I have been reading into and looking at these steel brake line conversion kits. Wondering if anyone has done this and if its really worth 200 buck for the front ad rear?
when i hit the front brakes now it feel pretty good to me and i have put 2500 miles on it.

Sorry for all the post. guy i know your tired of me but. I sold like two other projects and i have a lot of money to putin to this bike. Plus its the first bike i have had worth doing anything to

I've always put braided stainless steel brake lines on my bikes. They even made my old Kawasaki H2 Mach IV stop... almost. Don't know if they'd make a difference in the ZX-14, being modern and all. Mine stops pretty good stock, too.

I put braided lines on all my bikes. Worth every penny!
If you wanna save a buck or two, look for a set of Russells. I have them on my zx10, my RM, and my girl's zzr. They were about half the price of the Goodridge lines I put on the zx14.. They just don't come with new banjos. You reuse the stock ones. They do, however, come with new crush washers.

With the recomendation from another member I went with Hel lines. I did the brakes and clutch. Love them, plus the guy that owns the company. Bud, do you remember his name? Rode a 14, so you know they fit right, LOL!!

www.helperformance.com

s/s lines are great! I have them on mine with the LSL superbike kit with renthal bars. The difference is night a day, I also have a Z1000 and will be looking for a set on that as well. From now on I'll only have s/s

I had them on my gsxr,maybe I will install them on the 14

I had Spiegler lines on my old zx10.

I have Spiefler brake and clutch lines on my 14
they are the best lines out there IMHO.

I've just had braided lines fitted to mine. Love the look. Front brakes are simply brutal! plenty of feel with linear power. They feel more powerful than before. Back brake is still crap, slightly improved but not enough to hold the bike still on a modest slope.

I think all bikes should have braided brake lines.

New brake pads on both front and rear will give you even more bite.

Don't be afraid of any of the "race only" spec ones that are not recommended
for street- you can never have too much of a good thing with brakes IMHO

Don't be afraid of any of the "race only" spec ones that are not recommended
for street- you can never have too much of a good thing with brakes IMHO

Never used "race only" brake pads, but wouldn't they be formulated to operate at higher sustained temperatures, and achieve maximum friction at those temperatures? And wouldn't we on the street in general not achieve those higher sustained temperatures?

Unless the only thing really different about the pad is the words printed on the box. :)

* Last updated by: privateer on 4/7/2009 @ 5:23 AM *

Don't be afraid of any of the "race only" spec ones that are not recommended
for street- you can never have too much of a good thing with brakes IMHO

The race only pads are supposed to be a harder compound that is harsher on your disks and may also require a higher temperature to work properly. So unless your going extremely fast on the road your better off avoiding them

I'll spare you from the 10 page post on brakes my track junkey here wants to slam you with and just point out that if you've ever experienced a set of Vesrah pads... well- the oem ones would feel and bite as you had only one rotor on the front wheel. It's simply jawdropping the first time you take that bike for a spin! Things get even better when they are hot- there's ZERO fade!
I'll put it this way- a zx10 with Vesrah "race only" pads will make the oem zx14 brakes feel cruiser-like!

I'll put it this way- a zx10 with Vesrah "race only" pads will make the oem zx14 brakes feel cruiser-like!

Gonna have to try some of them.... the brakes on my zx10 BLOW!!!! My GF's zzr600 (same year) has better brakes!!!!.....
Anyone have an extra set of zx14 callipers layin' around?

Dogo,
I had the CBR1000 4-piston Tokico calipers on my 05 zx10-those are the ones that are a direct swap and 100% improve the braking power... and then some Vesrah pads and you'll experience some really effortless stopping.
This mod is a must for your 10 IMHO

* Last updated by: masszx14 on 4/7/2009 @ 11:21 AM *

Dogo,
I had the CBR1000 4-piston Tokico calipers on my 05 zx10-those are the ones that are a direct swap and 100% improve the braking power... and then some Vesrah pads and you'll experience some really effortless stopping.
This mod is a must for your 10 IMHO

You're outta the loop, Mass... The 14 caliper swap is the new hot ticket on the gen1 10! ....
But yeah the stock brakes on the 10 are CRAP! I've done braided lines and the ziptie on the lever overnite trick (forces ALL of the air outta the system) and still still mooshy.

* Last updated by: DogoZX on 4/7/2009 @ 12:06 PM *

Yeah... there weren't many zx14 front calipers on ebay in 05 and 06

On a serious note though- the zx14 uses larger front rotors,
not sure if they are a direct bolt on the 05 zx10 front rim.
The 14 oem rotors are super light and arguably the very best of
all oem. You'll have to spend over $1K on a set of front aftermarkets
if you want to go lighter... ask Shane.

You know I have a 08-09 zx10 front rim on my 14,
so I know for a fact it works like a charm for that swap.

The tech chat on this forum is...

Any Kawi fans that could chime in here, please do!

We need deatailed specs and mod options... kinda like on Bikeland!

The tech chat on this forum is...

Any Kawi fans that could chime in here, please do!

We need deatailed specs and mod options... kinda like on Bikeland!

We'll get there... We've only been around for 2 months. for your participation. -bg

bg,

you've promised me now!

thanks

Stock front brakes on the '04-'07 zx10r have 300mm rotors, all with the same crappy 4 pad Tokico calipers. The '06-'07 did , however, get a better master cylinder (but the brakes still suck).

The zx14 front rotors are the same 310mm as the '08-'09 zx10r. They will bolt up to the first and second gen zx10. But, it requires 5mm spacers for the calipers.

The zx14 calipers will bolt right on any zx10 with stock rotors.

Sorry Mass, I don't know how much each rotor weighs. Now I'm curious, though....

* Last updated by: DogoZX on 4/8/2009 @ 9:43 AM *

I went with Speigler SS lines in the front when I instaled ConvertiBars so I could get the full range I wanted - Major improvement in feel of an already great braking system +10 - so happy with the front I put a Goodrich SS line on the rear - made the wooden feeling rear a lot better, but I still dont use it much.
Front is a great up grade.

How about the ones that have banjo fittings that swivel. I wish I would have seen those before I installed mine,It would have been a cleaner install.

I put stainless brake lines on my 2006 zx14. The first thing you notice is that most of the stock line is steel tubing. the gain in braking is very small for that reason. I also put on the stainless clutch lines and that made a positive difference. better feel for the clutch. I would not have done this if I had known how little difference it would make. I put stainless lines on all my bikes and usually the difference is worth the cost. If you want better braking I would look at the changes cycleworld made on its long term zx14

"On the braking front, roller bearings in the pivot mechanism of the Beringer Aerotec Radial Master Cylinder ($535; www.beringer-brakes.com) all but eliminate stiction, resulting in exceptionally light feel and silky-smooth lever travel. Modulating edge-of-traction braking is easier, too. We later added a matching Aerotec Radial Clutch Master Cylinder ($535) and four-piston, machined-from-billet front brake calipers ($1200 per set)." http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=1096

That is the kind of money you need to spend to really improve these brakes which IMHO are among the best stock brakes ever put on a sport tourer. It was too rich for my wallet.