Spiegler brake hose kit banjo bolt

[Toynut]

I recently installed a full Spiegler hose kit on my '03 (Gary @/University Motors :icon_thumbsup: ).

There was one banjo bolt that came with the kit that had a different thread pitch than all of the others and was packed in it's own separate bag. While there were no instructions detailing where this particular bolt fit in the system, it became apparent that it was used to replace the flare nut fitting on the front port of the proportion control valve which was located above the rear master cylinder, and bolted to the frame.

When I went through the routine of bleeding the system I could hear a very faint hiss coming from somewhere in the system and not letting me get a good bleed. I soon found that the air/fluid was leaking from the front port banjo between the washers. Rather than just re-torque the banjo bolt, I decided to disassemble the connection for a better look. I hand tightened the bolt down and measured the gap between the bolt head and the sealing surface. Next I measured the individual washer thickness. When I added all of the numbers up, it became apparent that there was still an approximately .5mm gap left, post assembly. It was just enough to allow for a slow leak of fluid or air back into the circuit. Had I continued to tighten the bolt to get a better crush, then the bottom of the bolt (which is flat), would have hit the flare nut seat (and possibly crushing it closed)and either strip the threads out, or potentially crack the valve body$$$ (Gary thinks this might have happened once, now, we may know why) :icon_shocked: . In addition, anyone could easily cross thread the fitting, since the specific application for the special bolt was unmarked :icon_doh: .

I contacted Gary (great guy, BTW), who contacted the owner of Spiegler in Ohio. They quickly made me a new shorter bolt and over-nighted it to me. I can only expect that future kits will have incorporated the new part, as well as properly labeling the "special bolt" application on the install sheet.

For anyone who may have formerly installed a Spiegler kit, or has had difficulty bleeding their brakes or constant air in the lines /fluid loss, I strongly suggest you check for this potential problem , on your bike!

All in all, however, the line kit went in fairly smoothly, with very few problems!