Ducati Monster Forum

My problem with grip on stock and CRG levers is that my index and middle finger are not equally long - middle finger is longer (I can show it to you). This and the way the ordinary lever curves result in good grip with the middle finger, but a poor angle/grip with the index finger. Not the same control and power with both fingers.

I've been looking for a lever with the curve going outward so the two fingers work equally well.

GillesTooling rearsets have impressed me and now they have a lever which seems to adress my issue.

Maybe others have the same problem...

http://www.gillestooling.com/cms/shop/products/art-384/x-treme-levergt-brake-lever-ergo-gold?page=2&tab=description (http://www.gillestooling.com/cms/shop/products/art-384/x-treme-levergt-brake-lever-ergo-gold?page=2&tab=description)

Yes, the longer middle finger is there to signal your displeasure.  No need to show it to me.   I understand.  Really. 

[clap]

Lol, I have the same problem. It always looks like I'm flipping someone off when I ride.

(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff448/chipo100/6C12D77C-DF5D-4EC8-9CFC-F329911C47E5-1813-00000136D26232B2.jpg)

I have no experience with those levers, but they do make sense, and every Gilles tooling product I've seen has left me floored with the quality

Do you normally try to reach it with your index finger and can't or is that an ordinary one-finger?


I can't see how the barrell and adjustable plunger rod is incorporated in their lever, but I'll get an answer from them about it soon.

Think this shows what you're looking for?

http://www.gillestooling.com/cms/shop/products/art-384/x-treme-levergt-brake-lever-ergo-gold?tab=images&page=2 (http://www.gillestooling.com/cms/shop/products/art-384/x-treme-levergt-brake-lever-ergo-gold?tab=images&page=2)

^ no, it doesn't - neither does the drawing they emailed me (could be a generic drawing). I can't understand how their lever incorporate the barrell with threaded adjustable plunger rod - which I must have to get the lever properly adjusted.

looking at that lever I think it would be bad for 1 or 2 finger braking. looks like it would trap your 3rd and 4th rather quickly.

Good point. I'm printing a 1:1 drawing of it and will investigate that too. The corner/angle where the index should be locked in has to be where my index naturally wants to be and the curve mustn't be so steep that the middle finger slides into the index.

Have you considered a CRG shorty style lever for the brake?

That's my normal 1 finger for trail braking. I feel I have more control with my middle.

Me too. I just wonder if that's because the index doesn't quite reach as the middle does.



Yes, from time to time, but that wouldn't change the position of the index and middle finger...

I run the crg rc2 short boys and I'm pretty happy with them.  I tuned them in pretty close, and normally run the pointer finger on the brake and the clutch...force of habit from my mountain bike trials days. If you dial them close enough that your index can hit them, you should have no problem with the middle...i like the short boys because I only use 2 fingers and with them you can get a nice positive pull from the end of the lever instead of having it slide like with the long boys...i also hold onto the bars as far to the end as possible for the same reason, so I can grab the end of the levers...

^^ +1 I love my CRG RC2 short levers... much better than stock ones.

On both hands, my middle fingers are longer than the rest of the fingers .. aren't they all?

Anyway, I use CRG RC2 short levers. On the brake lever, I use two fingers, the index finger and the middle finger. The ring finger and little finger stay on the grip. I've been doing this for years, since the first day I learn to ride a motorcycle.

On the clutch lever, I use also two fingers, but it's the middle finger and the ring finger. The index finger just "rest' on the clutch lever (kinda like when you're holding a gun and your index finger just rest on the trigger guard) while the little finger stays on the grip.

I did not grip the clutch lever this way until after I replaced the stock lever with the CRG RC2 short lever, because the lever is too short for four fingers grip ... when grip it with three fingers (index, middle and ring fingers), I don't know, it just feels natural that the index finger doesn't do anything, that it just "rest" there on the clutch lever. I didn't even realize that this is how I grip the clutch lever until I read this thread, and paid attention to it on my ride home this evening.

GillesTooling didn't reply, but Shift-Tech-Carbon did.

The lever comes with a bike specific plunger and does not need to be adjusted - so they say...

Well, I'd like to be able to adjust it anyway, so I'll probably pass..
Too bad really, because it's otherwise a good design.

That Gilles lever is adjustable for reach.

Turning that knob extends/retracts a rod that moves the lever relative to the small part that contacts on the pushrod.

I know - it's the adjustability of the plunger I'm missing - it's not even threaded - wonder how it stays securely in place...

(knowing how clueless some modifiers are, it's not a mistake to remove adjustability/the need to adjust, IF it means a good/average fit for all. I think)

wouldn't the inability to adjust the plunger occasionally interfere with brake light switch engagement?
i know on shitty brakes, when i put new pads on, i had to adjust the plunger to allow the switch to engage...

.. maybe it does, but I'm pretty sure that's not the correct way to fix a light switch.

+1

The switch on coffin masters is adjustable.

$163 for one lever  [roll]