John OoSTerhuis
Life Is Good!
Hello ST(1100)-Owners.
I took some pictures the other day of some of my favorite farkles.
Here's a great one: my Middleton Handbrake!
This little jewel was manufactured by Dave Middleton of Batley, West Yorkshire, UK. More properly called a parking brake, I suppose. I got mine in early 2001 during a small ST1100 mailing LiST group buy through Paul Pennycook, STOC 2319.
With your ST1100 in neutral, just squeeze the front brake lever, flip the Middleton Handbrake's lever up with your forefinger, and let go of the front brake lever....
PRESTO! Your ST's front brake is engaged!
Here's an excerpt from my farkle report poST to the old ST-Riders LiST back in '01 which still reflects my opinion on this wonderful little product:
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[15 June 2001] <snip>
... this is one slick little product. For a leg-length challenged STrider like myself this thing is great.
Wanna stop for a moment and flip the map, change gloves, blow your nose... whatever, needing both hands? Don't want to shut the engine off... put the kickstand down on lousy or sloping ground? Can't hold the ST up with your left leg while rear wheel braking with the right?!?! This thing is the answer!
Put the ST in neutral, flip on the handbrake and do what you need to with both feet (balls of the feet in my case) on the ground. Then squeeze the front brake and the handbrake snaps off. Man, ALL bikes ought to come with these!
The Middleton Handbrake is designed specifically for the ST out of high quality, stainless steel parts/stock. It took me ~60 seconds to install it and has worked flawlessly ever since. The beST $27 I've spent on the GhOOST... worth every penny, IMO. And I'd sure be hesitant to try to fabricate an exact copy to those tolerances, find the correct strength release spring, etc. myself. <snip>
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I've now got over 60K with this farkle and I've not had to do a thing to it since day one. No further, periodic adjustment... nothing. Works perfectly every time and believe me, I use it all the time. When I first bought it, I thought that was a lot of money for such a simple item. Then I saw the workmanship and all this time later consider this little beauty the best 'bang for buck' I ever spent on The Grey GhOOST!
Also shown in the pictures is another nice farkle I have on all our bikes' brake and clutch levers: LeverSkins. A great product, especially for those of us with small hands.
Regards, John
I took some pictures the other day of some of my favorite farkles.
Here's a great one: my Middleton Handbrake!
This little jewel was manufactured by Dave Middleton of Batley, West Yorkshire, UK. More properly called a parking brake, I suppose. I got mine in early 2001 during a small ST1100 mailing LiST group buy through Paul Pennycook, STOC 2319.
With your ST1100 in neutral, just squeeze the front brake lever, flip the Middleton Handbrake's lever up with your forefinger, and let go of the front brake lever....
PRESTO! Your ST's front brake is engaged!
Here's an excerpt from my farkle report poST to the old ST-Riders LiST back in '01 which still reflects my opinion on this wonderful little product:
------------------------------------------------------------
[15 June 2001] <snip>
... this is one slick little product. For a leg-length challenged STrider like myself this thing is great.
Wanna stop for a moment and flip the map, change gloves, blow your nose... whatever, needing both hands? Don't want to shut the engine off... put the kickstand down on lousy or sloping ground? Can't hold the ST up with your left leg while rear wheel braking with the right?!?! This thing is the answer!
Put the ST in neutral, flip on the handbrake and do what you need to with both feet (balls of the feet in my case) on the ground. Then squeeze the front brake and the handbrake snaps off. Man, ALL bikes ought to come with these!
The Middleton Handbrake is designed specifically for the ST out of high quality, stainless steel parts/stock. It took me ~60 seconds to install it and has worked flawlessly ever since. The beST $27 I've spent on the GhOOST... worth every penny, IMO. And I'd sure be hesitant to try to fabricate an exact copy to those tolerances, find the correct strength release spring, etc. myself. <snip>
------------------------------------------------------------
I've now got over 60K with this farkle and I've not had to do a thing to it since day one. No further, periodic adjustment... nothing. Works perfectly every time and believe me, I use it all the time. When I first bought it, I thought that was a lot of money for such a simple item. Then I saw the workmanship and all this time later consider this little beauty the best 'bang for buck' I ever spent on The Grey GhOOST!
Also shown in the pictures is another nice farkle I have on all our bikes' brake and clutch levers: LeverSkins. A great product, especially for those of us with small hands.
Regards, John
