How long should the brake line be for clipons/drop bars?

I need to have a new front brake line made for my 73, 850 ( disc on the right ). The old one is to long for the dropped bars in use now and I will be going to clipons soon. My question is, How long should it be? With the forks extended, how much extra line should I have? Also, are the forks extended enough for measuring this if the bike is on the center stand & the front wheel is off the ground or do I need to do something else? Thanks, Glenn.

Mine is 30" with regular bars and disc on the left. I am still using the stock hard line that goes around the lower leg and there is plenty of line even when the forks are completely extended. I would think 24" would be enough for your purposes.

I have RGM clip-ons and cut down the braided std Roadster line to 17.75" end to end of each fitting. You could go a little longer as it helps to have a bend in the line to clear the lower yoke etc. Also I reversed the switch and line positions to give more clearance on left lock. You can just see the routing in this pic (runs in front of the lower yoke.....

Keith every time I see your bike I cannot help but admire you georgeous paintsheme Simply georgeous
those lines on your fairing complement the navy stipe blue more than 100%
LOVELY

Appreciate that Lynxsu, it was more to do with trying to breakup all the white paint on the fairing and the idea did come from the JP replica paintwork.

Thank you Keith, that helps. Reversing the switch/line positions is also a good idea as I'm still not sure if I will use my fairing or not so headlight brackets become a issue. I never liked the typical Dunstall type, trying to find a better looking alternative. I also like Lab's idea of using a male to male fitting at the M /C so a line with a end the swivels can be used. ( thanks Lab.) By the way I couldn't agree more about your color scheme. Your bike looks great. Nortons have always looked great to me in white. I guess it's the International/Manx thing. Thanks again.

gtsun said:

I guess it's the International/Manx thing. Thanks again.

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Weren't those silver?

Good point, yes they were but 90% of the old pictures are in black & white & I like the look. My 72 Dunstall was done that way & I like it better than silver. My current 850 is in silver/black but soon to change.