What brake lines?

So having now got my hands on the front braking system for a Panigale, I now need to get some brake lines made up (banjo is just a fraction out). The question is, which ones to go for?


For non standard stuff, I've used venhill in the past, but am more than happy to hear other suggestions.


While I'm bleeding the modulator I may ad well change the back lines while I'm at it. What do you reckon?

Could you not just get a set of Goodridge hoses made up to fit the bike, never had a problem with them.

I agree. I've used Goodridge many times with standard replacement, but they are a right PITA trying to get something a little out of the ordinary made up.

Mines running HEL lines.

So I've pinged emails to both hel and venhill, so we'll see what they come back with on Monday.

I also spoke with pirtek yesterday who can put swivel fittings on the OEM lines so that you can change the banjos willy nilly as/when you change the callipers back.

My whole ethos with this build is that any change has to improve the performance of the bike (hence I don't have any aesthetic carbon and stuff). The down side, as I see the replacement lines, is that the majority of the kits only go from servo to calliper, i.e. you still have an OEM line between your hand and and servo, therefore the benefit you get from the braided line Is negated by flex in this area.


Unless of course you go for a full replacement........... But you are talking more for the lines than the m/c cost.

Surprised the standard ones arn't ss braided.

I thought they are.

They are real tough that's for sure, and one of the reasons I don't see a major benefit in changing. Having said that, I 've seen a review where the jurno refers to "steel braided lines" and a post on the US forum says " the S1000RR brake lines are steel impregnated vinyl similar to what you get on a Ducati"

How much weight you put behind those statements is a different matter. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

SS braided & steel impregnated sound very similar to me. Ducati hoses are ptfe inner/ss braid/black plastic outer. My HEL hoses seem to be similar.

That's what I thought. My duc had braided lines as standard and these Beemer ones are very similar, in both appearance and feel.


Adds a little more weight to the view that there is/will be minimal gains in changing them for hel or Goodridge variety.

Only reason to change is if you want to get rid of the ABS or they don't fit your new calipers.

Venhil don't/won't do the full replacement, just two lengths from the servo down to the calliper. Hel, will do a full six line kit made to fit the new calipers but.... £160 +

So the question now becomes, pay for hel or have a specialist company modify the standard.

Thoughts?

Go to a decent car motorsport shop & buy the bits & di it yourself. I've done that before with goodridge hose & fittings, fairly simple & if you get the swivel fittings then should have no problem fitting them. Only down side is car places normally only sell SS overbraided rather than the plastic covered so will look a bit retro.

I did that with the fighter I built. Got all the bits from earls and fabed it up myself. For this build it's got to be spot on which is why I looked for a pucka company to do the work. I'm confident in the quality of the OEM lines and pirtek's abilities, so think I'll start there at a fraction of the cost of buying the bits for a diy job, or the full kit.

Given that i'm treading into the unknown, I suppose I was just looking for a bit of reassurance from someone who knows something about hydraulics.

The stock hard lines that run from the ABS unit are pretty sturdy, I doubt there would be any gains from changing those, in fact running braided lines down the frame would be messier I reckon.

Went to pirtek today and showed them what I wanted done. After much sucking of teeth and scratching of heads he said it could be done, but his voice and mannerism didn't fill me with confidence.


As we are talking about the most important of parts, a set of Panigale lines were shipped off to Hel this afternoon to copy. I'll let you know when I get the new set back.


DD