jaycee Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 A bloke I know has asked me if I would change the brake lines on his Blackbird. I remember from helping a guy years ago to replace the fluid on a VFR800 that there are loads of pipes, 8 or ten springs to mind. Is it as bad a job as I imagine? Is this where my shiny new Mityvac comes into its own? Should I tell him to sod off and pay someone instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp5 Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Brake line spaghetti hell! Bleeding the linked brake system is a pain. This may help though... http://www.ixxra.com/yosbleedingthebrakes.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerich Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Helped my BiL replace all the hoses on his VFR800 with a set of braided Goodridges last summer. Yes, it's a pig of a job. Took us about 6 hours and that was with a vacuum bleeder to help the bleeding. Blackbird system is very similar if not identical to the VFR one. Like all these jobs the sense of satisfaction afterwards is directly proportional to the hassle factor, so we were very pleased with ourselves and he really noticed a difference to the brakes. Make sure you follow the stepwise bleeding procedure. We found a leak and had to start all over again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 A horrible job. I have no tips to aid the process, but I could perhaps suggest doing a Zammo: Just say no. Except he didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Muff Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Don't fuck about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scwirral Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Bet you can un link the brakes if you want to if you are changing the hoses? Would probably be able to do this with a conventional 3 line kit. As usual, I could be talking complete bollocks. Just did a quick search and there are a couple of HEL delink hose sets on ebay. Simples Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Bet you can un link the brakes if you want to if you are changing the hoses? Would probably be able to do this with a conventional 3 line kit. As usual, I could be talking complete bollocks. Just did a quick search and there are a couple of HEL delink hose sets on ebay. Simples I suggested this to him tonight in the pub, he said no, he liked the linked brakes. I suggested he has just lost the ability to brake properly after all these years of CBS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Unlinking the brakes isn't especially hard but then it'll open another tin of worms in terms of master cylinder ratios. The back brake will be next to useless. It'll also leave you with a load of extra stuff on the front caliper carriers that you don't use but is having on because it's part of the same mechanism. Anyway, for a road bike, the CBS is actually quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kja.busa Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Unlinking the brakes isn't especially hard but then it'll open another tin of worms in terms of master cylinder ratios. The back brake will be next to useless. It'll also leave you with a load of extra stuff on the front caliper carriers that you don't use but is having on because it's part of the same mechanism. Anyway, for a road bike, the CBS is actually quite good. De-linking is the way forward, too much crap to go wrong, typical Hodna, over complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-=JK=- Posted February 6, 2010 Report Share Posted February 6, 2010 +1 for leaving as is. they just work well as they are, assuming they're in good nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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