As much as I like preventative maintenance I have to agree with whats been said. since riding and keeping bikes a long time over 30 years the only 'failure' I've ever had was an oil cooler line that started to gradually seep on an older cbx. All the liquid cooled ones have never seen a problem and on the one 13 year old rvf400 I changed all the coolant hoses because the engine compartment gets so hot and I wanted it back to 'newish' - when I cut what I thought was the worst open to check, it looked fine. Can't go wrong changing them I suppose if you stick with OEM which are proven to last a long time. Non-OEM I think would be more of a crap shoot, possibly replacing something that didn't need replacing with an inferior product.

bill

 

So far on my 97 VTR I have had the vaccum hoses that are at the hottest part of the engine dry up and start cracking, but that's about it... For a 14 year old bike I thinks that's OK...

As other said, I'd stick with OEM, it's probably both cheaper and more reliable...

 

That goes for several things....Giggidy

I had one too! Mine was an '87 Sabre V65 (Dyno'd at 125hp/127ft.lbs.) Man, was that a fun bike, besides it being shaft drive (for me anyways).


I concur with these guys as well. In all the years I've been riding, I have never had even one failure of a coolant hose on any bike.

 

Thanks everyone. I've had a bunch of bikes for almost 20 years and have also never seen a failure, so I agree it probably doesn't make sense to change them.

Now how about cars? I assume you've all heard that hoses made in the last 20 years or whatever cannot be evaluated, they are supposed to be replaced at certain time intervals. Yet I've only ever seen them start to bulge; I've never seen one fail without warning. Is the replacement recommendation just fear-based marketing? Or is there something different about car hoses than bikes? Just wondering.

 

If you do want to change them however, let me know as I have a complete set (save for one which was on backorder) of OEM hoses (all still in individual unopened bags) that I am looking to part with. I had bought them before finally caving in to my urge to get Samcos. Will let them go for a good price if you're interested.....

 

OEM hoses and belts on Japanese cars/trucks are excellent quality, and last a long time. How long?...who knows. But I would never replace hoses or belts nowadays with anything but OEM. Much of the aftermarket stuff is not up to OEM quality.

 

My logic is this:
- brakes = staying in the land of the living
- brakes hoses + ultraviolet from the sun + time = not good
- lack of flushing fluids = moisture = rusted fittings

Therefore - change to quality braided lines with stainless fittings. The added benefit is slightly better performance, consistency and feel, but mainly peace of mind.

The few people that have had line failure probably aren't around to tell us about it.

 

Changed all my hoses during last yrs. annual maintenance. Went with the Samco hoses, not only for the bling, but because they are silicone. Guess I'm a bit **** here because of the buisness I'm in is all about preventive maintenance. I've seen hosed on generators last over 10-15 yrs. that looked & felt ok, but blew when needed most. When I ordered the Samcos it took almost a month due to backorder.