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2550
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7/19/2013
Location
Philadelphia, PA
US
Edited Date/Time
6/4/2023 8:44am
We see all these exotic protection measures on the factory bikes to ensure they finish, and a lot of the teams don’t run levers that bend out, like the ARC ones. Why?
They build the bike for comfort and to be ridden fast. Not built to crash.
Roger is machining some billet perches and levers this morning.
Yep.and most dont use radiator braces either..
There was another thread a little while back where people were saying that you're a kook if you run folding levers and that the factory guys all prefer stock levers. I don't understand that mentality for something so preventable/fixable.
If I was a team manager, I'd make it mandatory for my riders to run some sort of folding lever. It cost AP a podium.
The Shop
Some riders prefer certain things. , No different than tomac wanting kyb at kawy.
And yet not a single rider will go an entire season without hitting the deck at some point history has shown....
I agree 100%, and the general response from that thread was "nothing feels better than a stock lever" (which I would most definitely argue against).
When I had a yamaha that was modified so that N was harder to click I learned that in a race it was sometimes quicker to get it in neutral by hand. You just have a touch more feel. I would tried by hand before I rolled it off the track.
No, the crash cost him a podium.
Yup! Levers, grips, bars and even what master cylinders feel best…are a big deal over at the Orange, White and Red race shops. There’s a selection of stock, works (billet) and there’s even been a special version or two made by the after-market to select from (tho, I’m not quite sure if those aftermarket parts are still allowed) for those guys and I’ve -NEVER- seen one of the MX/SX riders choose a folding type of lever…and I don’t know what they’re -allowed- to run anything beyond what the factory/company makes available to them, either.
Know this: I’m not arguing for or against ANY type of lever. Just reflecting on what I’ve seen over these last 10 years.
What does ARC call it? Memlon? You can tie em in a knot and their memory will bring them back to place…or any number of the levers that fold up, down and out. Pro Taper makes them. WTH? AP almost DNF’ed because of a broken lever (leaver for you in Europe)! I thought those days were gone.
I can understand why guys dont run the memlon levers. While absolutely indestructible, they do flex a bit while being pulled at certain angles. You lose a tiny bit of feel.
The Protaper levers or levers that can breakaway up/down/out are awesome. Dont give up feel
Its still lever here, we just pronounce it different, like how we can't say tomato 👍
I understand they wouldn't want memlon or some cheap sloppy folding lever, but surely ProTaper or one of the other quality offerings have decent feel, shape and rigidity without any excess bulk or play in the assembly?
When I used to race (years ago) we ran a hacksaw over the lever at the halfway point sawing a bit into the lever to create an artificial "weak spot". This would be where the lever would break 99% of the time and it never broke from my use...
This left enough lever to use to finish the race, anyone else ever do that or is this an old guys thing?
Old school, some levers now come with that area on the lever.
The factory ktm levers are even more shaved down that stock. They are super thin, and if you ever get a chance to run them, you would understand why they use them too. How often do you see a broken clutch lever (not including ARay) on the pro level? Not often. So because of one broken lever in who knows how long, now they should run break off levers with no feel? This thread is almost as dumb as the first turn crash thread.
That's not entirely true and actually a terrible way to build a professional race bike. They are built to last an entire race first and rider comfort comes second. If the bike can't finish a race, it means fuck all if it's the comfiest bike the rider has been on.
I guarantee a rider would prefer a standard tube vs a Mousse, for example.
Wonder if you asked Plessinger today, if he would rather have a podium or a a great feeling lever. They can make engine mounts to chamge feel, but the factory cant make an Asv style lever that feels good, is the feel the actual lever shape or the hinge? Ktm is hydraulic so why would the pull feel any different if the lever was the same shape?
Pit Row
Chase Sextons HRC 450R is pretty fast and he uses ARC levers and has reinforced radiator braces, so maybe KTM should rethink what they're doing.
Crashes happen. Levers break. Bars bend. Steerings get twisted etc... It happens. What shocked me is the amount of time he lost in this process. Pretty much 1 min. When he saw the broken lever, it looks like he saw an alien. He had no idea what to do. It almost seems like he was gonna DNF. He tried to start it in gear with no lever... I was scratching my head. Just put it in neutral, hit the electric start button, little rev, push on the shifter and off you go... He would've gotten 4th of the moto with losing half of the time. Wouldn't have changed the overall but he would have 4 extra points today.
I would’ve got off and pressed the button as I ran alongside it then hopped on and rode away. Ask me how I know it works then ask me to show you the video
Ryan Dungey just took his shirt off.
What is strange is that he comes from an off-road background, where that shit is normal. I have had to limp numerous bikes home with broken parts, whether in a race, trail ride, or dual sport.
AP freaked when he couldn’t find neutral.
Maybe he needs..............a Stark Varg?
Eli has ran Arc unbreakables since kawi days
Chase sexton does not use radiator braces. None of the Hrc riders do.
As for the arc levers hrc is sponsored by arc. The riders are encouraged to use arc levers. Some choose stock. At the end of the day the rider is choosing what they are comfortable using.
Eli has run ARC levers since turning pro
Don't Jett and Hunter both run standard Honda lever with the bar clamp right inboard so as to minimise overhang for less chance of crash breakage?
I'm fairly sure a ML pit bits covered this.
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