Would you pay the Dealer or Replace ABS brake lines Yourself?

[Patent1]

Original owner of 05 FJR w/abs and about 55,000 miles. Dealer quoted about $ 1100 to install a full set of Spiegler steel braided brake and clutch lines. I'm fairly handy with tools, but not so good with patience. Is this an easy or difficult job? would you pay the dealer or do it yourself (assuming you're me)?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Oldjeep]

Original owner of 05 FJR w/abs and about 55,000 miles. Dealer quoted about $ 1100 to install a full set of Spiegler steel braided brake and clutch lines. I'm fairly handy with tools, but not so good with patience. Is this an easy or difficult job? would you pay the dealer or do it yourself (assuming you're me)?

Thanks,
Jim

Not a huge deal to do yourself as long as you are comfortable bleeding the brakes. Couple hours max for anyone qualified to pay them, so $1100 is insane.

 

[RossKean]

I would do them myself. Bit of a nuisance, but not rocket science. Assuming that the "kit" is a good fit.

 

[rrr1]

1100$ is crazy. But as you know with brakes you don't mess...

 

[Rocnsanman]

Be very careful with the ABS unit lines, if the kit comes with them. I would only replace the front and rear brake lines. ANY air in the ABS unit will be very difficult to bleed as continuous cycling and bleeding of the ABS unit will be required. If you lack patience you might want to let someone qualified do the job. Peace of mind and all. Good luck.

 

[torch]

It may not be as far out of line as it seems at first blush. There's a lot of lines to change with the ABS system and SS braided lines are not cheap, the routing is buried and the required bleeding is extensive.

That said, I'm Dutch so I'd do it myself.

Edit: Spiegler's website lists the 8 ABS brake line kit at $439 and the clutch line at $70. Call it $500 in materials. I imagine the dealer gets a bit of a discount though.

 

[Oldjeep]

Be very careful with the ABS unit lines, if the kit comes with them. I would only replace the front and rear brake lines. ANY air in the ABS unit will be very difficult to bleed as continuous cycling and bleeding of the ABS unit will be required. If you lack patience you might want to let someone qualified do the job. Peace of mind and all. Good luck.

I would disagree with that. The only place you need to worry about air is the abs block itself. Otherwise you do a normal bleed process. Suction bleeder helps a lot, especially if you keep it going while actuating the ABS block (more to clean the old fluid than anything else).

Main tip from me is - only replace one line at a time. There are a ton of shorter lines around the ABS and proportioning blocks

 

[Oldjeep]

It may not be as far out of line as it seems at first blush. There's a lot of lines to change with the ABS system and SS braided lines are not cheap, the routing is buried and the required bleeding is extensive.

That said, I'm Dutch so I'd do it myself.

I guess I assumed the $1100 was all labor. If that includes the $400ish worth of brake lines then that is better

 

[Patent1]

Thanks, guys. I've already purchased the spiegler lines; the $1100 quote is their labor only.

Bleeding the abs unit, and the general PITA factor, are what is giving me pause. Leaning to letting the dealer do it.

 

[rickysnickers]

I have an '05. I replaced all my lines with the same kit you seem to have. I did mine years ago. It's a simple R/R job. Bleeding the system required no special tools. As someone else said, just do one line at a time and you'll be fine.

 

[Warchild]

As it turns out, I am about to do this very same job on both the Tracer 900 GT and the MT-10 this winter. In fact, work on the Tracer begins tomorrow.

Here is my Garage Assistant Kitty doing an inventory on the Spiegler kit for completeness:

 

[RTSinDallass]

Original owner of 05 FJR w/abs and about 55,000 miles. Dealer quoted about $ 1100 to install a full set of Spiegler steel braided brake and clutch lines. I'm fairly handy with tools, but not so good with patience. Is this an easy or difficult job? would you pay the dealer or do it yourself (assuming you're me)?

Thanks,
Jim

I agree, that's insane. I have the same bike, and my biggest complaint are the mushy vague front brakes. My game plan is to bleed them and see if that make things good enough, if not, install braided lines. I have a mighty vac and a Harbor Freight pneumatic brake vac/bleeder. They make it easy to vacuum out the old fluid from the reservoir and pull the clean fluid and get a good flush and bleed. Definitely worth the money when doing brakes.
Please follow up with your results and let us know how it goes.

 

[RTSinDallass]

I have an '05. I replaced all my lines with the same kit you seem to have. I did mine years ago. It's a simple R/R job. Bleeding the system required no special tools. As someone else said, just do one line at a time and you'll be fine.

I have the same bike as well. Were the braided lines worth the squeeze?

 

[jkousourlis]

Original owner of 05 FJR w/abs and about 55,000 miles. Dealer quoted about $ 1100 to install a full set of Spiegler steel braided brake and clutch lines. I'm fairly handy with tools, but not so good with patience. Is this an easy or difficult job? would you pay the dealer or do it yourself (assuming you're me)?

Thanks,
Jim

if you do some certain things i think is very bad to pay so much money

 

[rickysnickers]

I have the same bike as well. Were the braided lines worth the squeeze?

I purchased them when there was a group buy on them, way back when. Yes, I think they are worth it, group buy or not.

 

[John Scottorn]

It may not be as far out of line as it seems at first blush. There's a lot of lines to change with the ABS system and SS braided lines are not cheap, the routing is buried and the required bleeding is extensive.

That said, I'm Dutch so I'd do it myself.

Edit: Spiegler's website lists the 8 ABS brake line kit at $439 and the clutch line at $70. Call it $500 in materials. I imagine the dealer gets a bit of a discount though.

Hi torch,
You're Dutch.... does that mean :-
1. Capable?
or
2. Not keen on parting with your hard earned money? .... in England we think of the Scottish people of being like that.

 

[RedRiderMN]

@Patent1

I installed a set of Galfer brake and clutch lines on my 2014A and then helped a buddy install a similar kit on his 2006. You will need a flare nut wrench to remove the front brake lines at the steering stem (see attached photos).

 

[Pete-o]

I just had mine installed for $650. Galfer 11 line kit. (Brake and Clutch) I purchased the kit on sale from Revzilla for around $240. Looked like a PIA to me. I did the relay arm myself, and the forks, so I'm no stranger to mechanics. But OEM shops have the knowledge, experience, and equipment to do it right. Shout out to Ray's Cycle Center in Greenfield, MA My bike is an 06 w/ 18K. It probably never had new lines until now. Does anyone change their rubber lines out every 2-4 years as the manual specifies? Just ask'n....

Pete-o

 

[RossKean]

Does anyone change their rubber lines out every 2-4 years as the manual specifies?

Nope! I think a failing line would give you plenty of warning before blowing like a burst aneurism. Bulging hose, leaks, mushy feeling brake etc.
Never heard of a catastrophic brake line failure on an FJR.

 

[torch]

Hi torch,
You're Dutch.... does that mean :-
1. Capable?
or
2. Not keen on parting with your hard earned money? .... in England we think of the Scottish people of being like that.

Yes.


On both counts.


The Dutch, traditionally a trading nation, developed a reputation as being tight with a guilder. But also a reputation as engineers and builders -- heck, a quarter of the nation's landmass is below sea level. A pretty impressive accomplishment when you consider my ancestors pumped it out with 13th century wooden windmills.

Of course, dikes have been known to fail so things have had to be pumped out more than once. Which probably contributes to the Dutch stereotype as a bunch of stubborn bastards.

"God created Heaven and Earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands."

We may also have a small ego problem... <lol>