during the week, i just used the old bolt & crush washers to fit the new line to the master cylinder. With my luck, when i ring on Monday, they'll expect me to send back that one wrong bolt WITH the new crush washers before they send me the right one. All seems fine except it just doesn't look as sweet with the old bolt on.

Please note, it's best not to reuse old crush washers. but if you do, they may leak so check for this.

First impressions on the new line is good but i only went up to the shops & back. Will go for a longer run later on today.

[starwalt]

Yeah I found that out also, except I did Galfers on mine. They did provide the correct bolts though.

And here's another tip, if you have a crimped Galfer and the banjo is bent the wrong way, you can rotate the banjo in the crimp! Just hold the crimp and use a tight fitting wrench or rod through the banjo to rotate the banjo head to the correct angle.

Galfer does not advertise this fact though one replacement line maker says their units are designed to do that. Heck the Galfer dude acted like I was a total nut for asking why they can't put them together properly to begin with! He was almost a jerk and will never get any chocolate pound cake from me.

In fact I busted a new line trying to adjust the banjo by bending the shank and rotating it. $60 gone in a second.

[ducati_nolan]

I wouldn't bother getting a new bolt, unless there's something wrong with your original one. It's just a bolt after alll (unless you need more bling    ). As for the washer, yeah, it's best to use new ones, but you should be able to get some from any auto/bike/hardware shop, but if you already have it put together with the used washer and there are no leaks, there's no reason to replace it. Those stainless lines are nice though aren't they?
enjoy 

[Egaeus]

Hel provided the correct bolts.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

Ij7

[s4gs]

From what i've been told, Hel aint legal here in Oz.  Goodridge are.

[bubba zanetti]

I got a brake line made up at a local brake & suspension place, it cost $68 & I reused my old bolts.

[brembo]

From what i've been told, Hel aint legal here in Oz.  Goodridge are.

HEL lines are ADR comliant, cost about $75 for a single front line, or $150 for both front/rear.

[ducati_nolan]

I got my stainless line for $18 suckas!!  It was from a set for a ZX 6R with dual brakes, but one of the lines was missing, and they were having a sale so it was dirt cheap. I just measured mine and the ninja one was the same length so  I'm happy.

[s4gs]

I got my stainless line for $18 suckas!! 

Didn't realise you where that way inclined.   



What year is your bike?  Got some more info regarding the bolts but got to be at work in a couple of hours so ill write it up once i get home at 4.30am.


I hate my hours...   

[bubba zanetti]

Wow man I hate your hours. 

[s4gs]

I'm back
The funny thing is, i've recently changed jobs. At the last place i was at, we did 12 hour shifts Mon. to Thurs. start at 2pm on Fri. & could end up doing a 8 hour shift or up a to 14 hour shift.
Current job, start at 6pm, finish at 3.30am - 4.00am Sun to Wed. & 8 hours on Thurs. night. Pay is worth it but my sleeping pattern stuffs up my weekends.


Rang John Stamnas today, Goodridge distributor in Aust. & the guy a spoke to, Kevin, reckons the different thread pitch is a problem they have with GSX-R's. Suzuki, or whoever supplies the parts to them, change things half way through a model run. I know this happens with car's so it may be true, either that or he was feeding me a line to cover up their stuff up.
The treads should be 10x2.5 but my master cylinder bolt is a 10x1
Anyone else come across this problem before?

I'd still like to find a stainless line that is KNOWN to work on the '01-'02. I hear that a lot "should" work, but for some reasons the manufacturers don't list them as compatible.

I pushed him for some info. on GS brake line model listings & rang Hel Australia while i was at it.

  Goodridge              Hel

   89 - 94               89 - 94        660mm
   95 - 02               95 - 03        700mm
   03 - 06               04 - 06        c/c 755mm,   t/t 775mm

Slight overlap with the 03's. Not sure what's going on there. Anyone with a 03 want to measure their's and let me know.
Hel supplied me with the lengths but didn't have the info. at hand for the 04 - 06 so i measured my stock one of my 04. At the time i didn't think to ask HOW they measure them. Centre to centre or tip to tip. Centre to centre is from the centre of one banjo fitting to centre of the other. 
My measurements may be a few mill. out as it's Buddha Loves You to try & straighten out an old line & measure it at the same time. You shouldn't have a problem getting one for your bike but check with a supplyer/distributor near you. These lengths may also help you if you get one of ebay or from another bike like ducati_nolan did.

Can anyone with stainless lines measure their old stock ones to see if the lengths i was given are correct.

I was pressed for time so i didn't ask about the rear.  I very rarely use mine & when i do, she squeeeeals like a pig.