Brake lines

[Lefty]

My rear brake line has had it, it's deteriorating from the inside and I cArry a 12mm wrench with me most of the time to release the pressure from the caliper but today I didn't have the wrench & the caliper started locking up- I wasn't far from home, luckily, so I was able to get it there before it completely locked against the disc.
I'm going to buy new lines. The rear looks to have a 22.5 degree bend upward and is 12" long with a straight fitting on the master cylinder end. 
I briefly looked at Galfer & Spiegler's sites and neither has a specific line(or set of lines) for the FT.
Is there a site that sells custom made SS lines that can be made to order?

[Slyphon]

I've heard that you can get some nice cheap stainless steel lines from shops that do brake lines for trucking companies, just take your lines in there. Are you in the PNW? I saw a guy I was going to check out before but his information is lost on me....

[plasticadam]

Worth checking that the pistons aren't sticking. Imho its more likely to be that which is causing the brake to lock on. Always a good thing to change the hoses on an old bike but that may not be causing your problem

[Lefty]

I rebuilt both masters & calipers when I first got the bike, so I'm pretty sure the line is the problem.
I live in Baltimore Md, thanks for the tip on the truck brake lines.
I'll keep looking.

[J6G1Z]

Both Galfer & Spiegler offer custom lines. Just make sure that your measurements & the ends, are what you want. Custom orders are non returnable. I use a sewing tape measure to measure out the distance & then add 2". You can also use a length of wire. I like to specify 90 degree ends on the handlebar side so the lines run along the bar. You can see the Spiegler lines on my hybrid bike post: http://ascot500.com/index.php?topic=79.msg385#msg385  They make real nice lines!

Good luck
J.

[thumperdh]

My go to company for brake lines is www.coremoto.com Luke has some very high end products and will gladly build you a custom line setup. Haven't put them on the FT yet, but they are on the list.

[Lefty]

Thanks for all the tips guys, I am going to use a local co. That My work gets hydraulic hoses from. I found out they also make SS lines.
For anyone who wants to know the lengths, I measured 18" for the rear and 40"  for the front.

[Slyphon]

If you don't mind, how much about does it run through a shop? If you're getting a b2b discount I'm more interested in what it would be normally. Just want to use this as a base for figuring out whether I'm getting a good deal.

[Lefty]

Slyphon, I will let you know how much this place charges me, it might take a few days for me to get over there. The Co. Is called Colliflower inc.

[Lefty]

I got my SS line made for 29.00, looks great, but I had a hell of a time getting pressure to build up.
I troubleshot it to the master, which I thought I had rebuilt.
Upon disassembly I found one seal that looked bad so I got online & the kits weren't available from Honda( I use PartsNation.com), so I had to get a kit from Fleabay for 40.00! Holy moly thats a lot of cash! So now I wait.....
I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't the master all along that was making the caliper lock up?
While I've got it all apart I'm going to paint the caliper, the PO got brake fluid all over it.
Here's a couple shots...

[Lefty]

You can see the rust spot on the disc where it was eaten into, probably from the PO waiting too long to replace the pads.

[Luke]

That SS line is Sexy!

[Slyphon]

$29. That's a hell of a deal. Can't find them for less than $50 online. I'll certainly be going to a local shop for my lines. Yours came out nice too.

[Lefty]

An update, I got it all back together with a rebuild on the master, and I'm not getting any pressure when I press the pedal. I took the cylinder apart,thinking I might have done something wrong, but it was correct. I put it all back together & tried again, still no pressure.
I even re-installed the old internals, which worked before, still nothing.
I did use a dremel with a wire brush tip on the bore just to smooth it out, but I can't imagine that could have done any kind of damage.do any of you know of another bike the rear master will work on the FT?

[Slyphon]

I haven't tested the theory. But I think a Hurricane CBR600 may work. The bolts line up, I believe the Master Cylinders are approximately the same size. I can measure the two pistons when I get home as well.

It uses a different thread size bolt though (The CBR is smaller) so you might have to get a little creative with mounting. I've seen Hurricane Rear Masters on eBay for $20. I also have one, but it doesn't have any of the inner parts.

The only way I would think your Master Cylinder could be bad is if you increased the size of the bored.  Question, did you clean the 90 degree plastic part that attaches to the cylinder? When I tore my master cylinder apart, that thing was entirely blocked.

[Lefty]

Yeah, I cleaned the inlet out. I just tried a 350X 3wheeler cylinder I had with no luck. I even took the FT one apart again & flipped the O-ring, thinking maybe I had installed it wrong, but it's pretty obvious the way it faces, the same direction as the the plunger, with the widest part facing the bottom of the bore.
Thanks for the tip on the Hurricane, I'll see what I can find.

[Lefty]

Hey Slyphon, I just looked on Ebay & there'e a lot of them but the brake line connects at the top, not on the side like the FT's does, so if I got one of the CBR cylinders I would have to have another line made.
One more thing I'm going to try is putting the FT internals in the 350X bore, the 350's plunger is longer & is connected to the spring & cap, but the bore and lentgh are the same as the FT. I really hate to use the 350X cylinder, because it came off a running machine & they're just as hard to come by as the FT units.
 

[J6G1Z]

Lefty,

Do you have a vacuum bleeder or can get your hands on one? They make bleeding brakes so much more pleasant.

As far as a rear master cylinder swap... There have been several discussions over the years, but I cannot recall anything definitive. Here is a link to a company that sells Brembo brake components: http://www.oppracing.com/category/224-rear-brake-master-cylinder
There are a few masters on that page that look like they "might" work. You will need to compare mounting hole locations. The plunger, or operating rod from the OEM Ascot master may swap over the the new master if needed.

Good luck & please let us know what you find out. It would be nice to have an option for the rear master.

J.

[Lefty]

A vacuum bleeder is on the list, but I've pumped this thing manually with all the different set ups and the pressure is brely noticeable, but when I let off there's more & that's why I flipped the O-ring around, but it's the same- I had a thought last night, if the CBR cylinder's mounting holes line up I could get a 90 degree adapter & mount the SS line to that.
Slyphon, can you get me a measurement of the distance between the 2 holes center to center?

[Slyphon]

It's about 45 mm. The holes do not properly line up with the holes for the FT500 bolt holes, but since they are 5mm rather than 6mm there is enough space to get the bolt in. The issue with the CBR600 cylinder is since the outlet is at the top, it interferes with the rear peg mount. Here's a photo.

[Slyphon]

Don't know how the photo got all turned around :/

Also, what did you use for the caliper paint?

[Lefty]

I've been out of touch for a while, but here's an update- I finally bought a brake bleeder(you were right,J6), bled fluid though to the caliper and VIOLA! I have rear brakes! I initially put the line of the pump on the bleeder & kept getting air bubbles when I opened it until I finally realized that I had to suck fluid with the bleeder removed, I used the cone shaped fitting the kit came with and it worked like a charm! I am happy to be back on the road!
 Slyphon, I used "Duplicolor" engine enamel spray paint on the caliper, it looks great, but of course a little fluid got on it when I was bleeding, so I'm going to re paint it again.