Shorter Lever/Lighter pull

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Decter

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Hello all,

Trying to find some shorter brake/clutch lever, and while I have already searched and gotten some information I wondered if you guys could offer any additional insight?

Also, is there anyway to lighten to pull on both my brake and clutch levers? Only realized how heavy it was after I rode my Triumph and it felt like I was clicking a mouse.

Nick
 
The pull was easier, but the biggest thing for me was that i have medium size hands....and I didnt have to reach as far.

Now some people have talked about a lighter pull with switching to the FJR clutch and brake master cylinder.
 
Bigger masters with stock calipers should give you lighter pull, but I'm sure it could also screw something else up in the process. I use FJR masters but with R1 gold dot calipers and a PCW clutch spring, so I don't notice much difference. Completely new radial master cylinders might give you that mouse click feeling, though. I know I was amazed at how light the new Ducati clutch and brake levers feel on the bikes in the shop when I'm in there.
 
davesax36 said:
Bigger masters with stock calipers should give you lighter pull, but I'm sure it could also screw something else up in the process.
Click to expand...

You will increase the lever ratio which will reduce the effort needed to pull the lever. The downside is that there will be less clutch lift which may have an impact on gear selection and being able to find neutral. The bite point will also be closer the bars.

Some master cylinders, e.g. ISR have adjustable lever ratios which will ease the pull.

One other solution would be to modify the pivot with a needle bearing, see the attached PDF. Saw this may moons ago but can't recall who originally posted it.
 

Attachments

  • Clutch lever Modifi.doc.pdf
    80.3 KB · Views: 29
Turbomax was working on that wasn't he? I had him do the clutch lever on my '99....he was unable to find a bearing that would work and pressed in a bushing instead, it tightened the lever flop up nicely but I don't recall that it lessened the pull any.
 
davesax36 said:
Bigger masters with stock calipers should give you lighter pull, but I'm sure it could also screw something else up in the process. I use FJR masters but with R1 gold dot calipers and a PCW clutch spring, so I don't notice much difference. Completely new radial master cylinders might give you that mouse click feeling, though. I know I was amazed at how light the new Ducati clutch and brake levers feel on the bikes in the shop when I'm in there.
Click to expand...

MaxMidnight said:
You will increase the lever ratio which will reduce the effort needed to pull the lever. The downside is that there will be less clutch lift which may have an impact on gear selection and being able to find neutral. The bite point will also be closer the bars.

Some master cylinders, e.g. ISR have adjustable lever ratios which will ease the pull.

One other solution would be to modify the pivot with a needle bearing, see the attached PDF. Saw this may moons ago but can't recall who originally posted it.
Click to expand...

A SMALLER master will make the pull easier. Stock vmax M/C are 5/8" which is nearly 16mm. Switching the the FJR is commonly done to make the clutch pull easier. FJR clutch masters are 14mm. They look similar to stock. The right year is threaded for a mirror. You need to watch out with the FJR brake masters. Only certain years are 14mm on the brake. The others are larger and won't make much of a difference. The info is here on the forum somwhere. Do a tag search for FJR and you will find it.

I'm currently using a ZX-14 clutch master. Its a radial unit. I don't remember the size and the lever ratio but, it works great. The lever is adjustable. If you want to find shorter levers for it, there are a ton of options. I've tried quite a few combinations for the clutch. Stock, FJR, Concours, and I think one was from a YZF600. I prefer the ZX-14 over all of them. Only downside is there is no place to screw in a mirror. No problem for me since I use bar end type mirrors
 
As mentioned. A smaller bore master will make lever effort easier. BUT, it will also require more lever travel (which isn't always a bad thing). Many times the adjustment will need to be on the farthest out of the settings in order to achieve the proper clutch and or braking power needed.

Braided lines will also help to reduce lever travel while maintaining full pressure at the clutch/caliper.

Oh, and we also sell the bearing/bolt upgrade for the clutch lever ($20).
 
I initially had the short lever from the Ebay vendor and now have the regular sized one. I ran the DD clutch with the short lever with no issues but then again I don't sit in traffic much so generally used just to shift. The regular levers I am now using with the PCW spring and it is even easier.
Mr. Morley expect a email from me shortly for one of the clutch lever pivot mod setups!
 
one2dmax said:
As mentioned. A smaller bore master will make lever effort easier. BUT, it will also require more lever travel (which isn't always a bad thing). Many times the adjustment will need to be on the farthest out of the settings in order to achieve the proper clutch and or braking power needed.

Braided lines will also help to reduce lever travel while maintaining full pressure at the clutch/caliper.

Oh, and we also sell the bearing/bolt upgrade for the clutch lever ($20).
Click to expand...

I'll be in touch, I'd love to do both the clutch and brake levers :)

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk
 
one2dmax said:
Many times the adjustment will need to be on the farthest out of the settings in order to achieve the proper clutch and or braking power needed.
Click to expand...

I found that to be true while running a 14mm clutch master. I did not get proper clutch disengagement unless the lever was adjusted all the way out which pretty much made adjustable levers useless. This was on the Concours master.

I don't have that issue with the ZX14 master. I can use all settings except for #1. Clutch pull is very reasonable even with the DD mod.
 
invalidsession said:
I don't get it. Shorter levers will increase the effort required to disengage/engage the clutch / brakes. Adjustable levers will simply bring the controls closer to the grips but at the cost of full motion of the clutch / brake pads. Try one of these suckers for a month and report back.
http://www.rei.com/product/478028/gripmaster-hand-strengthener.

Chris.
Click to expand...
That is a good suggestion for someone to use before they get the DD clutch plate mod if the have to sit in traffic or they could just drop into N. The shorty levers work just fine with DD mod and I didn't have any issue with mine other than the red color turned into a light reddish-pinkish hue. I may get them anodized at some point but the silver full levers work just fine with the PCW mod.
On the brake side of things I have stock masters, SS lines and 'busa calipers which only require 2 fingers for most braking. I will admit to using more fingers on some of those corners while chasing Marcus, Ron, Jim P, Jim F., and I say chasing but after a few corners it's more like catching up to them after they stop!:biglaugh:
 
I didn't like the stock feel of my levers either.

What I have done is use the adjustable levers from ebay mentioned in one of the posts above. I also switched to braided brake and clutch lines as well as upgraded the brake pads (EBC HH, front and rear) and new rotors.

Braking is much easier, even without swapping masters or calipers (have the 2 piston calipers on my 2007). I drive a computer mouse all day so I don't have hands like a stone mason and two fingers is pretty much all that is required.

On the clutch side, the adjustable levers make the clutch more controllable. Being that the entire distance between fully engaged to fully disengaged is about 1" at the end of the lever, pulling the levers closer to the bar reduced the reach and gave my hand a bit of a mechanical advantage.
 
Will these fit my 99 Vmax?

Is there any real difference in the stock brake/clutch levers over the years?
 
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