My uncles' volkswagen dunebuggies were always totally tricked out. They had the oversized engines, polished aluminum wheels, massive paddle tires, and steel braided everything. I thought my Buell might look good with some steel braided oil lines. So.... I bought a 10' piece of steel braided oil line stock and some end covers from my Buell dealer, I then proceded to rip the plumbing out of my Buell and replace it with the steel stuff.
I should have waited for a nice, sunny Saturday, but I am kind of impatient when it comes to projects, so I got started at 6:30pm on a weeknight. I finished at midnight. Ahh, the addiction of my bikes.
I started off replacing the short oil drain piece. It was experimental to see how hard and time comsuming the rest of the project might be. It went pretty quick. A tip I got from the parts guy at the dealer was to tape the hose before cutting so as to keep the steel from fraying. What a time saver that was. It worked great.
Slowly, I began exploring where the other two oil lines disappeared to. They went forward from the oil tank down into the bowels of the bike, never to be seen again. Until, that is, one removes the chin fairing. The oil lines reappear directly underneath the engine and run up to the oil pump near the front, right underside.
I decided to commit to the job and take the lines off the pump. One at a time now. . . I used my dremal to remove the factory installed metal band. What a great idea, those suckers won't come loose.
There are quite a few zip ties to remove.
The forward fitting is harder to reach. Fortunately, I was able to swivel it downward for easier hose installation.
The biggest time saver on this project was discovered when I left the leather-like hose guard in place. I pulled the stock oil line out, and left the protective layer in place. That provided a path for my steel line to follow through the difficult-to-reach inner engine areas. I taped up the entire end of the steel oil line, covered it with WD-40, shot WD-40 down into the tube, and shoved the steel line through. It slid right through and came out the other end! Wow, no threading the line through places I could not see. I did loosen the entire exhaust muffler and lower it to the floor, but that was after I discovered the time saver.
I covered the clamp screws with silicone so (hopefully) they will not work loose.
I saw what I thought was an oil line coming up from just under the battery. It is actually just a vent tube. But because it wrapped around the oil tank, it too became a candidate for replacement. I had to take out the battery to get this one done.
Finally did the rear brake line.
Cheers,
Chris