The WILD RAT
Goodridge Stainless Brake Lines
- See your local dealer
One of the complaints I had on the Sprint was its poor braking ability, more specifically a very 'mushy' feeling when clamping down on the front lever. After speaking with several people, I decided that it wasn't really a caliper problem, it was the rubber brake line. I had installed stainless lines on my Harley, so I decided to do the same with the Sprint. I looked at Russell and Goodridge - after many recommendations, I decided on the Goodridge. I looked at getting pre-cut lengths, but found that the ones offered were off by a few inches and also would have to wait several weeks for them to arrive. Everyone that knows me, knows that waiting is not one of my better traits. I was lucky enough to find a local race tuner (TBR Racing - no relation to Two Brothers) who custom fits Goodridge lines. The first thing we did was eliminate the splitter and run two separate lines. Was glad that I got them fitted as when I measured the lines, I did not take into account fork extension! I saw him lift the front end off the ground and then fit the cable - all I could see was me going over my first bump ripping my improperly measured cables off :-( ............. One of the benefits of custom made lines was that I got the reusable fittings instead of the crimp connectors typically found on stainless lines. The reusable connectors use a compression fitting which is then screwed into the banjo bolt - what you end up with is a more reliable cable. After installing the cables, the only problem I had was that while stopping the forks would compress so much that the stainless line would rub against the bottom of the instrument panel. I added a cable standoff to where the line splitter used to be - no more problems. The stainless lines make the Sprint stop on a dime - I find it very easy now to slam myself into the tank while attempting to avoid some of the crazy cagers loose on local streets ;-) The benefit to having someone do the job for me, was that he had all the neat toys for refilling and bleeding my lines. He hooked up a couple of accessories to his compressor and presto - instant brake lines - took me over a hour to do the same by hand. Total cost with install was about $125 US.
