Brake Line Routing - Is this good enough?

[InsaneDawe]

I am doing an 16+ R1 Front Brake Master Retrofit (5/8 Nissin Unit) and I am finding my brake likes to be too short. Given the pandemic going on it'll be a while before I'm able to have a custom brake line made up, I'm thinking I can run the main line down to the right brake caliper, then over to the left. The reverse of the factory setup. See the pictures.

 

My two concerns are

1. Will a double banjo work on the right caliper?
2. Should I be concerned about the banjo loosening on suspension compression?

1 is straight forward. 2 is concerning because there isn't a bracket mounting point putting stress on the fitting crimp.

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by InsaneDawe

[mossrider]

I know you know this but brakes aren't the place to learn from mistakes.

ANY stress on ANY fittings at ANY time, moving or not, is a no-go. The lines should be free to move, clear of any instructions, not rub on anything, be clamped where appropriate and tight on both ends.

Another thing that gets overlooked too often is do the lines interfere with anything on the bike like fasteners, bodywork, parts, radiator, etc while in motion/being ridden? If a line hooks over the threaded stub of a bolt during riding you're asking for it. It can prevent you from steering the bike or cause loss of braking, both bad.

You can use a double banjo (3 crush washers) in any position provided it doesn't cause interference. Just make damn sure the lines are the correct length and routed safely.

Good luck & be safe.

[blackout]

Are you in the states?  Speigler can do custom lines with a one day ship time.  They have come through twice for me these past weeks.

[stickshift]

In my opinion you'd be better off going with 2 separate lines - double banjo at the master cylinder and one line to each caliper. An off the shelf MT07 'race' line setup will do this, available online from many manufacturers.

I've been looking into also doing the R1 m/c swap, let us know how you like it.

[InsaneDawe]

4 hours ago, blackout said:

Are you in the states?  Speigler can do custom lines with a one day ship time.  They have come through twice for me these past weeks.

I sent them an email late friday(a.k.a. Midnight) and they haven't got back to me yet. If they get back to me, I'll be ordering a custom GP style setup for sure.

 

3 hours ago, stickshift said:

In my opinion you'd be better off going with 2 separate lines - double banjo at the master cylinder and one line to each caliper. An off the shelf MT07 'race' line setup will do this, available online from many manufacturers.

The two line setups I've seen also have me concerned, there is no bracket holding the line on the right side keep stress off the fitting.

 

3 hours ago, stickshift said:

I've been looking into also doing the R1 m/c swap, let us know how you like it.

Just finished bleeding the system and it feels amazing but I am upgrading from rubber lines at the same time. I'll post a write-up once I can gather my thoughts and solve the odds and ends.

[InsaneDawe]

So I did decide to go ahead with fitting the lines, this was the end result.

 

Fully Extended

 

 

Static sag ~30mm

 

 

And the other side if anyone is intersted

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by InsaneDawe

[mossrider]

That looks good so far. Have your fat neighbor sit on it and bounce the front end while turning the bars and get down and watch the lines closely to see if they get near anything when the forks compress just to be sure.

[sweetscience]

The only disadvantage of SS lines vs rubber hose brake lines is they are limited in their ability to bend multi-directionally.  The steel weaves are the reason for this.  Hence, SS brake lines can safely bend only in one plane.  In other words, it is impossible to snake the SS lines like you can with rubber, without putting massive stress and binding at the banjo crimp fittings.  This makes rerouting the stock configuration tricky.

I played with this, and found a viable solution.  Still waiting for parts before application.