Aftermarket Levers

[BitMonkey]

I have a '77 GS 400 I use fairly regularly to teach new riders. A lot of the newbies I teach have small hands. I'd like to replace the stock lever blades with shorter throw "GP style" levers. I'm assuming most of the generic replacement lever blades will work on the clutch side. I guessing that won't be the case for the brake side since it's a disc.

Are there later year Suzuki lever blades I could substitute? Is there some aftermarket piece I can be sure is compatible?

 

[gs850cafe]

i upgraded my 850 to gsxr master cylinder and clutch perch...bought the adjustable short levers...ran them for a month or 2 and took them off, reason being they suck, im now back to stock gsxr levers..which isnt much different then stock gs

 

[salty_monk]

I use a Kawisaki EX650 MC that comes with adjustable lever. I "adjusted" the clutch lever with a hammer but I suspect you could make almost any cable clutch clamp & lever work (you might have to look at the mirror situation & buy a bolt on mirror perch).

I wouldn't get the shorty levers, small hands tend to be weaker too - they need all the leverage they can get. Sliding them in towards the centre of the bar can help (once adjusted to be closer to the bar).

 

[Steve]

The only problem that I see with using adjustable levers is this:

All of my GSes (currently four of them, but at least three others have been "catch and release") require the full travel of the lever. It does not take much of a pull to start the clutch sliding, and it does not stop grabbing until the lever is REAL close to the hand grip. Any less travel will either not fully engage or not fully release the clutch.

If you were to change to a lever with a different leverage ratio, you could have a quicker action, but it would come at the expense of a harder pull. As salty_monk suggested, that would not be practical, either.

My suggestion would be to ensure that the lever is properly lubricated and adjusted, and maybe change the OEM clutch cable a bit more often than most of us would. Installing a new cable is like installing power assist, making that an OEM cable ensures that it will last a bit longer than an aftermarket model.

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