Positioning the clutch and brake levers

[Neil E.]

I finished making up my damper mounting parts and went to install my bars. First thing I notice is that the brake hydraulic line exits out on the rear side of the master cylinder. When I go to angle down my levers, the hose strikes the bars too early. Forget about having room for a handguard clamp.

The clutch is better as the hose is closer to the centerline of the master cylinder. It does hit my handguard clamp bracket. Should be OK with the bracket removed. I see now why guards that attach to the top crown are popular.

I guess some riders pivot their bars forward to help angle their levers. I angle my levers down about 20 to 30 degress from horizontal. I have seen some guys put theirs on a 45* angle; I suppose this helps if they stand all the time while riding.

I can make up new brackets to get around the handguard problem, but the brake hose is still an issue. Has anyone bent the fitting tube to gain more clearance? Or ground off the locating posts to swivel the fitting more?

 

[gasgasman]

Mine is the same way. I hit a tree and the hose got bent to a perfect 90 degree.

I bought a new Galfer hose recently and tried to bend it and the fitting pulled out.
I e-mailed Galfer and told them what happened. They installed a 90 degree fitting for me for $15.

 

[Rod Overstreet]

I finished making up my damper mounting parts and went to install my bars. First thing I notice is that the brake hydraulic line exits out on the rear side of the master cylinder. When I go to angle down my levers, the hose strikes the bars too early. Forget about having room for a handguard clamp.

The clutch is better as the hose is closer to the centerline of the master cylinder. It does hit my handguard clamp bracket. Should be OK with the bracket removed. I see now why guards that attach to the top crown are popular.

I guess some riders pivot their bars forward to help angle their levers. I angle my levers down about 20 to 30 degress from horizontal. I have seen some guys put theirs on a 45* angle; I suppose this helps if they stand all the time while riding.

I can make up new brackets to get around the handguard problem, but the brake hose is still an issue. Has anyone bent the fitting tube to gain more clearance? Or ground off the locating posts to swivel the fitting more?

On the brake hose, I took a flat blade screw driver and VERY carefully pryed the hose fitting away from the bar. It doesn't take much, easy does it!

 

[Neil E.]

I had another look at the brake hose and decided I didn't want to try prying it. I could get enough room if it would swivel down more, so I carefully removed the lower tab from the master cylinder housing. This worked out OK.

When the brake lever is rotated down, the brake hose takes a slight twist and pulls a bit more against the plastic support tube (this is with the tube slid lower so it touches the clamp block on the fork tube protector).

I will shorten the tube a couple of inches to give the hose more freedom to move as the suspension compresses.

The handlebar centerline (through the clamps) is 1/2" higher than with the stock setup. The bars are the CR High bend, but are only a bit higher than stock. It looks like all the cables with be OK for length.

 

[eff]

Holy smokes. Those bars look like ape hangers.

 

[Neil E.]

The tighter bends on the 7/8 bars really make them look high compared to the stock bars. If I find them too high, I'll change to a lower bar. I'm just a casual trail rider and find that there's way more room to mount stuff using 7/8 bars.

 

[GMP]

Bike Bonz really simplify handguard mounting, and give you a platform for a custom plate to mount anything you want. They work real well with a submount that I see you have.

 

[Skidad]

Bike Bonz really simplify handguard mounting, and give you a platform for a custom plate to mount anything you want. They work real well with a submount that I see you have.

I'll second the Bike Bonz units (BRP I believe it is also has almost the exact same mounts now as the Bike Bonz units and worth checking out).

Now IMO the banjo mount on the back side of the master sucks. "Some" of the jap MX bikes with Nissan masters have the mount on the front where personally I think it should be and makes everything easier. If you are having a real problem rotating the brake for comfort find one of those being parted out on ebay or something.

Also have a look at the Trail Tech X woods bend bars. The "low woods bend" which I prefer have tons of space available for levers because of a more narrow center section. They are a KTM bend with low 40mm sweep which I like. The "tall" woods bend X bars I did not like and returned them as the sweep was more even though it's advertised as the same. Do not get the ATV bars.

 

[Neil E.]

Excellent information, thanks. The Bonz units are slick.

I've been on the trailtech site many times, but never looked at their bars. Their pictures show the extra width on the 7/8 section, that's handy. I ordered one of their Voyager GPS/Speedo units for the Gasgas. Part number 902-102.

I rode a buddy's DRZ when he was trying ATV bars on it. Definitely a weird bend.

p.s. add the Nissin "front banjo bolt" brake master cylinder to the wish list for Clay