I had been wanting to change the lines for some time. There are many brands that are offering braided lines, but I went for (2) black braided lines with black couplings from the British company HEL Performance Products (HBR2631) through
https://www.nr1motor.nl/ in Holland. When I received the lines, I noticed/thought the coupling for the left caliper to be different than the original…
vs.
Contacted the vendor and the same day and they confirmed the part should be compatible, they asked to go ahead with the replacement and let them know once the old line was removed. Hmmm…
Luckily (for me) the inside thread was the same, but I must say the final installation is not completely ‘as before’. The hole in the bracket, holding the line, is larger than this new coupling is wide. The old coupling has a groove to hold the U-shaped clip as well, the new one doesn’t have this groove.
Some steps to install
left front caliper brake line:
1. Remove the right fairing and loosen the right air duct and the 2 bolts of the right fan, so the fan can be wiggled around a bit. I planned to renew the solenoid filter at the same time, so I went ahead with that first.
2. Even with the much better access to the brake line bracket/coupling now, it is best, I found, to loosen the bracket by removing the bolt on the side (I saw a post on a different forum somewhere suggesting the same thing).
3. I don’t think the brake line has ever been loosened before, it’s tight, very tight. Heating is no option due to the plastics very nearby, so a brake wrench (10 mmm and 17 mm) comes in handy to break loose the nut eventually…
4. Now comes the fun part: getting the bracket off the original brake line that is held into place by a U- shaped clip. Prying with a flathead screwdriver gets the job done.
5. Clean up the fine thread of the hard brake line coupling with a brass brush. With a tie-rap attached the old line I guided the new line towards the front caliper, the HEL line comes with the 3 rubber bushings as needed.
sorry for the poor quality
6. Pushed through the new line through the bracket and tightened to the hard line.
The
right front caliper line is simple to install, just break loose the old and install the new braided line.
Bleeding both brake lines is of course the final job.
Some words of advise:
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO BEND THE HARD LINE TOO MUCH (it’s going to get some beating though…).
- Buy a good vacuum bleeder!
Happy braking!
T
