Maintaining a safe ride is important for protecting against fatal road accidents.
Riders replace their levers due to malfunction, appearance to match the style of their bikes, and ensuring a better lever adjustment.
Many riders confuse shorty levers with standard levers and want to know about changing motorcycle levers.
In this article, I am going to give you an informational guide about motorcycle shorty levers.
What are Motorcycle Shorty Levers?
Motorcycle shorty levers are replacement brake lever that is shorter in length than original clutch levers. The existence of these shorty levers helped riders to improve their riding performance and to match the style of their motorcycles.
Shorty levers avail in various colours that go well with the bike’s aesthetics. A pair of shorty levers help to improve the ability to control the friction of reaching the destination safely. This helps to apply the brakes safely and saves from screeching on the road.
Many riders that own sportbikes or adventure motorcycles use short clutch levers in terms of appearance, how they fit on their hands ergonomically and the distance between the clutch and the handlebar.
With the growing number of riders repairing their bikes and hitting on the road, many aftermarket levers come with adjustable functions to adjust well to fit in your hands. This helps to ensure a safer ride.
Difference Between Motorcycle Shorty Levers vs Standard
As mentioned earlier, riders confuse standards with shorty levers. Here I am going to differentiate between the two types of clutch levers.
Standard levers are those clutch levers that come with the bike. These types of levers are just the same length as the handlebar grip. In other words, it runs from the cable connection point to the end of the grip.
Original levers do not have a definite size as these kinds of levers depend on the model of the motorcycle. Standard levers do not have an adjustable function, like the clutch lever fixes onto the handlebars. This might make it difficult for the rider to control the lever on the road.
Shorty clutch levers are those levers that run from the cable connection point to halfway down the handlebar grip. This short length is long enough to fit 2 to 3 fingers for applying the clutch. You can control your ride with the use of a short clutch lever.
Advantages of Using a Short Clutch Lever
Now you know the difference between standard and short levers. Many riders change their levers to improve the performance of the motorcycle or match the colour of their bikes. There are other advantages of using shorty levers; these advantages might depend on your riding style.
Prevent Clutch and Brake Levers in the Event of a Crash
One of the first issues riders face when approaching the crash and dropping their bikes is when their levers snap off. The biggest advantage of having shorter levers is the protection from damage when the motorcycle contacts the ground. Short levers help to prevent the clutch from breakage and malfunction when in contact with another vehicle.
Improves for Those Riders With Smaller Hands
With greater ergonomics, shorty clutch and brake levers have more hand strength compared to standard levers. This gives a great benefit for riders with smaller hands as they can adjust the levers however, they want to.
Allows Using Two Fingers on the Motorcycle Levers
Some riders use all of their fingers to grip the clutch when in contact with another vehicle. With the shorter length, shorty clutches have made it easier by using two to three fingers to control the lever brake.
Better Lever Adjustment
Shorty levers have better lever adjustment compared to a standard lever. Having an adjustable lever and brakes allow riders to adjust the distance of the lever from the handlebar. This is where ergonomics come into play; better adjustment means fewer hand cramps. In other words, your hands may not suffer as much pain as standard levers. Many aftermarket short-length levers offer the ability to make fine adjustments.
Drawbacks of Using Motorcycle Shorty Brake Levers
A shorty lever has many benefits to control the friction during the ride. These benefits depend on the model of your bike and the riding style.
Since short levers do not have many drawbacks. Riders stated that using short levers provides less leverage, which makes it more difficult to pull on the clutch. According to the physics standpoint, it is tough to pull on the clutch as a shorter lever means that it is harder to activate the lever. Although most riders only use a few fingers to pull the brake lever.
Motorcycle Clutch Lever Replacement
Like any other component, motorcycle clutch levers need replacement to ensure a safe ride and allow greater control when in contact with another vehicle. If your levers are broken and want to replace a short lever, here is the guide on how to change motorcycle levers.
To replace a new lever, you need:
- 10mm wrench
- 10mm socket with extension
- Flathead screwdriver
- A small amount of lithium grease
- Tools
Method:
- Take a flat head screwdriver and unscrew the pivot bolt on the lever. To do this step, you need to use 10mm socket on the nut underneath the pivot bolt. Do not let the nut drop to the ground.
- Then clean the areas where the new lever is going to encounter other metal parts. Grease the non-threaded areas of the pivot bolt for ensuring a smooth ride for the brake lever.
- After greasing the pivot bolt and the brake lever, slide the pivot bolt into the housing and brake lever. Then screw the nut back on the pivot bolt, tighten with 10mm socket and flat head screwdriver.
- Loosen the nut underneath the brake lever using 10mm socket. Once the nut has removed, pull out the pivot bolt and swing the whole lever away from the bike.
- Find the slot where the cable will go through the lever and slide out the cable and barrel. The new clutch lever contains a brass bushing. If your new lever does not come with a brass bushing, a stock bushing will come in handy.
- Slide-out the old stock lever and apply a small amount of grease. Then install the bushing into the new lever.
- Reinstall the cable barrel into the clutch lever. Then rotate the lever towards the bike and slide it back into the lever perch.
- Line up the holes and re-insert the pivot pin.
- Screw the nut by one hand onto the pivot pin and finish it with a 10mm socket extension.
- Adjust the new lever according to your needs.
Conclusion
Here is the informational guide about motorcycle shorty levers. Riders replace their levers due to matching the appearance of their bikes or malfunctioning. The difference between standard levers and short levers helped riders to know which levers go well with their bikes.
Shorty levers allowed many riders to look for a suitable short length lever. If you do not know how to replace a clutch lever, just refer to the procedure above.
So use a shorty lever and enjoy the ride!
You can read more about engine braking motorcycles and how often motorcycle brakes should be changed!