Crash proofing rear brake lever

[jarl]

Hi All

Trying to make my bike as drop proof as possible. I've got a bendy gear selector, hand/lever guards, and will soon buy some stubby indicators. This means that the most vulnerable part is now the rear brake lever, as I've found out numerous times. Any hints for crash-proofing it, or should I just shove a pair of mole grips under the seat? I have a spare rear brake pedal to experiment with.

thanks

[AlanH]

I had a Brake Snake fitted to my CRM. It's a stainless steel cable that you attach to the pedal and then to the frame to stop the pedal bending out if it snags.

An RD04 foldable brake pedal will fit if you can find one but it's of limited use. Whatever you do to prep it, , the actual brake arm that goes to the master cylinder is the weak point. Drop the bike on the lever and the lever will smack the casing and the brake arm will bend.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Use the original pedal & salvage the sprung end from 'some other' pedal & weld it on....
Unfortunately I haven't done this to the Transrat before I realised that I should have - must get round to it!

(note the weld at the pivot, they often stress crack there, when bent then straightened again)

Phil

[tramp]

Jarl...

I found when I fitted the xrv750 ally sump guard it was wide enough to protect both the gear and rear brake lever..and I do loads of trails and fall off regularly..due to mud/ice and plain going to fast..ha ha

those rear stubby indicators are brill and fit a rear pannier rack if you aint already got one..it works wonders..

I also find that the screen rubber screws etc can do with being not tight and sprayed with silicone ..so rather than crack screen it just pops out..

[jarl]

Made my own guard for £6 with a sheet of alloy from a scrap metal merchant. Unfortunately didn't take brake lever into account when doing it!

Sounds like I need a welder for pannier rack/collapsible brake lever...

[wilso122]

Do you really need this? have been crashing bikes on and off the road for 22years and of all the bits that have been broken, never done a rear brake pedal... Just a thought.

[AlanH]

Do you really need this?

You don't until you do need it I've never broken a clutch lever...

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Do you really need this? have been crashing bikes on and off the road for 22years and of all the bits that have been broken, never done a rear brake pedal... Just a thought.

.....and I have bent 2 on 2 bikes, the modified one twice, hence the modification!

Phil

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk

[wilso122]

Ha yeah funny isn't it never thought 'must carry a spare brake pedal....' hummm.....

[jarl]

You make a fair point in that I think I'm very unlikely to actually break the lever. However, I'm getting bored of the current process, which goes something like this:

Drop it on the RHS
pick it up
find the brake lever is bent inwards and either a) taken another chunk out of the engine casing and/or b) is unusable as it's stuck against the exhaust guard so won't return if i use it
tug at it desperately with my hands to try and bend it back out
fail
try and find a stick to get some leverage
fail
by now I'll be hot and sweaty
give up
ride home without a rear brake.


If the solution is a bit of welding, that's cool. If the solution is a tool to bend it back out kept under the seat, then that's cool too. Just wondering what everyone else does.