Brake & Clutch Levers


J

Jakobmunch

New member
Hey guys
Can anyone recommend a special brand of brake/clutch levers there is similar to the following pair from Rizoma:
- Rizoma brake Lever adjustable RRC, model LBR205
- Rizoma Clutch Lever adjustable RRC, model LCR201

I like the Rizoma levers, but i think they are very expensive so i would really like to know what you guys have good experience with?

Jakob
 
tw586

tw586

New member
the2wheels.com the best stuff i have seen come out of china, and good value, I have 2 sets one for my MT07 and my wife has a set on her R15 I really cant see the difference in quality compared to the European brands and at a quarter of the cost
 
RichMT

RichMT

New member
I bought these from Hong Kong on eBay for £16. Excellent value and still very good quality...

image.jpg image.jpg
 
I

Igor

New member
Just bought the same brake and clutch levers from ebay from china. Good quality levers, but did find an issue on the clutch lever.

I put the bike on paddock stand to test the clutch lever, started the bike. Then on each of the 6 different setting of the clutch lever I pulled in the clutch and put the bike in gear to see if the clutch was fully engaged.

It was fine on settings 3-6, but on settings 1 and 2 the back wheel started to turn slowly, which I reckon means the clutch was not fully disengaged with the level fully pulled in.

I adjusted the clutch cable slightly to lengthen the cable route and got it so that on setting 2 the wheel didn't turn, but didn't adjust any further as I was worried that if I kept on going then I'd end up with the clutch cable pulling making the clutch slip? Am I right to be concerned about that?
 
Torque

Torque

New member
Igor, your problem sounds strange. The lever settings should have nothing to do with the clutch cable operation, they should only adjust the span of the lever. The clutch cable free play (which in turn determines the biting point of the clutch) is adjusted by a combination of the knurled wheel at the lever and the 2 locking nuts near the clutch itself. Basically if you run out of adjustment at the lever you can adjust further using these 2 nuts.

The important parameter is free play at the lever. The MT-07 handbook states between 5 and 10 mm at the end of the lever. Now remembering that these levers are shorter this equates to about 4 - 8 mm for these ones (basic trigonometry).

When I bought and fitted one of these levers from HK I found that my clutch lever had far too much free play. I'm thinking that the recess in the lever that the cable end fits into is in a slightly different position than the stock levers. I found even about 3 turns of the knurled wheel wasn't quite giving me the right amount of free play. No worries I simply adjusted the nuts at the clutch end and all was well. Try to hit that mid point of free play, which for the shorter levers is 6 mm.

EDIT Some rotation of the back wheel is normal for a bike with a wet clutch when the engine oil is cold. It's to do with the oil viscosity being a lot thicker when the oil is cold, in turn dragging the clutch plates round with it and hence the rear wheel. Thoroughly warm your engine up and then try the same experiment.
 
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I

Igor

New member
Ah that might explain it. At first i thought it was just that with the lever adjusted closest to the bar it wasn't pulling the clutch enough to disengage fully.

I'll adjust the cable back to where it was and check free play then repeat with warm engine.
 
Torque

Torque

New member
Igor said:
Ah that might explain it. At first i thought it was just that with the lever adjusted closest to the bar it wasn't pulling the clutch enough to disengage fully.
Click to expand...
Thinking about it, this could be a factor. Obviously with the lever at position 1 very close to the bar there is not as much travel, therefore not pulling the clutch plates as far apart. With a much 'thinner' layer of oil between the plates in position 1 as opposed to say position 5, your wheel would be more likely dragged round by the cold thick oil.

I presume that this is always going to be a factor with these type of levers. Position 1 will give you less lever travel therefore less clutch plate movement so cable free play adjustment is more critical. Mine are on position 3 at the moment with no problems, and TBH I wouldn't want them any closer to the bars.
 
RichMT

RichMT

New member
I have my clutch lever on 3 too and my brake lever on 4, not as my pics as I took them straight after putting them on. I didn't measure for free play and didn't adjust the engine end of the cable itself but I did tweak the adjuster wheel on the lever end of the cable. It seems spot on for me and has not needed any further fettling since. So much better than the standard levers!
 
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Igor

New member
Ok adjusted freeplay so its spot on.

Warmed up and retested. As far as I can tell on the lowest setting of the lever it doesn't fully disengage clutch as I could feel the rear wheel being pulled. Not a problem for me as I'll have it as setting 3 or 4 for perfect reach but something to watch for if anyone else is doing this and wants it on lowest setting as it doesn't pull the clutch enough as it doesn't have enough movement.
 
D

Deleted member 20

Guest
Just to confirm whats been said above.

Having clutch free play is VERY IMPORTANT! Don't adjust the clutch cable too tight, you risk ending up with a burned clutch since it might slip constantly when driving.
The rear wheel can/will/should spin slowly if your on a paddock stand. Don't worry about it.
Lever positions 1-2 will give you less clutch disengagement, but enough to get the job done, i.e. you will not harm your gearbox.
Lever positions 1-2 might give you less clutch feel, making it harder to pull away smoothly from stand still.
 
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