Are cheap levers ok?

[moanthebairns]

next on the shopping list for the daytona is some short levers.

dunno why just fancy a set quick look on fleebay and they start at £20 for a pair, right up to £170 for the set.

Anyone bought cheap levers before, they look the same as the ones at £170, theres nothing wrong with my standard ones so I begrudge paying that for a bit of fking metal.

[MJDM]

moanthebairns said:

theres nothing wrong with my standard ones

Why buy new ones at all? You get what you pay for in this world - £20 ones will most likely be made of Chinese cheese, may not work as well, maybe the finish will not last as long. When it comes to brakes I wouldn't cut corners (you of all people should know that! )

[moanthebairns]

true, its just for looks to be honest.

[peteO]

i go on the ninjauk forum quite a bit. lot of member have levers from the2wheels.com and rate them highly...

http://www.ninjauk.com/index/showthread.php/4137-t...

[srobBNaB]

Has anyone ever actually experienced a lever fail (regardless of cost), other than when crashed/whacked?

[RumpleFugly]

peteO said:

i go on the ninjauk forum quite a bit. lot of member have levers from the2wheels.com and rate them highly...

http://www.ninjauk.com/index/showthread.php/4137-t...

The story on page 2 seems like a blinding recommendation

forum man said:

"So great that I recommended that my girlfriend got a pair for her K7 GSXR-750.
She crashed around six months ago and was very lucky not to be more badly injured than she was. The front brake locked on in the outside lane of the motorway at 80mph.

The levers from the2wheels.com were not machined to the correct tolerance and caused the hydraulic system to lock the front brake as they got hot, locking the front wheel without warning."

[srobBNaB]

RumpleFugly said:

peteO said:

i go on the ninjauk forum quite a bit. lot of member have levers from the2wheels.com and rate them highly...

http://www.ninjauk.com/index/showthread.php/4137-t...

The story on page 2 seems like a blinding recommendation

forum man said:

"So great that I recommended that my girlfriend got a pair for her K7 GSXR-750.
She crashed around six months ago and was very lucky not to be more badly injured than she was. The front brake locked on in the outside lane of the motorway at 80mph.

The levers from the2wheels.com were not machined to the correct tolerance and caused the hydraulic system to lock the front brake as they got hot, locking the front wheel without warning."

How's that work then? I assume they mean they're tight in the clamps on the bars. Surely they'd only be 'locked' into a position (ie the lever won't return after braking) - that shouldn't lock the wheel unless she'd locked it already.

Or am I missing something?

[RumpleFugly]

Agreed , seems like BS. The lever itself won't get hot, so unless the fulcrum seized somehow and locked the master cylinder on??

[3DP]

srobBNaB said:

Has anyone ever actually experienced a lever fail (regardless of cost), other than when crashed/whacked?

Depends what you class as a fail.

I've had a pattern one not depress the master cylinder enough to regain brake pressure when it was lost.

I've had a pattern one also not activate the brake light switch properly.

I've had a pattern Brembo clutch lever rattle around in it's housing as the small spring fell out due to the spring recess not being formed properly.

I wouldn't buy pattern levers anymore due to their quality of fit rather than likely hood to fail when being used, but as your fingers on throttle and levers are the most tactile point on the bike, buy quality or OE if you don't want your bike to FEEL worse.

[moanthebairns]

serves her right for speeding

[RumpleFugly]

3DP said:

I wouldn't buy pattern levers anymore due to their quality of fit rather than likely hood to fail when being used, but as your fingers on throttle and levers are the most tactile point on the bike, buy quality or OE if you don't want your bike to FEEL worse.

Absolutely this, I think it would be unlikely for them to catastrophically fail but it's one of the parts you touch most often and I'd hate to feel that cheap looseness in the parts every time you apply the brakes.

[sjg]

I had some cheap short ones on my Monster which were fine - OK machining, adjusted fine, fitted well. The anodising wasn't up to much though, one lever end was poking out of my cover when I stored it over a winter and the sun turned the black to a mid bronze colour.

Levers are still working fine on someone else's bike, I used it as an excuse to splash out on ASVs as I was sure by then that short levers worked better for me.

[srobBNaB]

3DP said:

Depends what you class as a fail.

I've had a pattern one not depress the master cylinder enough to regain brake pressure when it was lost.

I've had a pattern one also not activate the brake light switch properly.

I've had a pattern Brembo clutch lever rattle around in it's housing as the small spring fell out due to the spring recess not being formed properly.

I wouldn't buy pattern levers anymore due to their quality of fit rather than likely hood to fail when being used, but as your fingers on throttle and levers are the most tactile point on the bike, buy quality or OE if you don't want your bike to FEEL worse.

I'm amazed at that there's been no legal cases - unless there has been, but not publicised!

I assume that the first two points are because the metal's been too soft?

[Yazza54]

I've had 3 sets from the2wheels, they don't cost a lot but are not cheaply made. Definitely recommend them.

[daimatt]

I have ones from the2wheels.com and they feel fine. They don't rattle and still look good after a year of riding and track days.

[Mr OCD]

I've run the 2wheels levers for years with no issues...

[sc0tt]

Chinese tar here. Love em

[Rubin215]

Regarding locking the front wheel; if the butt of the lever presses against the master cylinder piston then the pads will be pressing lightly on the discs.
Pads heat up, caliper pistons heat up, brake fluid heats up, everything expands and the pads grip the discs tighter and tighter until the wheel locks.
Simples really.

More common with cheapo levers is that the butt of the lever sits too far back from the master cylinder piston meaning free-play before the brakes start to work.
This can usually be shimmed out with thin metal, but if you go too far you are back to the above scenario again!

I have never known a cheapo lever break, snap or bend in normal road use, but I would never consider one for a race or track-day bike where it is repeatedly and routinely used much more aggressively.

[peteO]

RumpleFugly said:

peteO said:

i go on the ninjauk forum quite a bit. lot of member have levers from the2wheels.com and rate them highly...

http://www.ninjauk.com/index/showthread.php/4137-t...

The story on page 2 seems like a blinding recommendation

forum man said:

"So great that I recommended that my girlfriend got a pair for her K7 GSXR-750.
She crashed around six months ago and was very lucky not to be more badly injured than she was. The front brake locked on in the outside lane of the motorway at 80mph.

The levers from the2wheels.com were not machined to the correct tolerance and caused the hydraulic system to lock the front brake as they got hot, locking the front wheel without warning."

havent read it in aaaaaggggges... not good then im guessing?.. cba reading it again

[srobBNaB]

Rubin215 said:

Regarding locking the front wheel; if the butt of the lever presses against the master cylinder piston then the pads will be pressing lightly on the discs.
Pads heat up, caliper pistons heat up, brake fluid heats up, everything expands and the pads grip the discs tighter and tighter until the wheel locks.
Simples really.

Would it happen that quickly? That's a genuine question, not trying to bait for an argument. I've had brakes bind on lots of vehicles over the years, and at worst the hub gets a bit warm.

I'd imagine the friction needed to make all the component items expand to the extent they'd lock the wheel suddenly would mean the brake would have to be dragging spectacularly, which (I'd imagine) would be hugely noticeable on a bike as the nose would be dipping all the time.

As I said, I'm not really doubting what's written, just trying to understand it as it reads as though all of a sudden and without warning the front wheel just locked, due to a brake lever's manufacturing tolerances. I'd have thought there'd be an awful lot of warning in that the brake would bind. Just curious