| Author | Message | ||
     Hdwrenchtx |
I have been thinking about putting some of these on my CR. Is there any advantage to having the short levers or is it personal preference? not sure which ones to get | ||
| S1125r |
Personal preference, plus they are less likely to get broken in a tip over. I only use two fingers on either hand anyway, so the shorter lever just keeps it from hitting my other fingers. | ||
| Arcticcr |
Shorter levers are nearly entirely style driven. In fact, they adversely affect the performance due to their lower mechanical advantage, in other words, a lower lever ratio. (Message edited by arcticcr on December 26, 2009) | ||
| Jdugger |
I had shorties for a while and have gone back to the regular length. Shorties promote grabbing the bars more inward. Fine for the street, but a disaster in the twisties or on the track where that posture reduces steering leverage. I really like the feel of regular length levers on the track, in particular for the brake. I need the leverage for hard stops. | ||
| Marcodesade |
Having destroyed a brake lever by dropping my bike at a near-standstill a while back  , I sure wished at the time that I had shorties. When I replaced them though, I still ended up going for longs, and I just added bar-end sliders instead. | ||
| Brumbear |
I am not comfortable with short levers I prefer the standard | ||
| Hdwrenchtx |
yeah i was not sure if i would like them... probably should buy regular | ||
| Blur |
I love the shorty's on the track and the street. I've never noticed a difference between stock levers and shorty's. If you think you'll like them give it a shot. Worst case scenerio you sell them or have a spare set of levers. | ||
| Moosestang |
I hate that the stock clutch lever smashes my other two fingers. So shortie levers may not help that? | ||
| Redscuell |
I have Pazzo shorties on my 09 R; and did not choose them for style. I chose them because a short lever is less likely to bend or break in a fall (yup, they happen), and the geometry for the hand is better (for example, your little finger has to reach the furthest, and is the weakest, on a standard length lever; and they are shaped better for the fingers than the stock Buell aka Honda levers). I have them slid along the handlebar right next to the brake/clutch reservoirs for best relationship to the hand. Wouldn't have them any other way but short; in fact, for both my Hondas (for which shorties weren't available) I actually chopped them shorter; but that is not legal here in Oz (not considered roadworthy because they become pointed on the end) so I was glad to be able to purchase shorties that have the ball end. | ||
| Jng1226 |
I had a tip-over in the garage a week ago (don't ask, I'm still PISSED!) and it fell over on the right side. The stock brake lever bent forward like a banana. I simply bent it back with hand force, and you can't tell it ever got bent out of shape. Saved $179 on new levers that don't provide the same leverage. Don't look as cool, of course, but don't worry about the bending part, they really do bend back easily. Jeff | ||
| Jdugger |
Those levers are made of Al. You are lucky they bent back -- AL is not a very ductile metal and becomes brittle with surprisingly little cold working. I suspect that lever -- subjected again to any kind of unusual force -- will crack. | ||
| Wastegate |
ASV lever are made of 6061 Aluminum Alloy. Which is the same alloy that is widely used for construction of aircraft structures, such as wings and fuselages. | ||
| Jng1226 |
Jdugger - I was really surprised they bent back as easily as they did. It was a very smooth bending action, as well, like they were ductile. Perhaps they use an alloy that is meant for limited bending? I too am concerned about the weakened state of the stock lever having being bent back and forth. However, looking at the CRG and other aftermarket long levers, they are scored near the end of the lever. Is this to ensure that instead of bending in a fall they just break off the tip? Then you have to purchase another Watching MotoGP on-bike camera shots of the throttle/brake, I have never seen any of these "trick" or "shorty" levers being used. Of course, they are all the $1500+ Brembo GP Radial Master Cylinders, but the levers themselves look identical to stock street bikes. You figure if there was indeed some advantage to the ASV/CRG/Pazzo design then surely MotoGP teams would use them. The replacement lever is around $50 from a dealer, so I'll stick to the stock one if I ever need a replacement. I need to spend the money on a fender eliminator first. That makes a more aesthetic impact than my levers, which seems to be what the aftermarket ones are for anyway. Jeff | ||
| Redscuell |
"That makes a more aesthetic impact than my levers" I can appreciate that aesthetics is where YOU are coming from; now you need to acknowledge that more than one of us has stated in this thread that shortie levers were not chosen, in our cases, for aesthetics, but for what they do. When I post up pics of my modified Buell muffler, you'll see that it ain't purty and, logically, is only on my bike because it works. Sometime this week I'll put up pics. And although I appreciate that it's significant to you that the racers don't use shortie levers, let's acknowledge that usually when a racer goes down, he is done for the day unless the bike can go straight back into the race without repairs (like Honda in a recent Moto GP, I think it was) or there's no way to catch up. They're just not playing the same game that we road riders are. | ||
| Hdwrenchtx |
the asv's are supposedly unbreakable and pivot out of the way in a crash. 5 yr warranty. i went with the long ones. | ||
| Dave_bannister |
Its always a good idea to cut a slot for breaking point in the end of your levers. This way if you happen to fall over you break the end off and saves your perch or other possible damage. Are buell levers interchangeable with others bikes? Not sure just asking. I always liked the longer levers myself. | ||
| Jng1226 |
Redscuell - You are correct, levers are a point of aesthetics for me. I should have mentioned that I have the CRG shorties on my XB9 and like them OK. My XB9 has most parts upgraded in one way or another so they complete the look. I have long fingers and usually use 3 of them for braking, even on the CRG shorties, so I don't have the issue you and others mentioned about the longer lever hitting the fingers, so I acknowledge that they do solve a problem for some people. Regarding the pro racers, it is actually of MORE importance for them to have a lever that remains usable after a crash. Pro race teams have big budgets that only continue to get supported with good results. Pro riders have even more at stake because of championship points and contract bonuses based on finishing positions. Both have everything to gain by having the major controls of a bike working after a crash so they may get back to racing and salvage points. Or, as in Scott Russell's 1995 Daytona 200 race, pick the bike up after crashing and claw back the win. As Hdwrenchtx pointed out, some ASV levers have a hinge allowing them to pivot instead of bending or breaking during a tip-over. The mega-$ Brembo GP master cylinders I mentioned have the same type of hinged levers on them. I've not heard good things about ASV levers, not sure why as the pivot design makes the most sense to me in an upgraded lever. Jeff | ||
| Redscuell |
"Regarding the pro racers, it is actually of MORE importance for them to". I am not arguing with that; but I don't even know that aftermarket levers are allowed (or not) in their class of racing. And I suppose it's possible that racing teams would want sponsor money from the lever folks to make the switch. But arguing that if it was any good, the racers would do it, doesn't gel with their routinely riding at 300 kph when the rest of us can't (220 kph is my max to date) is an indicator that they're playing a different game. I doubt we could use their mufflers on the street, either! For myself I don't use the clutch lever for upshifts anyway (I sure do for the DOWN shifts, since breaking a belt doing that). | ||
| Jng1226 |
You broke a belt? Wow, I didn't think that was supposed to be possible. Was that on a 1125? I thought they had the latest upgraded belt which was even more durable. Jeff | ||
| Redscuell |
Broke a belt downshifting into 1st without the clutch, while coming to a stop at a traffic light. Something I used to do always, in all gears; but not since!! I posted pics at the time. If I had KNOWN it was a belt breakage, I'd've saved myself a lot of grief; as it was, I thought I'd broken the trans because the front sprocket clatters without the belt, and with the upper and lower belt covers the bike passed through 3 more sets of hands before anyone noticed the belt was gone! I went back and retrieved the belt from the intersection, where it was still laying in the roadway. | ||
| Moosestang |
I went back and retrieved the belt from the intersection, where it was still laying in the roadway. LOL! People probably thought it was a snake. |
