Brake line probs KDX250

[OZ_dirtrider]

Dusted off the KDX250 and took her for a ride. During the ride, I managed to snap the bolt that holds the brake line block at the bottom of the fork leg then snagged and snapped the metal brake line from the block to the caliper.
Question: I will replace the line with a braided item but can l route the line like the CR style behind the fork or will this endanger the life of the braided line by the fact that the disc is so close and the forks/shrouds/calipers weren't designed for this.
Mostly likely l will replace the OEM brake line with a braid and replace the broken metal line as well but for looks, l wouldn't mid re-routing the line aka CR style.

J
01 TE400
00 WR360
92 KDX250

 

[flyinfish]

I've been there!

Hey,
I replaced my line about four months ago with a custom steel braided brake line and I hope my experience will help you. I went to a local speed shop and had them make me up a line. These guys were great...they specialize in Hot Rods and race cars but the carried all the fittings I needed.

The guy at the shop offered to drill out my "mounting block" (the part that joins the rubber line to the metal one and accepts the screw to mount it to the fork) and tap it to accept the new steel braided line. This took care of the mounting problem. I too would have rather re-routed it for preformance reasons but I don't have the means to fabricate a clamp to work with our forks. Also then I would not have known what length to have the guys make my new line. I imagine it would take a little trial and error.

If you go the route of the CR note that the fitting you need is a 45 degree internal flare if I remember right. These are unique to Japanese motorcycles so don't get your parts at a Harley shop...they're different shape fittings. I can't remember the size of that end, but the handlebar end is a 10 mm banjo with a approx. 15 degree bend.

I noticed a small improvement with the line but for the reasons I'm about to tell you I'm not sure I would do it again. Because of the amount of travel our front suspension has the brake line must be rigid, something a steel braided line with a light coating lacks. If you notice, your stock line has a plastic sheath that makes it rigid. This is because as your suspension travels downward the line must remain relatively still so that it doesn't stretch and compress with every bump for obvious reasons.

After installing my new line I soon learned that my line flexed everytime the suspension was compressed. This caused the line to work itself out of the fork guard fingers and begin rubbing on my rotor wearing through the exterior coating. My fix for this was to cover that pretty line with black rubber fuel line from the autoparts store and tape it up with electrical tape. This stiffened it up and caused it to act more like it was engineered to act.

I know there's companies out there that make steel braided lines for motorcycles but of course noone makes one for Kawi's step-child "the KDX 250". Maybe you could get one for a KX 250 and order the brackets from Kawasaki to make it work. I wanted to do this myself but didn't want to shell out the cash for something that I didn't know would work for sure. Check out the parts diagrams on Kawasaki.com for KX's around the same model year.

Let me know how it goes.

T.J.:cool:

 

[OZ_dirtrider]

Thanks TJ,

I installed my line the orginal way (mounting block to steel brake line to the calliper) but l used a Goodridge line with the same coating that the OEM line had so the flexing problem that occurred with yours wont happen to mine.

I did fiddle for at least 4 hours trying to reroute the line to make it a CR style looking at my WR360 and TE400 as an example but the amount of travel the forks do and the angle that the line would need to be at to make it work would cause more headaches as it would flap and most likely snag itself on the calliper or worst, tree braches etc.

What l found was that the fork sliders are way to far from the fork itself unlike the newer bikes. Also, the brake line slides that l used (from KDX200) were too restrictive and eventually l could foresee wear approaching.

Eitherway, l happy that l have more feel and stronger braking and l suppose a disk guard is better insurance than a flapping brakeline.

:D

J
01 TE400
00 WR360
92 KDX250

 

[flyinfish]

When I was going through this no one listed a brake line for the KDX and I knew the KX routed differently. Did you find a line for the KDX or did they custom make one for you? Sounds like the way to go!

T.J.