Branded vs Unbranded Levers

[StreetDragster]

Hi All,

Looking to change my levers on my 2010 Daytona 675 SE to short levers.

Quite surprised by the width in the prices for the various options. £25 for cheapo ebay china specials all the way up to £150 genuine, and even more for some race-orientated parts.

My bike is just in light road use, no racing etc, i want the shorter levers to help reduce the lever banging my other fingers when two-finger clutching.

Are they all the same apart from the name on the box, or do some of the more expensive parts have features that are genuinly worth having?

Thanks
Matt

[montymoo]

For something as important as a brake lever, personally avoid the Chinese crap.
There is no real product control with the stuff so you could end up with a piece of crap, something that is actually ok, or anything in between

Again. I wouldn’t.

[supercommuter]

No chance.

Any mechanical or critical part I would not be going cheap, especially on a brake lever

[Charliecloud]

Machined CNC Billt 6061 T6 Aluminum

£16.99 on ebay located in London.

Get it done

[StreetDragster]

I agree the Chinese stuff is probably rubbish.

But does anyone have any recommendations on stuff which isn't Chinese rubbish, in a different box? How do you know what’s good and what’s bad?

Just so its clear, I’m not wanting to get a lever mad of wax, or take any risks, but I also don't want to spend cash un-necessarily.

[dern]

I'm not sure that you can say all the chinese stuff is rubbish or that you can guarantee that anything sold by the uk shops isn't made in china or is any good wherever it was made. Your best best it to buy something that has definitely been tested in the uk but I think you'll struggle with achieving that. Other than I'd either buy OE or buy what you want at the price, fit it and pull it to the bar repeatedly to see if it breaks.

Having gone through the though process I just bought the relatively cheap ones on ebay, made sure they didn't break under more force than they'll ever see on the bike and then not worried about it.

[moanthebairns]

A certain chap on here had a triumph he changed to cheap short levers and never came back from the sighting laps. RIP.

To me that was a walking, talking, living, breathing, hell of a mess example of what they can do when they fail. I applaud that chap for having the tightness and balls to fit such an aftermarket part to save me being "that guy".

[Jazoli]

moanthebairns said:

A certain chap on here had a triumph he changed to cheap short levers and never came back from the sighting laps. RIP.

To me that was a walking, talking, living, breathing, hell of a mess example of what they can do when they fail. I applaud that chap for having the tightness and balls to fit such an aftermarket part to save me being "that guy".

RIP Me Alex

I didn't die, the bike did however, it wasn't because I was tight it was because I'd damaged a lever and it was the only spare I had.

OP, don't put cheap stty parts on safety critical things like brakes, footpegs etc, decent branded ones can be had for around £50 or so, I've no doubt there will be posts from loads of people saying "I've had £16.99 ones on for 300,000 miles and never had a problem" which may be true but I'd rather know the lever is going to work as it should.

[moanthebairns]

https://evotech-performance.com/products/triumph-d...

https://www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/accessories/s...

https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/...

evotech, good brand, £110 (not had these but had similar from the manufacture, very good quality)

triumph sparkly ones £130 (we'll they made the bike, I have these full length, decent feel but no asv)

Asv bling £200 (I got these on my street, swapped them to my track bike and they feel great the balls).

Or upgrade the m/c for a brembo and that all for £200

or save money and change the clutch with four like I do or buy a quickshifter, then your only doing it 50% of the time.

Edited by moanthebairns on Wednesday 19th September 13:20

[alistair1234]

moanthebairns said:

https://evotech-performance.com/products/triumph-d...

https://www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/accessories/s...

https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/...

evotech, good brand, £110 (not had these but had similar from the manufacture, very good quality)

triumph sparkly ones £130 (we'll they made the bike, I have these full length, decent feel but no asv)

Asv bling £200 (I got these on my street, swapped them to my track bike and they feel great the balls).

Or upgrade the m/c for a brembo and that all for £200

I'm just about to put an unused set of the Evotech ones on eBay as never got round to fitting them to my bike. PM me if you want OP

[Cbull]

I bought the so called cheap Chinese crap and the quality seems absolutely fine. Fitted them myself and a year down the road I've had no issues.

Similar to these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-Folding-Extendable-...

[moanthebairns]

Cbull said:

I bought the so called cheap Chinese crap and the quality seems absolutely fine. Fitted them myself and a year down the road I've had no issues.

Similar to these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-Folding-Extendable-...

Mate, they're fking tragic.

[Cbull]

moanthebairns said:

Cbull said:

I bought the so called cheap Chinese crap and the quality seems absolutely fine. Fitted them myself and a year down the road I've had no issues.

Similar to these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CNC-Folding-Extendable-...

Mate, they're fking tragic.

Naa, they'll be alright

[scorcher]

Thought I have read somewhere that Evotech are rebranded cheapies. If it wasn't Evotech it was someone similar

[moanthebairns]

scorcher said:

Thought I have read somewhere that Evotech are rebranded cheapies. If it wasn't Evotech it was someone similar

First I have heard, in fact they were good enough to do a group discount with their products when I emailed them asking for discount for members on here.

[Wildfire]

The problem with the far east stuff is the quality control. You could get a pair that is fantastic or one that is terrible. When I was riding on a budget I bout two pairs, one for my M600 the other for the ZX6-R, they got about equal use. The M600 set was ok, a little loose on the pivot after a year. The ZX6-R got very loose, very quickly. Upon inspection the pivot holes had gone oval and the flat surface was scooped out.

The Monster went straight back to standard and the ZX6-R had some Pazzo's put on it.

There's plenty of stories out there of levers not fitting properly and depressing the MC causing the pads to engage lightly and after a spirited ride the wheels lock.

Happened to my brother with a cheap set on his RSV. Luckily it occurred on the driveway after he went to test the bike.

Pazzo, ASV, Rizoma all good makes.

[Tim1989]

Probably a bike snob through and through but when I’m looking through the classifieds and a bike has aftermarket levers then I move onto the next one. Probably completely irrational but with brakes why take the risk?

[dern]

Wildfire said:

There's plenty of stories out there of levers not fitting properly and depressing the MC causing the pads to engage lightly and after a spirited ride the wheels lock.

No matter what anyone fits they need to make sure they fit properly and work correctly regardless of whether they're cheap or not. It is especially important if they are cheap though as you'd have to assume that the quality would vary more although I'd check any part and remove it if I'm not happy with it.

[cbmotorsport]

Tim1989 said:

Probably a bike snob through and through but when I’m looking through the classifieds and a bike has aftermarket levers then I move onto the next one. Probably completely irrational but with brakes why take the risk?

It's not just me then. I only tend to buy completely standard bikes though.

[CAPP0]

Posted this loads of times, most times this question gets asked:

Almeria, 2008, my mate was crowing about his new chinese rearsets. Turn 3, one snapped, unsettled him, he fell off, and after they had scooped hm up they found the remains of his 2 year old Blade out in the desert, well outside the catch fences. They brought it back to the pits and it was, honestly, about 4ft long front to back.

He was quite beaten up but no serious injuries.

Did I mention what a bargain his chinese rearsets were? And if those snapped, so could a brake lever IMO.

I don't get why you'd spend 1000s of pounds on a bike and kit then save £50 on levers. If that's too much of a stretch you'd be far better off leaving the originals on there.