Will this brake linkage work?

[scott s]

Here's how we connected the rear set on the brake side on my KZ250. It's been suggested that the arm on the outside of the brack pivot...the arm my linkage attaches to...may be too short and not provide enough leverage. The arm on the inside of the swingarm is the stock length.


I haven't ridden the bike yet, but the linkage feels great and I can easily lock the rear brake up. That's with someone trying to spin it on the centerstand, not going down the road at 50 mph, though.


Think I'll have an issue here?


1) Cut stock brake lever/pivot.

2) Attached rear set linkage.

3) Complete set up.

 

[Koestum]

Thanks for posting this, it's almost exactly what I was planning for my kz750 (but I have different rearsets) and nice to see it beforehand.

It looks like the pedal side linkage is mounted about 3 times farther from it's center of rotation than the other end of the linkage. This means your brake pedal might have to rotate about 3x the distance to get the same degree of rotation on the other end of and only apply 1/3 the pressure.

I'd suggest more distance if you have room for another mounting hole further out.

 

[two-smoker]

I am also doing something like this on my TX. One thing I notice, just like Mitchellsk, is that your leverage is effectively increased by mounting the linkage closer to the centerline of the pivot at the original pedal location. You should drill a line of holes moving straight out from the pivot for adjustment purposes, so if it is too difficult to use the brake, you can move the linkage out to adjust the leverage ratio. You could also mount the linkage pivot closer to the centerline at the new pedal, but it would put more stress on the linkage. Ideally what I think you'd want it's a one-to-one ratio, meaning the linkage needs to be the same distance from the center of the pivot at both points. What you're at right now will give you too much leverage, meaning it will not only take more travel at the pedal, but it will be extremely difficult to modulate the rear brake, which is dangerous.

 

[scott s]

Actually, where it's at right now, I have maybe 1/2" of travel at the end of the pedal (the part you push with your toe) to full engagement. It's very firm and takes very little movement or force to lock it up. Again, that's on the centerstand and not at speed.

The part we welded on is in the same "plane" as the stock arm on the other side. In other words, they're directly across from each other.

I guess the proof is in the pudding and I'll know how well it works when I ride it. Worse case scenario, I drill some holes so I can move the arm on the linkage up, or weld on a longer arm.