XmisterIS

I stripped out my old brake lines a couple of weeks ago, in readiness for fitting the new lines - the trouble was that when I got the new lines out of the box they didn't fit! Since then I've had no end of trouble trying to get the right lines. I've finally got a set on order that I hope will fit (here's hoping!!!). The trouble is that in the last two weeks, my master cylinder and calipers have been "open" as it were, with no lines attached. I've stuffed loads of kitchen roll into the master cylinders and also used it to plug the calipers, plus I've wrapped the covers and gaskets for the master cylinders in loads of bog roll, plus the bike is in my garage, but the air is so damp all the time and the garage is unheated, I wonder if I should warm the calipers and master cylinder with a hair dryer to get all possible moisture out before fitting new lines? Or just not bother and just go ahead and fit the new lines?

I should think so, my paddock stand has adjustable arms on springs - I made a couple of spacers from B&Q mild steel pipe so that it fits my bike - if I took the spacers out the cups would be about 120mm closer together - plenty enough for a narrow swingarm, I would have thought.

I find that the paddock stand can slip around and scratch the bottom of the swingarm. I solved that by tying two cut lengths of old bicycle inner tube around the cups that fit under the swingarm.

How did you do that then? You have welding equipment, I presume? I don't have anything like that, so I think I'll go for the Abba. Megawatt - I watched the vid on the website, it looks very easy to use.

I went through all sorts of ideas of how I could upgrade my 35/35 bulb when I had a 125 - whichever way you look at it, it will be a pain in the arse. Easier to take your big bike test and get a big bike, IMHO!

See here: http://www.abbastands.co.uk/product_details.asp?id=1 I'm thinking of getting one because [a] my bike doesn't have a centrestand, I can't fit a centrestand without removing the bellypan and [c] a centrestand is ridiculously expensive for my bike!! (£60 more than the Abba stand). So, do you use one? Do you rate it? I don't want to get one, find that it only fits under the bike with a lot of wiggling and swearing, and then the bike falls off it! Lol!

He's got a what now?

best to change chain and sprockets all at the same time. IMHO, go for DID X-ring.

What others have said - count the links. My old chain was about 1/2 a link longer than the new one, as I recall. I think that the new chain should have about 25mm slack when the rear wheel is at the mid-point of the adjuster. Yes, chain breakers are a pain in the arse, especially when trying to evenly mushroom the pin heads on the joining link of the new chain ...

Start small and work up from there, that's what I'm doing. I have a Haynes manual, and when you do little things like changing oil filter, air filter, etc, you get to have a good look at the bike and see that it's not as complex as you thought. I'm now looking at some of the more challenging things in Haynes and thinking, "yes, I could do that!" I'm currently in the middle of changing brake lines (a saga in itself, but not for lack of competence on my part, but we won't go into that in this thread - I've devoted a whole other thread to my rantings about that!), and it's not so hard at all! If you're anything like me, you'll learn 10x faster by being shown rather than being told - there's a whole load of excellent vids on YouTube that walk you through various bits and pieces. E.g. I had no idea about how to bleed brakes, let alone strip the lines out and fit new ones until I found an excellent set of instructional videos on YouTube that showed how easy it really is. As I say, I have the kind of brain that if I read it, then try and do it, it takes me a while, but if I'm shown it, it sticks in my mind and I can remember the whole procedure no problems.

Tough one - can't drill it because you run the risk of swarf falling into the tank - although perhaps you could get the tank totally empty, disconnect the fuel line (on my bike it's just held on with a big old jubilee clip and a gasket) - then I'm guessing the tank is just a big metal box with an "in" hole and an "out" hole - so you could unbolt the tank completely, then drill the cap and then make sure you clean all the swarf out before re-attaching then tank and the fuel line. that is assuming that the tank really is simply a big metal box with an "in" hole and and "out" hole and there's nothing complicated inside it ...

I tend to get the engine nicely warm (but not scorchio) - just start 'er up and leave 'er to tick over for about 5 mins, then I tend to leave it overnight for all the oil to run out. When I then put a bit of fresh oil in to flush the old stuff out, there's hardly any of the black stuff left. (Oh, and don't forget to put the drain plug back in, like I did last time!)

I had the baby 'dero when I was on L-plates - it used to do exactly what you are describing when I hadn't kicked it up into gear quite hard enough. The SV does it in second particularly if you haven't kicked the gear lever all the way up.

That's what I though! Yes, the Naked has different bars - the S has clip-ons, the Naked has "normal" bars (not sure what you call the non-clip-ons). Anyway, it's all very confusing, I've asked three different suppliers and been given three different answers (isn't it great how the professionals often leave you feeling more confused than before you asked, and then you wish you'd never asked?!). The frustrating thing is that it can't be *that* difficult - it's just three sodding hoses and five sodding banjo bolts! How hard can that be to get the right measurements for and match against a kit on the shelf? My God! So, I've sent an email to the horse's ear, as it were; I've emailed Goodridge directly; their website shows a kit for my bike, which is different from the kit for the S - i.e. it is a kit specifically for the SV650 K5-K7, which is what I have, and as far as I am aware, my bike is a bog standard SV650, nothing bizarre about it, so the Goodridge kit should fit just fine without any of the nonsense kerfuffle that I've been through so far. Hence why I am now flabbergasted and confused by three different people telling me three different things. On Monday I will phone Suzuki and ask them, definitively, what size banjo bolts and what length of hose are used on a bog standard K7. I bet it's exactly the same as mine. It's an absolute pig because I've changed the air and oil filters in a jiffy - now the bike is just sat in the garage, brakeless, waiting for new ones. And I know that when I get sent the RIGHT DAMN KIT!!! then it will take me all of about 40 mins to put it on and get it filled and working properly, then the bike's a good'un. I'm just frustrated!! Now I'm waiting to hear back from the horse's mouth!

No, unfortunately not. I ordered a Hel kit, didn't fit, sent it back. Spoke to another company that supplies Goodridge products, gave them all the measurements, seems their kit would't fit either. It would seem that I have a bizarre setup on my bike, not sure quite how, but I do. E.g. I have 10x1.25mm banjo bolts throughout, whereas a K7 should have 10x1.0 on the front and 10x1.25 on the rear (apparently). And the lengths of the lines on my bike are weird too. Don't ask me how, I don't know. Perhaps it's because they only make lines for the S version, whereas mine is the naked version, which it would seem is not that common a bike. Most people have the S version. I've certainly never seen another naked SV on my travels. For example, I've done a quick check on the Autotrader website and there's only one naked square-framed SV in the first four pages. The rest are all S versions.

Yes, that would work, I can just ziptie the two lines together as far down as possible so they follow the same route as the 3-line set-up as much as possible. Good thinking batman! Sometimes I over-complicate things ...

That's what I mean, the uncompressed state. I haven't got a centre stand, only a side stand, so I can't measure. I'm going from a 3-line setup to a 2-line setup, so it's not comparing like with like.

What I mean is, if you have the bike just sitting on the front wheel, the front forks will compress. Typically, how much are they compressed by (length in mm, not %) for a pair of road forks? I need to know so I can work out how much extra to allow for when making up some brake lines (apparently Goodridge and Hel don't do a set for my bike - I know, I've asked both companies, with measurements and banjo bolt thread pitch). So - how much travel in mm should I allow for in the forks?

Nice! And I can vouch for the PR2's too ... they're looking good as new, will be getting PR3's when the 2's eventually wear out! Perhaps there'll be 4's by then ...

3 points here, 48 in a 40 zone - on one of those big, wide non-urban dual carriageways that you look at and think, "Now why the hell does that have a 40 limit?!" bast*rds!

It's not even fun while you're doing it! All sweaty and heavy breathing, tits on the floor, sloppy minge ... only ever when you've not had it for ages and it gets to the point where you just think, "Yeah, what the f*ck!" Now that's proper triple-bagger territory - one bag for her head, one bag for yours, and a bag of flour to find the wet spot. Then shower afterwards and perhaps vomit a little into your mouth because you can't get the images out of your head ...

To be honest, I'm not after a full brake upgrade, just hoses that last longer than the OEM ones! The feel of the brakes as they are is just fine, but they've been getting spongey due to old fluid and probably knackered lines. The pads are fine, they were changed earlier in the year. I phoned up Suzuki, and it turns out that a set of the OEM rubber ones would be £10 cheaper than braided steel Hel ones!! How on earth can Suzuki justify that kind of price for something that's not nearly as good?!!

why not put slicks on the 400 and use that for work instead? It would be quicker than the shitty vity!

I've found an excellent set of tutorial videos on YouTube which I've put into a playlist. Prior to watching these, I had no real idea about how to change brake lines, nor how to bleed brakes properly, now I'm sure I can do it with confidence - best set of videos I've seen on the subject, everything is covered slowly, clearly and in fine detail, just for noobs like me! Here's the linK: The whole playlist is 40 mins long - very thorough. Perhaps sticky this thread?