The kit provided for the ST1300 from Hel does not cater for the ABS or the models from 2008 onwards.
I bought a full HEL kit and had problems. Fitting around the steering head column - left and right side.
My model was a 2009 ABS version (UK).
ABS issues :
This is a view of the headstock on the right hand side. The right hand upper fork leg is on the right.
2 unions 'blocks' are bolted onto the headstock. Metal pipework to the left of the block - secured by a gland nut. The metal pipe to the right of the blocks are both part of the fitting of the flexible hose. The gland nut is part of the metal pipework and is unscrewed tediously a fraction of a turn at a time. There is no washer or seal - it seats in a similar way to a bleed valve. Metal on metal. There is a torques setting, but you cannot get a torque device in there. Just get an idea of what that torque value feels like on another bolt, using the same spanner.
The top one is Part 2 on the coloured diagram above - the line from the front brake lever.
The bottom one is part 11 on the colured diagram - line to the front right top caliper - which includes the union for the metal pip across the mudguard.
The two lines emerging from this to the left hand side feed to the inlet and the outlet of the ABS pump. These are rigid and cannot move.
So the fact that those two bolts are not positioned centrally in the metal block is very significant.
The nylon blocks provided witht he HEL lines are prtty robust - but all of the mountin holes are positioned centrally, not offset. And they will not fit without drilling the hole in the correct position. I managed it, but the hole was running pretty close tot eh otside of the Nylon block.
However a bike without ABS does not have that restriction. There is a simple W shaped ppe which joins one block to the other and it has no other fixing point.
@sirbike reported not problems when he was fitting his to his 2003 non-abs model.
On the left hand side PArt number 8 and part number 4 are involved. Note that part number 8 has a bracket, but the HEL lines are not provided with one - I had to make one.
This is the nylon block fitted onto the end of the brak lline - the flexible hose's metal union emerges from the opposite side. The metal plate is bolted and glues to the nylon bock.
The mounting bolt will fit through my hole on the right hand side of the picture. The problem is, there is not enough room to turn the bolt head. So the plate had to be mounted first. and the hex head on the top side of the photo had to be ground down so that the hex head was no longer a hexagon. THis then became a cative nut as it could not turn when the plate was bolted to the headstock. This was another long winded trial-and-improvement approac to what I laughingly call 'engineering'
Tedious, but it worked.
I had already contacted HEL at this point having spent 3 days trying to get the lines to fit. "You shouldn't have to do that sir, they should just fit".
I know that
@sirbike had to do something similar for his 2003 non-ABS bike.
Lines 5 & 11, right hand caliper and lines 7 and 13 (left hand caliper) - do not fit at all. I could make the short ones fit - but they were tight and interfered with the correct movement of the caliper.The longer ones fitted up to the union block where the pipes cross the mudguard. The right hand one was a forced fit - which I didn't force. The left hand one - the short link between the SMC and the caliper would not join up at all. You can rotate the metal unions at the end of the hoses, but this didn't make any difference.
In spite of the advertising on the website, which claimed that they fitted 2002 to 2013 (i think it said) , they had not been aware of the issues with the ABS pipework or with the fact that the entire front brake system was redesigned for the 2008 and later models.
Yours is not ABS - but it would still have the same problems on the front calipers as yours is after 2007.
I got my money back - in spite of many of the lines being fitted and refitted . No arguments, and I was able to tell them exactly where the differences were.
I also got the rear lines, and noted that one of those didn't have any support for the union. They said that they just used a P clip - which they had not provided. And one of them needs a back plate like the one on the left front headstock.
I cut my losses and bought Honda instead - having re-fitted my old lines - ready for the MOT which was looming. I didn't buy all of the HOnda liness - I decided that the lines that go from near the rear master cylinder to the metal pipes across the swing arm looked to be in pretty good condition, but I bought the two that go to the rear caliper. I think it was only about £100 more than I had paid for the full HEL set.
Note also - the HEL lines are thinner. They don't have the protective outer sheaths. They DO have the rubber mounting blocks, but they are small than OEM so would need padding to be properly clamped. This would be necessary particualrly at that 3-hose clamp across the upper fork legs, otherwise every turn of the bars would result in the brake lines moving within the clamp. I reckon that might be a steering / abrasion issue for the future. The Honda lines come with everything. The old one come off, the new ones go on. Perfect fit.
Shortly after doing this, I got the MOT and that was the last time I rode my 1300. The OEM lines never went on. I gave the ST1300 to my brother and am waiting for the day when he wants them fitting !
If you wanted the HEL lines, you would have to remove your present lines and send them to HEL so that they could make a bespoke set. But you would still need to find solutions for the rubber clamping and the mounting blocks that (do not) have a mounting plate.
