If you are a great ride and never get in trouble on steep uphills or descents then read no further , however if you are part of the 2 percent of riders here and have the odd situation where feet are all over the place and no where near the rear foot brake when it's desperately needed this may be for you . I had wanted a rear handbrake setup for a long time and one finally showed up here on ADV for a cable operated clutch , I got it fitted it and instantly loved it . This has saved my sorry ass on many occasions. The small top lever becomes the clutch and the bottom the brake . <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8l9RdRLIYtKRDOJpzExnhfxnJcljrM-gjRQ4LSmy_Fc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1mc0gHZ8Cn0/TyB3iNukw9I/AAAAAAAAXb4/WzHyZZkZKDw/s800/DSC04028.JPG" height="600" width="800" /></a> The system I mounted on my DR was so good that I wanted one for my Sherco , problem is the Sherco has a juice clutch so the same system would not work . I called around and came up with this . Which is OK but no where near as powerful a brake as the one on the DR , the thumb deal wouldn't lock up the rear wheel, at least my weak ass thumb couldn't get it to lockup. <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-q4Za32pWE37y0yP6nhR2vxnJcljrM-gjRQ4LSmy_Fc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-onk9U4AQofI/TyB3qyzQInI/AAAAAAAAXcI/uM0NM-2x_mM/s800/DSC04030.JPG" height="600" width="800" /></a> I found myself taking the DR all the time just because of it's braking ability rather than the Sherco . One day while tooling around in the garage I decided to try something , I had some bits laying around so decided to see if I could come up with something that would work and be as powerful as the DR's system . This what turned out . I used a front bake Master cylinder and lever from an old DR350 and with just a bit of wiggling got it to fit and have the lever in a position that I actually have to reach for it rather than grabbing accidentally. <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/PMSFXFMAdYyubrQWn-TxGfxnJcljrM-gjRQ4LSmy_Fc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bfW5c4RtHzE/TyB2_RAyCSI/AAAAAAAAXas/vLbEAMGXI50/s800/DSC04020.JPG" height="600" width="800" /></a> <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/X6F16rJ07iBUVKTvQdNV4fxnJcljrM-gjRQ4LSmy_Fc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FtOJo5fOwGQ/TyB3EB8-q6I/AAAAAAAAXa0/NVrbzm7JrNo/s800/DSC04021.JPG" height="600" width="800" /></a> <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2gYKvS9BcntLhP1Sz7c6lvxnJcljrM-gjRQ4LSmy_Fc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Os1SKcazQUI/TyB3ILL2RSI/AAAAAAAAXbA/3vV8YgDlE80/s800/DSC04022.JPG" height="600" width="800" /></a> I had to change out the Sherco one piece master cylinder-reservoir to one from a DR350 with the separate reservoir and space it back with a homemade bracket . I fitted a one way valve from the maker of the thumb brakes and fitted the line up to the DR brake lever . <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/B1o0-Vy-hEr3FwVRxmUofPxnJcljrM-gjRQ4LSmy_Fc?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HKt2cjS5mio/TyB3MuGmo2I/AAAAAAAAXbI/bBBfBEDrU3w/s800/DSC04023.JPG" height="600" width="800" /></a> It's a bit of a bugger to bleed this system but once done I had full power rear braking whenever I wanted it . Pretty simple and cheap to do .
Sorry I had my heat troller all over it . This is something I was worried about , I thought it would leak but it doesn't , the inner vacuum rubber keeps all the juices in and as long as it is full enough to cover the brake line outlet everything works great . <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8UVJFKS6d3SJyf-Ocy-YnOZLHTndGtqjqMvP36-i0Yw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ECZaVMtQIug/TyCanK6qmfI/AAAAAAAAXc4/oEcXx5oAtnw/s800/DSC04034.JPG" height="600" width="800" /></a>
I know stunt riders set up a rear hand brake but never really paid any attention how they do it?? Never saw the need on or off road????
i could see it being very useful on steep tight technical single-track. there are lots of situations where it would be nice to be able to have your right foot on the ground and the rear brake applied at the same time. i think it would also be useful when you don't make it up a steep hill and end up off the bike halfway up the hill.
That's it right there! Another advantage is on really steep down hill where threshold braking is required, the hand is much more sensitive than a boot covered foot so I find I have much better control over my braking . On a stall on a steep uphill where the front brake is sliding away and you are going backwards using the handbrake will bring you to a dead stop right away. <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/e7bH8gZrS3WIdMexdbewtB2zXx1kPphMGLLphtdS1xs?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lyazhyAYP54/TQmNLt0Q7BI/AAAAAAAAUuw/UwB2ZWs42j4/s800/DSC03351.jpg" height="800" width="600" /></a>
Yeah that is kinda cool but $900 and lose the foot brake completely is a little rich for my blood. The setup I have cost me $50 for the one way valve cause like most dirt bikers I have plenty of shit laying around to build the rest and I retain the foot brake. Cheers for the suggestion though. .
I wasn't gonna say it! However I have kick start dirt bikes and would definitely appreciate a secondary rear brake too! Keep at it, Shearboy
I've always used a dead motor and the clutch for this. But I can see where recranking on a hill with a kick start this would be handy.
The KTM geeks are very secretive, this link gets me this: Sorry, an error occurred. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information. <table width="80%" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left" bgcolor="yellow"> The error returned was: </td></tr> <tr><td align="left"> Sorry, you are not allowed to view this topic - it is either a private category for Team KTMTalk members or, it is restricted for validated members (no guests).</td></tr></tbody></table>
a rear hand brake would be a lot easier to finely control, i bet, though. and you can use it while the engine is still running. and i've actually been stalled while still on the bike on hills that were so steep, the engine compression would not hold my bike from backing down the hill--so you end up sort of lurching down the hill backwards as the engine slowly cranks backwards...and the front brake is about useless because there isn barely any weight over the front wheel. i would have loved a rear hand brake in those situations. on tight, steep hills...there are many situations where a rear hand brake would be useful--both going up and down. i think it's kinda like a rekluse in that it is different...some will view it as cheating and others will say it doesn't help...but the bottom line is that once you actually ride with one, you understand that it makes riding tight, steep stuff much easier (even if it is still cheating ).
As a MTBer I fully endorse this thread. I wish I knew enough to understand how to do this. Being a newbie on a motorcycle having the rear brake on the right foot seems kinda awkward. Hopefully I can do this mod later on when the needs come. Good job so far!
Ok now I have a few folks looking I better fess up as to the purpose of this thread and that is finding a really small front brake master cylinder to use as the rear brake one . I just used what I had laying around and the DR350 one works fantastic but it would be nice to have one much smaller , any ideas ?
Pretty cool idea, I have been in a couple situations where I would liked to have had a hand operated rear brake.
