Aluminum Clutch & Brake Levers - Beware!

[912er]

I couple months ago I purchased a pair of “CNC Brake Clutch Levers For Yamaha V-Max VMAX” on ebay for my 85 Max. The brake lever was no problem, you do need to use the stock reducer bushing to install.

The aluminum clutch lever comes with a .392 or 9.95mm diameter aluminum insert which has a .203 or 5.15mm hole in it for the cable end that actuates the hydraulic sump. More on this in a minute…

When I removed my clutch lever my original brass insert fell out. It was nice and greased up so I used my original insert. All was well, I love the levers and they are still functioning very well. Fit and finish are as good as my son’s CRG’s.

A friend of mine just bought a 95 Max and wanted the same levers. His set came in and I installed them. His original clutch lever brass insert was stuck so rather than press it out I used the supplied aluminum insert. All was well for the first ride. The next day his clutch was slipping badly. A local mechanic said it was the levers. So I pressed his brass insert out of the original lever and compared it to the aluminum insert from my set of levers that I did not use.

Having spent 40+ years as a machinist I grabbed a depth mic and checked the .203 hole depth. The supplied insert was .215 deep where the .203 hole in the original brass insert was .320 deep. This caused his clutch to be partially engaged. This is a BAD situation! WARNING! You will burn up your clutch if you do not use your stock brass insert or drill the .203 hole in the supplied aluminum insert to the proper depth!

So, nice levers especially for 50 bucks, but bad inserts!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-Brake-C...var=551038484093&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[Donny Daughtry]

I couple months ago I purchased a pair of “CNC Brake Clutch Levers For Yamaha V-Max VMAX” on ebay for my 85 Max. The brake lever was no problem, you do need to use the stock reducer bushing to install.

The aluminum clutch lever comes with a .392 or 9.95mm diameter aluminum insert which has a .203 or 5.15mm hole in it for the cable end that actuates the hydraulic sump. More on this in a minute…

When I removed my clutch lever my original brass insert fell out. It was nice and greased up so I used my original insert. All was well, I love the levers and they are still functioning very well. Fit and finish are as good as my son’s CRG’s.

A friend of mine just bought a 95 Max and wanted the same levers. His set came in and I installed them. His original clutch lever brass insert was stuck so rather than press it out I used the supplied aluminum insert. All was well for the first ride. The next day his clutch was slipping badly. A local mechanic said it was the levers. So I pressed his brass insert out of the original lever and compared it to the aluminum insert from my set of levers that I did not use.

Having spent 40+ years as a machinist I grabbed a depth mic and checked the .203 hole depth. The supplied insert was .215 deep where the .203 hole in the original brass insert was .320 deep. This caused his clutch to be partially engaged. This is a BAD situation! WARNING! You will burn up your clutch if you do not use your stock brass insert or drill the .203 hole in the supplied aluminum insert to the proper depth!

So, nice levers especially for 50 bucks, but bad inserts!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-Brake-C...var=551038484093&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

It has been posted many times on his site (also the correct L 51 & R 45 numbers that will work)iirc and also the use of the stock clutch insert. Some guys have even gone so far as to modify their stock insert to fit the handle.:bang head:

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=41389&highlight=clutch

 

[Traumahawk]

I couple months ago I purchased a pair of “CNC Brake Clutch Levers For Yamaha V-Max VMAX” on ebay for my 85 Max. The brake lever was no problem, you do need to use the stock reducer bushing to install.

The aluminum clutch lever comes with a .392 or 9.95mm diameter aluminum insert which has a .203 or 5.15mm hole in it for the cable end that actuates the hydraulic sump. More on this in a minute…

When I removed my clutch lever my original brass insert fell out. It was nice and greased up so I used my original insert. All was well, I love the levers and they are still functioning very well. Fit and finish are as good as my son’s CRG’s.

A friend of mine just bought a 95 Max and wanted the same levers. His set came in and I installed them. His original clutch lever brass insert was stuck so rather than press it out I used the supplied aluminum insert. All was well for the first ride. The next day his clutch was slipping badly. A local mechanic said it was the levers. So I pressed his brass insert out of the original lever and compared it to the aluminum insert from my set of levers that I did not use.

Having spent 40+ years as a machinist I grabbed a depth mic and checked the .203 hole depth. The supplied insert was .215 deep where the .203 hole in the original brass insert was .320 deep. This caused his clutch to be partially engaged. This is a BAD situation! WARNING! You will burn up your clutch if you do not use your stock brass insert or drill the .203 hole in the supplied aluminum insert to the proper depth!

So, nice levers especially for 50 bucks, but bad inserts!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-Brake-C...var=551038484093&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I had the same issues. I just took a couple of mms off of the clutch pushrod. Solved the problem.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

 

[912er]

Sorry to have beatin a dead horse...:bang head:

 

[MaxMidnight]

It is never a bad thing to remind the old lags and inform the newer members of a potential problem.

 

[sdt354]

Sorry to have beatin a dead horse...:bang head:

Nothing wrong with giving another heads up.

 

[BorgBiker]

Same thing happened to me - after the new clutch lever, slippage occurred at anything over 3000 rpm. Since I hadn't done anything else, I immediately knew the issue. I was going to install my brass insert, but somehow it fell out and rolled/hid somewhere where it could be found when I no longer need it.:bang head:

So, I took the 'too shallow' insert, put it in my vise, and drilled out just a bit, maybe 1 mm(?). It worked perfectly, so good in fact that when I do demo days on new bikes the clutch never feels as good as mine :biglaugh:

Worth the aggravation.