What Stainless Steel (SS) Braided Cables Do You Use?

What Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines do you use and Why?

  • Core Moto Custom Stainless Steel Brake Lines

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Galfer Stainless Steel Brake Lines

    Votes: 2 8.0%

  • Hel Stainless Steel Brake Lines

    Votes: 9 36.0%

  • Spiegler Stainless Steel Brake Lines

    Votes: 2 8.0%

  • I use stock, no need for fancy upgrades.

    Votes: 4 16.0%

  • Other, please post what you use and why

    Votes: 4 16.0%

  • All SS Brake Lines are the same.

    Votes: 4 16.0%
  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .
Ssky0078

Ssky0078

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Hi all,

I am about to order some Stainless Steel lines for my brakes. I am leaning towards the Hel setup and was quoted a pretty nice price of $170 for front/back and bolts in a color scheme I want. Before I buy them I want to find out what others are using.

p.s. I post the poll so that it is a chance for a thread to be created that can track one of the many choices we all make when modding our Fz's. I think it's easier to find when doing the research before making a purchase.

Please post your comments and tts, Please vote.
 
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The difference between stock(fairly new) and braided steel lines is small, it will just make the brakes a bit more responsive and the lever a tiny bit harder , if there's no air in your stock ones I don't think you'll see much difference

Steel lines make big improvement in old bikes with undersized master cylinders and old rubber lines.

As your bike is newish with no ABS and you had 2 crashes I would say you don't need steel lines , first learn how and when to brake .

If you just need to make a mod start with the suspension, that will make a difference in braking also.

:wilynily:
 
donoharm said:
The difference between stock(fairly new) and braided steel lines is small, it will just make the brakes a bit more responsive and the lever a tiny bit harder , if there's no air in your stock ones I don't think you'll see much difference

Steel lines make big improvement in old bikes with undersized master cylinders and old rubber lines.

As your bike is newish with no ABS and you had 2 crashes I would say you don't need steel lines , first learn how and when to brake .

If you just need to make a mod start with the suspension, that will make a difference in braking also.

:wilynily:
Click to expand...

Uh, I don't think that is quite right for everyone. ;) Lines on the front - to some - make a dramatic difference. Depends how your lever/MC is adjusted and set up for modulation. Since only the front brakes make the most contribution to stopping and traction on turning (trail braking). Some people only use the front brake :poke: In addition to Spiegler lines on the front, I highly recommend Motul RBF 600 racing brake fluid. To me, a big difference. Less pressure on lever for shorter duration that achieves desired braking action. Smoother transition. That's from twisties and some track over the past season. But hey, I'm into monitoring those little details. Some people are not. :D
 
When I was looking for brake lines, I went with Fren Tubo from PJ's Parts.

There are plenty of types out there, and they're all essentially the same... so, what led me to Fren Tubo was the fact that I could get them from PJ's, and PJ's has always given great service and whatnot.
 
donoharm said:
As your bike is newish with no ABS and you had 2 crashes I would say you don't need steel lines , first learn how and when to brake .

If you just need to make a mod start with the suspension, that will make a difference in braking also.

:wilynily:
Click to expand...

I've already decided on doing weight appropriate springs on front and back using Racetech so that is on the way. When I got the bike I did not adjust the preload and it was too stiff for me. When I would corner it would feel like the front wanted to push out. I've since softened it up by a click and it seems to be just fine and doesn't feel like pushing out.

As far as my brakes now I can tell after long periods of riding they do start to feel a little soft and don't stop as well as say the first half of my trip. I've had a couple occasions getting off the free way after riding in the traffic wondering if I was about to have an Ohh $hit moment because they didn't seem to want to stop as well as they should. So for a couple hundred bucks to feel safer and have better responsiveness it's worth it for me.

Anyway I appreciate all the feedback and opinions and hopefully in the future his thread can be a good reference point on the topic of Stainless Steel Brake Lines.
 
SS lines make a difference. I went with HEL. If you want to save money, just do the fronts. We can talk about why, but it would get ugly.
 
Ssky0078 said:
As far as my brakes now I can tell after long periods of riding they do start to feel a little soft and don't stop as well as say the first half of my trip. I've had a couple occasions getting off the free way after riding in the traffic wondering if I was about to have an Ohh $hit moment because they didn't seem to want to stop as well as they should. So for a couple hundred bucks to feel safer and have better responsiveness it's worth it for me.
Click to expand...

I would blame the pads and maybe old fluid for that, I doubt you got the brakes hot enough to fade but that's possible with a locked piston...

Maybe you can meet a fellow fz1 rider and let him ride your bike to feel the brakes.

Changing the pads with good brand sintered makes a bigger difference in braking power then changing the brake lines (from my observations)
 
donoharm said:
I would blame the pads and maybe old fluid for that, I doubt you got the brakes hot enough to fade but that's possible with a locked piston...

Maybe you can meet a fellow fz1 rider and let him ride your bike to feel the brakes.

Changing the pads with good brand sintered makes a bigger difference in braking power then changing the brake lines (from my observations)
Click to expand...

Honestly didn't think about the pads, the bike has 5500 miles on it and I thought that should be well within limits for being good pads. I do get a squeek everytime I stop from both the front and the back but I just took that as dust because in AZ everything is dusty.

I figured when swapping the lines I would be using new fluid anyway.
 
When I buy a used bike, I usually change the lines unless the bike is fairly new without a lot of mileage (which is never). I do it as part of my maintenance routine and not for any sort of performance upgrade. There is a noticeable improvement in feel when running stainless lines but my bikes are usually pretty old and have a lot of miles at that point.

The best improvement in my opinion, is brake pads. Get some nice fluid and upgrade the pads and see what you think.
 
I found an Fz8 front brake system at a local motorcycle bone yard that has only 200 miles on it. I'm thinking about buying the master cylinder so that I can install the Fz8 mirror on the right to match the mirror I'm already installing on the left. Any thoughts on this?
 
After a lot of questions and research, I went with the HEL lines based on feedback regarding fading colors and rusty banjos, both of which HEL doesn't have issues with.

And they made a very big difference. Make *sure* you re-learn your braking in a parking lot, especially emergency stops, before hitting the roads. Even then, my first real emergency stop was a STOPPIE!
 
Hi Coblat I think your levers must contribute to your experience. I changed already on may bikes to stainless steel lines but the improvement is not very big, in case of the Fz1 I noticed it only very slightly no need to learn breaking new. Usually the biggest difference is on the track or on highspeed autobahn riding (which I did a lot in Germany) when you have to make fast brakes to evade dangers.

The main reason to change to ss-lines is that they do not alter with time and that's why I change to them once the rubber once are 4 years old. The change in diameter of the rubber ones is really small even when it is very hot so the difference in brake feeling is only a bit.
 
I looked at the Goodridge and the guy at the local shop seemed keen on them but they did not have a color setup that I wanted. I really wanted a dark line with black fittings.
 
braided ss brake lines are mostly for looks.
sure there are some apps like on a 4X4, do to the braided ss holds up better to abrasion.
the nylon interlinear will not expand at all, some rubber lines will expand, but not enough to matter to us here in the masses. (figuring all new and good stuff).

and yes i might install some bling on my bike...when i get some cash to blow, and want to do some unneeded work on the bike.


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