Need Brake Line Help

[rustyford]

I decided to go to taller bars on my 01 Nomad, so now I need a longer front brake line. I was thinking about going to stainless, but everything I find is for 02-04.

Will this work for the 01? If not, what is the difference?

[ringadingh]

I don't see why the lines from an 02 won't work. Check the p/n on Cheapcycleparts and see if they are the same. Also you may be able to get some longer brake lines made locally. I had some stainless lines made a couple months ago for my Argo and just emailed him a pic of the old line with the overall length required.

[Pitchinguy]

You can research by going to the Kaw site & go thru the parts diagrams for your bike & an 02. If the brake lines are the same part # for both bikes, you should be good to go. I ran into the same prob when I put apes on my 011. All the aftermarket parts only went to 09 so I compared the OEM part #s on Kaw's site & everything worked great.

[caper]

Have them made, its not that expensive, I had them made for my nomad .

[rustyford]

Caper, where did you have yours made. I can't find anyone local to make them?

[ringadingh]

Call some performance shops in your area they should be able to recomend something.

[Monkeyman]

That reminds me, I need to start searching brake/clutch lines for my future apes, too. Anyone know how much longer of either I'd need for 14" ape hangers?

[Pitchinguy]

I have 14" apes & went +6 on clutch, brake & throttle cables. Everything was great. Coulda prolly got by with +4 on the throttle cables though.

[Monkeyman]

Pitchinguy --- Do you have 14" apes PLUS taller risers? Or just the apes with the stock risers?

[Fly]

J&P Cycles sell ends and plastic coated metal hydraulic llines. Measure the size you need, and you can buy them from their website.

[ringadingh]

J&P Cycles sell ends and plastic coated metal hydraulic llines. Measure the size you need, and you can buy them from their website.

Those are the lines I had made up here, they were priced quite reasonably, $40.00 a pair for 13" lines.

[rewindgy]

I went with Spiegel SS Lines. They are not cheap but you can rotate the ends to custom match to your bars! You need to order for the 1600 Classic - they are the same thing and Nomad 1600 are not listed!

[caper]

I went to SS lines for safety. When you hit that front break as hard as you can you don't want the line to fail!!! So price should be second in IMO.

[Pitchinguy]

Pitchinguy --- Do you have 14" apes PLUS taller risers? Or just the apes with the stock risers?


Not taller risers. I used risers for 1 1/4 " bars but OEM height. OEM risers are 1 1/2". +6" cables should be fine for up to about 3" risers on 14" bars. Any more & I think you'd need longer & I'd do some measuring. All the apes I looked at had less pullback than the OEM bars but you can adjust the pullback considerably by tilting the apes. I'm 5'8" and have the bars set in line with the forks & it's very comfortable for me. Someone taller with longer arms would prolly want the bars leaning forward slightly but that wouldn't hurt on cable length. Note: On my 1700 the winshield leaned back too much & I shimmed the top winshield mounting bar forward 3/4" to keep the winshield from hitting my bars. Very easy to do & works great!

[Monkeyman]

I don't like risers. I'll just get bars. I think 14s will be fine. I sat on a bike with 16s and they just felt off. You sure your stock bars were 1 1/2" diameter? Pretty sure they're all 1" but I don't have a 1700. I'll keep the bars in line with the forks. It just looks better that way. If it's not enough, I'll get taller bars. I'm a hair over 6' but I don't want my arms stretched out. Makes my elbows hurt.

[ringadingh]

There is a handlebar fitment post in the tech section that shows all the different handlebar measurements.

[Pitchinguy]

The stock OEM bars are 1" on all the Vulcans. The bars I installed are 1 1/4" Wild I Chubbys that come with a 5 1/4" long 1" mounting section. They worked great on my 05 1600 OEM risers but the 1700 risers have a wider spread.The risers on the 1700 are actually about a 5 5/8" spread & were too wide for my Chubbys, so, I got some 1 1/4" risers & made some 1 1/4" sleeves so I could use the Chubbys. When you buy your bars, if you want to use the OEM risers you'll need to pay close attention to the length of the 1" mounting section of the new bars if you go with something larger than 1". Several mfg's offer 1 1/4" bars & Baron offers 1 1/2" bars which require 1 1/2" risers. Most all of the 1 1/4" bars have 1" mounting & this is where you'll need to watch. Some 1 1/4" bars do require 1 1/4" risers.