KTM - Left Hand Rear Brake (LHRB)

[nc_dirt_rider]

Hi All,

I'm running the z start Pro on a KTM 450 SXF and I'm considering dropping the clutch lever and installing the LHRB. Can any of you that have made this conversion share with me your experiences? Are you glad you did it?

Thanks!

[GPN]

I'm installing mine tomorrow..I'd like to hear what others think about it. Everyone loves it from what I read on here.

KTM300 z-start & LHRB

-Graham

[phantomtracer]

I am running an exp2.0 with the lhrb on a crf250x

I love it and cannot think of ever using a foot brake again.

I took the foot brake off and will never use it.

I come from a mt. biking background so the whole foot brake thing never made sense to me. I have much better modulation control and can drag the rear brake in left or right turns, once you get used to it you will wonder why this is not sold on every bike from the factory.

[Cuchara Red]

I've had the LHRB on my greenE for four years now. Mine is the standard supplied by Rekluse. Quite honestly, it's a little lacking in power and isn't as robust as I'd like. I broke my first one right off the bat when falling on a slick river crossing (but I reckon that could have broken any lever/cylinder setup). The second/replacement has been fine. There are situations when I wished I'd put the dual control setup on (like very long downhills in the mountains when my left hand starts cramping up), but generally I'm satisfied with the LHRB only. I too come from a mountain biking background and have all my bicycles set up for left hand rear and right hand front braking in an effort to instill some muscle memory that won't get me in trouble switching back and forth on my bikes. Works for me. ?

[Lelandjt]

I've had a hand brake setup for 5 years and have no inclination to go back. Of course you'll like it better than a foot brake but the key to loving it is having the autoclutch setup so that you never miss having a clutch lever. With the springs, balls, and clutchpack tightness you can really tune the engagement.

Oh and get this, I'm such a mtn biker that my dirtbikes are setup left hand front, right hand rear.

[CR14]

The only thing I'd worry about is the throttle sticking and not having a clutch to pull. A clutch has saved me more than once in that situation. I know it's rare, but it's something to think about.

[chillindrdude]

I've had a hand brake setup for 5 years and have no inclination to go back. Of course you'll like it better than a foot brake but the key to loving it is having the autoclutch setup so that you never miss having a clutch lever. With the springs, balls, and clutchpack tightness you can really tune the engagement.

Oh and get this, I'm such a mtn biker that my dirtbikes are setup left hand front, right hand rear.

did you do this yourself? or had the shop do it for you? i'm considering this also.

[Lelandjt]

^I do it myself. Usually takes 3 setups before I find the one I like. For my 300 it took ordering the heavier balls to get it just right. If you lean the bike over on a stand you can change the clutch parts without oil spilling out so it only takes 15 minutes to make a change.

The brake work is also easy. I measure and order a custom brake hose from Speigler and the front hose just swaps over. For a casual MTBer I'd recommend putting the rear brake on the left and changing your MTBs to match. This way you can cover the rear brake while on the throttle a little easier. I need to keep my MTBs normal cuz I go between a lot of different bikes (not all mine) and with my long fingures I can still cover the lever while twisting a lot of throttle.

I had the throttle stick once and I grabbed a fistfull of rear brake instinctively, then hit the kill switch. No problem.

[bmarshall1]

I did it as well, all I did was go to speigler and order a 2 hole brake manifold, a banjo bolt to block off one end (later I added a pressure activated brake switch), and an extra long banjo bolt. I used the long banjo bolt to sandwich both the original brake line and the clutch line to the manifold and blocked of the other end of the manifold with the other banjo bolt. Effectively what I have done is connect the clutch lever/line to the brake line. done.

[tothemax]

If its worth anything, I ride dirt bikes way more than pedal bikes, so I actually switched the brakes on my mountain and BMX bikes because I kept doing endos looking for a clutch when I needed to stop fast. So it might work out for you if you ride pedal bikes a lot. This might be a noob question but without the clutch how do you negotiate the tight trails?

[Cuchara Red]

If its worth anything, I ride dirt bikes way more than pedal bikes, so I actually switched the brakes on my mountain and BMX bikes because I kept doing endos looking for a clutch when I needed to stop fast. So it might work out for you if you ride pedal bikes a lot. This might be a noob question but without the clutch how do you negotiate the tight trails?

If you run the Rekluse you don't really have to worry about that. I've got the short one-finger clutch over ride and can disengage the clutch if I want. I did discover accidently that this over ride only works below about 5000 rpm - above that the balls over ride the over ride clutch lever.?

[33 Ponies]

Just to be clear the rekluse is an auto clutch. Most consider it a secret weapon on tight trails.

[tothemax]

That makes way more sense than what I was going on.

[phastasbananas]

Got a LHRB on my 'Berg 390. Love it!

In addition to all mentioned above regarding better sensitivity, drag rear brake easier etc. It is also a must have if you have an autoclutch and ride extreme events where downhills are so steep/gnarly you have to walk the bike down.

Saved my bacon a couple of times when riding in some hard enduro in Romania...

[slowstepper]

I have the rekluse LHRB setup, and I love it. i wasn't ready to give up my clutch lever though, so i just rolled it under the brake lever - used a bar perch mount and a grinder to make it mount up properly, never got in my way, makes finding neutral a bit easier, thats important if tou are kick starting with a rekluse (or if tyou don't feel like searching for neutral I can just pull in the clutch lever - stops a bucking runaway!

Carl Johansson

[RiderX]

On the KTM it's super easy since the hydraulic clutch master cylinder can be used as a LHRB master cylinder. When I first decided to go to a LHRB on my KTM 300 I removed the line from the rear foot brake at the master cylinder, and the line at the clutch slave cylinder, and plumbed them together. I used a bolt that I ground down in the middle for fluid to pass through, some copper washers, and a nut. Worked great. I later replaced it with a one piece line after I was sure I would keep the LHRB set up. You can do it the same way if you want to "try it before you buy it".

[nc_dirt_rider]

All, Thanks for the many posts - very much appreciate all the feedback. I'm going to go ahead and install a LHRB in the next few weeks. Not sure if i'll drop the foot break or not - may have dual for a period.

Anyhow, the feedback is awesome - so apprecaited!!

Thanks!!

[nc_dirt_rider]

How did the install go? As I'll be installing in the next few weeks (I hope) - curoious if it is straight forward or is it tricky? Thanks!!

Have you ridden at all since installing - thumbs up / down?

[Goodwood2]

Anyone have some pics of their set-ups?

Would like to see the dual levers.

Thx

[nc_dirt_rider]

Installed the LHRB this weekend. Install went fairly well. Bleeding the breaks and preventing air bubbles was a bit of a hassle. Took test ride, initial impression was positive - anxious to try it on the track/trails.