Triumph Sprint 1050 brake lines...

[Dan K]

So I fixed the brakes on my '06 Sprint (piston swap with D675 pistons) and the brakes now bite early and with pretty good feel.  

BUT - the now seem a bit spongy.  Are the stock brake lines rubber coated steel? Somewhere, I read that they were steel lines standard, but if not, I think there is room for improvement here.

Let me know if you know!  Or if you know how to find out! Did some searching on triumphrat.net and didn't find what I was looking for.

Thanks!

- Dan

[sammyseaman]

So I fixed the brakes on my '06 Sprint (piston swap with D675 pistons) and the brakes now bite early and with pretty good feel.  

BUT - the now seem a bit spongy.  Are the stock brake lines rubber coated steel? Somewhere, I read that they were steel lines standard, but if not, I think there is room for improvement here.

Let me know if you know!  Or if you know how to find out! Did some searching on triumphrat.net and didn't find what I was looking for.

Thanks!

- Dan

I think the issue with the 1050 Sprint's spongy, soft front brakes has something to do with the calipers. I read about it somewhere but can't remember the details. That's why people upgrade their calipers to Hayabusa's.

[bomber]

if the lines don't have a braided stainless outer layer, they are very likely simple rubber lines . . . . ..

[Dan K]

I think the issue with the 1050 Sprint's spongy, soft front brakes has something to do with the calipers. I read about it somewhere but can't remember the details. That's why people upgrade their calipers to Hayabusa's.

The BUsa brakes supposedly improve bite but at the sacrifice of feel.  I also didn't want to use different brakes on the ABS brake system.

The brakes are 500% better than they were - now that they bite cleanly, they just feel a bit spongy.  Knowing that is something that can be corrected by steel lines, I was curious as to whether we already had them, and I read somewhere that they came standard...

Anyone know for sure? Because mine look like rubber (could be rubber coated steel lines?) my guess is they are rubber.

Thanks,

- Dan

[Dan K]

SammySeaman says definitively, "No."

But this link at triumphrat says they are...?

http://www.triumphrat.net/sprint-forum/68540-stainless-steel-brake-lines.html

Any way to definitively find out?  I thought stainless steel was magnetic, so plan on testing that, but I'd love to know for sure one way or another.

Thanks,

- Dan

[jfusaro]

Your Sprint has rubber coated stainless steel braided cables I am 100% for sure on this, if they still feel spongy you have air in the lines. I did the swap and it was a 180 degree difference in stopping power without the spongy feeling and a better brake then the 6 pot busa calipers. Did you get air in the ABS modulator? You need a dealer to bleed that out

[sammyseaman]

I stand corrected  

[stk0308]

Your Sprint has rubber coated stainless steel braided cables I am 100% for sure on this, if they still feel spongy you have air in the lines.  Did you get air in the ABS modulator? You need a dealer to bleed that out

This!  

[sprint_st]

If you go back to posts on Triumph sites from about 04 to 08 there were tons of brake posts dealing with lever travel and sponginess for both 955 and 1050 Triumphs.  It started with 955 bikes and got worse when the new 1050's came in.  IIRC Triumph put the wrong MC on a bunch of 06 ABS bikes.  Had to do with size of the piston.  I do remember quite clearly that you could squeeze a Sprint brake lever to the grip without a whole lot of effort right on the showroom floor.  It was at about this same time the 675 had piston issues, so the Sprint drivers in there infinite wisdom bought the Teflon coated 675 pistons to replace their Sprint pistons.  Same size, lower price. (did that, didn't see any change)  I do know that I put speed bleeders on all calipers and a speed bleeder banjo bolt at the MC.  IIRC again, the calipers from the Busa were straight bolt ons and considered by the "X-Spirts" to be superior.

Bottom line is that there have been all kinds of Triumph brake threads, brake fixes, and brake fables.  Sorting out what applies to you and what actually fixes your situation isn't all that easy.

[expatbrit]

Looks like the OP already did the swap; I definitely had this issue on my Sprint and it was on the (long) list of things I was going to do if I'd kept the bike.

I believe that the lines are steel already.

[jfusaro]

Sprint_St your right about the mc it should be a 5/8 one that's what was on my 08'. My problem was after cleaning my calipers my brakes worked fine but after about 4/500 miles the pistons would stick to the seals and pull back causing the excessive lever travel on the first pull when applying the brakes. So I did the 675 piston swap and it was a 180 deg. difference. The pistons I had were steel, dark in color and the 675 pistons were a gold in color and noticeably different. A friend of mine who has the dealer tool, I think thats what it called, did the brake bleeding for me on the ABS modulator as I changed the brake fluid to a Repsol racing brake fluid with a higher boiling point and my brakes were spot on, still not to lift the rear end, not that I would want to, but with much better stopping power than the stockers and with feel, good stopping force and much longer duration between cleanings. It was well worth the 1/2 day spent on it.

[Dan K]

I need to find someone with a dealer tool in my area.

Maybe Bomber has one...he has a Tiger 1050...if not, maybe he'll want to split one...

Thanks guys.

-Dan

[stk0308]

I need to find someone with a dealer tool in my area.

Maybe Bomber has one...he has a Tiger 1050...if not, maybe he'll want to split one...

As far as I know the oficial dealer tool is exactly that.  Dealer only.  No publicly available option last I knew.  I'd be interested in hearing what sprint_st's friend has.  

[sprint_st]

As far as I know the oficial dealer tool is exactly that.  Dealer only.  No publicly available option last I knew.  I'd be interested in hearing what sprint_st's friend has.  

Don't need the "dealer tool."   Look up TuneECU.  Use a laptop and load the program for free.  Need to buy a cable for $25.  You can load new maps, tune your old one, sync TB's, reset error codes, etc.  Oh, did I say it was FREE.

[Rincewind]

Don't need the "dealer tool."   Look up TuneECU.  Use a laptop and load the program for free.  Need to buy a cable for $25.  You can load new maps, tune your old one, sync TB's, reset error codes, etc.  Oh, did I say it was FREE.

That is awesome.  I may use it, even if only to sync the TB's.  

http://www.tomhamburg.net/TuneECU_En/index.html

 

Link to the cable - http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Triumph-Motorcycle-TuneECU-Program/dp/B003ZKKMLE - is this one correct?

[stk0308]

Don't need the "dealer tool."   Look up TuneECU.  Use a laptop and load the program for free.  Need to buy a cable for $25.  You can load new maps, tune your old one, sync TB's, reset error codes, etc.  Oh, did I say it was FREE.

I'm familiar with TuneECU.  A friend of mine here in St Louis has used it.  Last I read on triumphrat, as of about a month ago it doesn't support the ABS system bleed function.  But having done a search on triumphrat I do see mention of a separate software called, oddly enough, DealerTune.  So that's where my confusion started on that reference from Dan K.  That software does support bleeding of the ABS, according to reliable sources on triumphrat.

[Dan K]

Dealer Tune?  There is a Dealer Tool for sale in the UK that they ship everywhere, but also requires an additional fee for a different 'key' for each different bike.

I was not aware of Dealer Tune which allows for activating the ABS for bleeding...that is something worth looking into.

- Dan

[MadOzodi]

Dan, I believe champ87 has both DealerTune *and* TuneECU.

[sprint_st]

I'm familiar with TuneECU.  A friend of mine here in St Louis has used it.  Last I read on triumphrat, as of about a month ago it doesn't support the ABS system bleed function.  But having done a search on triumphrat I do see mention of a separate software called, oddly enough, DealerTune.  So that's where my confusion started on that reference from Dan K.  That software does support bleeding of the ABS, according to reliable sources on triumphrat.

Yep, you are right on the ABS.  Mine isn't ABS so I didn't worry about it.  I almost bought the DealerTune but other than ABS TuneECU just had more features I used and the price was right.

[Dan K]

Yep, you are right on the ABS.  Mine isn't ABS so I didn't worry about it.  I almost bought the DealerTune but other than ABS TuneECU just had more features I used and the price was right.

$0 is a pretty good price!

No chance to look into dealer tune yet...will do so shortly.

- Dan