Seca 750 Steel Braided Brake Lines

I want to improve the front braking on my '82 Seca 750. Anybody have any experience with replacing the old rubber brake lines with steel braided brake lines? Can I order a set of new lines or do they have to be custom made? What type of shop would do this kind of work (M/C performance, M/C dealer)? Thanks.

 

Try Dennis Kirk for steel brake lines. They have them in various lengths for custom applications. I am thinking of doing the same with my 750. The rubber lines expand when I squeeze the lever and feel too mushy. I have good brakes but hate the feel of the lever.
I may just get ride of the cable activated master cylinder and go with another handlebar mounted unit and steel lines all the way down.

 

I'll say that the SS lines have eliminated what little soft feel I had in the brake handle on [align=left]the Turbo, no flex at all in the brake lines and it stops like RIGHT NOW!

PainterD, I bet that cable adds alot to the feel in that brake handle eh ?

 

Yes it does. I never liked the idea of the cable activated master cylinder anyways. In y opinion it was a poor attempt to hide the master cylinder from having it on the handlebars anyway. I don't see a problem with having it on the handlebars. And it's a pain in the a$$ to do any maintenance on the master cylinder where it is now or add brake fluid.
I have fabricated a little longer arm on the master cylinder, where the cable hooks to it, to get more levereage. That gave me better brakes but the lines still expand which is the next weekest point I need to address.

 

The SS lines are a huge improvement over 25+ year old rubber lines -- to be clear - you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT GO WRONG getting the SS lines on there. Worth every penny.

Even your local dealer can probably get them for you pretty reasonably out of their parts catalog - I didn't get the "custom fit" ones, but just a stock length plus two fittings (single caliper) and it still looks fantastic.

 

How much did your SS lines cost you? I am going to replace my lines with stainless ones and I was just going to go to the local industrial hydraulics shop and have them custom made.

 

I have a new suzuki master cylinder and stainless steel lines and have the thing bar mounted for the same reasons as above. I tossed the old seca bars and have aftermarket tubulars mounted.

I did this three years ago, and the memories are fuzzy, but I recall doing rough mock ups with string, doing full lock turns on the centrestand, compressing the front forks up and down, to make sure I had the measurements right. Then cross referenced the lengths and placed an order for one bandit and one motoguzzi brake line, IIRC. The person on the phone thought I was nuts. I did all the leg work but ordered through a dealer.

EXAMPLE FROM A PARTS CATALOGUE

 

I bought my SS braided lines from Paragon.
I got the ones with the clear tube over to make it easier to clean.
http://www.paragonperformance.com/Dotbrk.html

About $100 for all three on my X I think.

 

I bought mine out the the Parts Canada catalog at a dealer - single caliper so:
1x 42" Russell clear-coated SS braided brake line,
1x 30° bend banjo fitting,
1x straight banjo fitting
Reused my existing crush washers 'cuz they were in fine shape - no leaks.

Total cost was $48 Canadian.

 

that's what i had done, best improvement over stock braking for the money. just make sure you know the lengths of the line and the angle that the banjo fittings are at because stainless steel lines will not twist so you have to be really close. they help a ton though. i think my total cost to have two lines made was about 28 bucks. real cheap.

 

It was a bit odd for me.
I checked with the two hydraulic shops I deal with and they wouldn't touch them...they won't do anything hydraulic DOT brake related (even though their hoses are high pressure).
The did have DOT air lines, but nothing hydraulic.
I have no idea if that would hinder the inspection process or not. (the hoses have the cert numbers printed right on them)

 

It's not the HOSES that's the issue, it's the assembled LINES (a line is the hose with the end fittings attached) that becomes the rub.........

Almost all bare hoses, rubber or braided stainless steel are DOT legal, but once you add end fittings, the entire assembly (the "line") becomes a different creature in the eyes of the DOT (for use on vehicles) and a whole 'nother set of regulations, tests, etc. come into play.

Most hose fabricators do NOT have the facilities nor the production capability to make fully DOT-approved completed LINES......with one of the specific hurdles being that EACH COMPLETED UNIT BE PRESSURE TESTED. Not a random sample of production, not every third completed line, but EVERY line.

Be aware that most of the aftermarket "stainless brake line" manufacturers are selling lines that are NOT street legal. The may weasel around a bit in their marketing/advertising and say things such as "All of our HOSES are fully DOT-approved"---which is true, the HOSE is approved----but the entire LINE is not.

Recognizing the reality of this situation, many hose shops won't make you a completed line intended for street use on a vehicle as it is a non-approved piece of equipment.

LINES that meet DOT approval will always have a stamped series of letters/numbers on the end fittings around the neck......that is the DOT authorization code for that particular manufacturer. No code = no DOT approval of the completed, assembled LINE. That stamped DOT approval code is applied to each individual LINE after that line has passed a pressure test. That's why the lines have to be checked one at a time....the machine won't emboss the approval code until it meets the pressure test.

 

so is there a place to order the approved lines for the xj bikes?? specifically my 85 Maxim X?

 

The hoses I got from Paragon have an assembly date and a cert number so I BELIEVE they are legit.

http://www.paragonperformance.com/maxim.html

They are the same for the X and the "non-X" air cooled.

Personally I did not see a huge improvement on X#1, but when I installed them on #2 with new pads and resurfaced disks I can stop on a dime now. It's almost scarry how much the front dives when I clamp down on them.

GOOD luck bleeding them. It's darn near impossible without a vacuum bleeder set-up. I made my own, but they are available at some autoparts stores or Sears.
http://www.actron.com/product_detail.php?pid=16292

 

The DOT manufacturer approval code must be embossed (stamped) right onto each of the end (banjo) fittings, on the flat "sleeve" area that covers the actual hose end.

It will be a combination of 2- to 4- numbers/letters/characters. If it's not on the end fittings, it's not a valid DOT number. I do not believe the date is of consequence, except perhaps for the manufacturer and their own internal quality-control tracking.