Thumb operated rear brake.

I've searched the net to no avail.

I have a Revloc clutch in my 300 EXC. I love it. I had a Rekluse in my previous 450 EXC, awesome! I had that set up with a left hand rear brake instead of the clutch lever and really liked teh set up.

With the smoker, I'd like to keep the clutch lever for adding some clutch slip in less than stellartraction situations, but would like a thumb operated rear brake to help initiate slides, holding on a hill, and other misadventures.

Has anyone come across either an affordable thumb brake option, or a home made job? I know Spiegler made one for superbikes, but I'm not gonna spend $600 for a doo dad for a $1000 dirt bike.

Any sled stuff work? Old Poolaris comes to mind..

pretty sure one of the Colorado inmates PM shearboy, if my memory is correct he tried one and couldnt get it to provide enough braking power

http://www.gptechllc.com/products/gp-tech/thumbrakes

I saw the GP tech thing and am thinking along those lines, but I don't need the gold palted platinum version. It's almost $500!

I don't need a lot of braking power for the back, it's going to work in conjunction with the foot pedal, not in place of.

Sleds use a left hand lever too. I don't want 2 full size levers in front though, that's why I want a thumb activated thing.

could you rig something using a decomp lever?

It seems to me that one of the GP racers...Mick Doohan perhaps?....switched to a thumb brake when he buggered-up his right foot in a crash.

Then as he got used to it, he kept it on all his bikes.

Somebody did anyway. You might see if you can find anything tied to him or Honda Racing on the subject.

Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Mh2ezYmkjSo

or this:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=782942&page=7

Rekluse has an adapted Mt Bike brake master they hook to the rear brake master or directly to the rear caliper. It's tiny and not much money. Not DOT.

i remember a guy who fabbed one up using a hot start lever:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/86...hrb-rekluse-ktms/page__hl__+left++hand++brake

Errr
With two mater cylinders on a hydraulic system .. it won't work too well as each master cylinder has a bleed hole. So you'd need to remove the original ... or

Have a cable (bowden cable) from the hand leaver to the foot pedal, the hand lever will operate the foot leaver that operates the master cylinder... You can set the travel/forces by setting where the cable pulls on the rear leaver. All to do with leverage, pivot points.


The MTB bike brake leavers tend to be small, an advantage for your application, and cheap say $30. You'll need to figure out how to connect it mechanically to the foot pedal. I like this idea as you will still have the original system in place and any failure of the new bits will not fail the original.The MTB bike brake leavers tend to be small, an advantage for your application.



Good luck.

thats not correct with the systems that keep the pedal there is a one way valve that prevents backfeeding the oposite master cylinder, it's a ball check valve of sorts I think

No check valve. Rekluse has an adapter for KTM's that forces fluid through the bleed hole in the foot master. So, the hand brake now has the resevour and both brakes work independantly.

When you use the hand brake, it tries to force the foot master piston out, but the snap ring holds it.

The bicycle master is very small. You can put it above the clutch lever or below. Or, spin it and use your thumb.

KISS. My thoughts

If the handle bar has the master cylinder then the foot pedal cannot have a effective resevour (think about the height difference). Meaning your present foot pedal master cylinder would need replacement or have careful modification.

Leaving the present reliable system intact would be best (and cheaper).

The easiest, simple, fail safe additional handle bar system is a cable based system. Fiddly on the bottom pedal. But still easier than mucking around with your original master cylinder. And much easier to adjust the leverage ratios.

My plan that I never finished was to use a hydro MTB for the clutch on my Gasser since the clutch pull is so light with the Rekluse and continue using the LBRB.

I bought a Revlok cable actuated rear brake setup (with second lever) when they came out in late 2002. They didn't sell very many of them as it just didn't work well. The rekluse system (on my 530) that uses the clutch m/c connected to the rear m/c is MUCH better.

Zuber is correct.

i use the clake (google clake ) ....clutch and brake togeather , clutch can be indipendent of brake , but if the rear brake is on then the clutch is disengaged , .... i dont use a pedal , but it is designed to use the pedal as well if you want ,
cheers

that is a very nice product and I bet it works great, but I could have a set of supermoto wheels for what that thing costs.:huh

I would love to try one of them but at over $1100 it's a little steep for something that I may or may not like.

**sigh**

I don't want a full sized lever for the rear brake. I had that on my 450 EXC, it was a Rekluse product and it worked great. But it's not what I'm looking for.

I want to keep the clutch lever where it is.

I couldn't find any info on the Rekluse mini-master cylinder.

Another reason for the thumb brake is the fact that my boots are sz 15 4E. Rear pedal modulation is difficult to say the least.

Keeping the bike stock may be the best for you, but I disagree. I'd rather have a bike adjusted and fitted to my size, riding style and expertise. Manufacturer engineers to a good job, but can't make a one size fits all bike.

So it sounds like I'm going to break new ground. Might as well patent my idea too......once I figure out what I'm gonna do. Only have a month of downtime.