'05 KTM 560 SMR Front brake lever OR Master Cylinder for Motard

[Ductard]

I broke the front brake lever on my motard, the MC is off of a KTM 450/525/560 SMR 05~06

It's a rather unique lever, with a fork on the back side of it (see picture). OEM levers are going for about $75-100, and I can't find anything aftermarket to fit it.

On top of the cost, the bike's previous owner told me that he shortened the lever with a Bridgeport and some TIG welding. I don't have that kind of firepower in my garage or the skillset, so I figure at least another $20-50 on top of that for some welding work if I want the same look and feel as I had previously (or, last resort, just hack off the end, grind it smooth, and forget about the ball)

That leaves me with a $95-150 lever, and hoping I never break one again....oh, and let me add that anybody that stocks that lever is telling me 5-7 days PLUS transit time to receive the lever.

I figure for that kind of money I might just want to think about putting a more common MC on the bike so I can get replacement levers more easily...

So, long story short, if anybody has any spare levers they'd unload cheaply, I'll buy those, if not, if anybody has a MC that would work well on a motard, I could go that route instead.

[Chippertheripper]

Go the m/c route. Those levers suck. Ask me how I know.

[Ductard]

Go the m/c route. Those levers suck. Ask me how I know.

Word. That's the way I'll probably go, unless somebody shows up on this thread wanting to sell that exact lever super-cheap - but here's what I think of that....

[Ductard]

Go the m/c route. Those levers suck. Ask me how I know.

PS - do you have any suggestions for an MC?

[Chippertheripper]

Something common. Stock sv master at least has the banjo on the end, like your current brake line (if my memory is correct). Sv would probably do, as a 260# bike will stop yesterday with just about anything.

[Ductard]

Oh yeah, might help if I post some pictures.

Here's the MC. One picture is from the top, looking down on the lever. The other one is from the number plate out towards the hand-grip. The banjo is on the bottom (or the back) of the MC (i.e. pointed sort of back towards where the rider's knee would be in a full - upright position.)

Other than finding one with a banjo in the right place so I don't have to get a new brake line, is there anything else to consider? The lever does have to fit inside the acerbis handguards but those are pretty big so I'm not sure that's a big consideration.

Good news is there are stock SV MC's with levers for ~$50 on fleabay, but I'm not sure the banjo is in exactly the right spot.

[Ductard]

...and the one picture is upside down. That's the master cylinder reservoir in the lower left corner. If you could picture that in the upper right corner (the picture I uploaded was rotated the right way, not sure what happened)...

[Ductard]

Fuckit. This is too much work. Maybe I should just go without

[Ductard]

Hmmmm.....used MC for an 1199 panigale going for ~ $100 on rubbersideup.com. Banjo is in the right place and I already have some spare levers.....

One thing is, that MC is for a dual disk system. Would that cause a problem? Any chance it would be so firm I wouldn't get a good feel for how much force to apply to the lever?

[Ductard]

Bump - anybody have a brembo radial master?

Long story short there's a little pin missing from my aftermarket levers that was going to make Pani solution more expensive than anticipated.

[Tricky Mike]

Pretty sure you're going to want a 16mm master to work with that Brembo caliper. Not sure what the Pani master is but I doubt it's 16mm... Probably 19?
I think many of the OEM R1 and R6 Brembo pumps are (or were) 16mm

[cdovego]

I'm 90% sure I have a stock '05 525smr lever in a box at home, I'll look tonight. Shoot me a pm to remind me please.

[cdovego]

Is this what you're looking for?

[Ductard]

Yes sir! Are you willing to part with just the lever?

[cdovego]

Yes sir! Are you willing to part with just the lever?

Make an offer?

[Ductard]

Make an offer?

I donno, somewhere in the neighborhood of $20? Not trying to lowball you, but if I can't get one cheap I'm probably going to just try for an MC with more common levers. Otherwise, each time I break one I'll be in the same bad position - not to mention almost zero chance someone else will have a spare at the track.

Go the m/c route. Those levers suck. Ask me how I know.

[Ductard]

Pretty sure you're going to want a 16mm master to work with that Brembo caliper. Not sure what the Pani master is but I doubt it's 16mm... Probably 19?
I think many of the OEM R1 and R6 Brembo pumps are (or were) 16mm

Thanks for the advice, Mike. I posted a question on this same point earlier in the thread. Just out of curiosity, what happens if the MC is too big? Do you just wind up with brakes that are so firm that you lose all feel?

[Tricky Mike]

Decent tech article here:

http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/technical/Nov2012Tech.pdf

[cdovego]

Is this bike your daily commuter?

[Ductard]

Is this bike your daily commuter?

No, not my daily commuter. Track only.

[cdovego]

It's worth more than $20 to me as a spare. If it's your track bike - def. swap out your m/c like advised.
If you need a short term fix while you source one, you're welcome to come by Waltham and borrow my spare lever.

[Ductard]

It's worth more than $20 to me as a spare. If it's your track bike - def. swap out your m/c like advised.
If you need a short term fix while you source one, you're welcome to come by Waltham and borrow my spare lever.

Totally understand. Thanks for the offer, but for various reasons I picked up another short term fix this past Sunday

[Ductard]

I don't suppose there's any way to change the name of a thread?

At this point I think I might get more hits if I rename this to WTB: 16MM Radial Front Brake Master Cylinder

Oh well, gonna close this thread and reopen one under that name.....

[cdovego]

Totally understand. Thanks for the offer, but for various reasons I picked up another short term fix this past Sunday

Awesome solutions, congrats! Offer stands, you're welcome to my lever if you don't mind returning it when you're done.

[Ductard]

Awesome solutions, congrats! Offer stands, you're welcome to my lever if you don't mind returning it when you're done.

Might be interested after all. I thought it would be easier to pick up a master on the cheap than it seems to be.

I'm a little hesitant to buy one used off of ebay - no telling what shape the seals are in....

I'm probably doing a 3 day weekend at NYST for the 4th of July. I'm kind of thinking that for that length of time I wouldn't mind having both bikes up there in case I have any technical problems.