Cafe Racer Brake Lines
It's time to assembly brake lines for both our projects, as we couldn't get any ready kits. On the Triumph, we put a Kayaba fork, but with clip-ons and non-standard 4-piston Spiegler calipers, so the kit from the Yamaha R6 or XJR1300 couldn't fit perfectly. On BMW, the fork was shortened and the steering on the ABM adjustable clip-ons was completely rebuilt, so the ready kit couldn't fit either. The only option in this case was to make customized lines. This allowed us to measure the length, fittings angles and lay the lines so that they looked nice on the fork. We were assisted by a specialist from Hel Performance, who came to the studio and assembled the lines.
Reinforced steel brake lines, unlike rubber, have no service life limits (about 5-6 years), and Hel Performance also gives a lifetime warranty on their kits. Plus, reinforced steel brake lines significantly shorten the braking distance. Sets of fittings and tee-joints allow you to assemble any circuit. Hel Performance hoses are completed with stainless steel fittings that can be bent at any convenient angle, setting the direction of the line. Hel hoses have reliable pressure testing on a professional machine. The design of the Hel three-groove fitting allows you to turn the fitting up to 90 degrees even after crimping - this is a very useful feature that allows you to relieve torsional stress, if it occurs.
When determining the length of the hoses, the fork must be stretched - it is not necessary to make the hoses with alength margin, this will only bring excess bends. When the circuit is parallel, the left and right hoses must be of different lengths. The hoses must not touch or rub any parts of the motorcycle, or be twisted.
Triumph SX Racer
For this cafe rider we chose the classic parallel circuit with two hoses. On the fork there are factory mounting clamps, which we used to keep the factory look. Hoses can be put through these clamps only with a nonstandard angle of fittings on calipers. There are also technological openings on the traverse that we used for the clamps. We lined the hoses in parallel behind the headlamp.
BMW K1100SX
It was a little more difficult to assemble hoses for the BMW. The plug does not have mounting clamps, so we had to set the fittings in the direction of the hoses, so that they could not touch the fork. "Racing" holders on the zip ties would not look good on a cafe racer. We had to drill a hole on the yoke and cut the threads for the clamps; we could not do without them, otherwise the hoses would rub against the traverse or feathers.
