They might have been working on the lever/ throttle cable clearance issues you spoke about. Here is a pic of the 08 Honda lever showing very little relief in the contact area.
GoldWing Adjustable Levers...
- Thread starter Jefro
- Start date
I REALLY like the idea of the fatter levers and am still considering purchasing the set and just not using the brake lever. For the price, it's a fraction of the cost of most aftermarket clutch levers. Anyone know of another alternative that would have a matching brake lever to compensate for the 08+ lever changes mentioned above (but retaining the fatter levers)???
Blue One
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- Mar 19, 2008
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- Canada (Edmonton Alberta) - Texas
- Bike
- 04 ABS ST1300
When I installed my Kuryakyn goldwing levers all I did was use a small 1/4' drive socket the correct size to drive the bushing out of the stock lever with the socket and a hammer. I just set the lever over an opening between the jaws of my vise (lever on top of the jaws) and tapped away till it came out.
Then to put the pieces together in the Kuryaken lever I used a shop rag over the jaws of the vice to protect the levers finish and used the vice to squeeze things into place. No press needed.
As I recall I had to file a small rounded groove into one of the levers for clearance but with a small round file it was easy.
If someone needs I can look which lever it was and get a picture.
Put both mine on a few days ago. Took me about 20 mins total for both. I used a deep 8mm socket (maybe it was a 7mm now that I think) and hammer to press the bushing out enough to swap the parts. For those of you doing this that don't have a press, it's very easy with these tools and doesn't take much pounding. One word of caution is make sure you don't press it all the way out the other side as I can imagine it would be a bear to get that thing back in! Tap, check, tap tap, check.. etc.
My review: Clutch side is a MAJOR difference. The adjustability between "1" and "5" is huge! I have mine set at the CLOSEST setting. Before while covering the clutch, my finger tips would be resting on TOP of the lever... now my finger tips hang over the whole front of the lever. The lever now rests under the first knuckle (from the finger tips). This mod is highly recommended.
The brake side is really not much different functionally; however I changed it anyway due to the lever being much wider than stock. Now both levers match and it IS more comfortable to me with that nice fat lever. $40 well spent!
My review: Clutch side is a MAJOR difference. The adjustability between "1" and "5" is huge! I have mine set at the CLOSEST setting. Before while covering the clutch, my finger tips would be resting on TOP of the lever... now my finger tips hang over the whole front of the lever. The lever now rests under the first knuckle (from the finger tips). This mod is highly recommended.
The brake side is really not much different functionally; however I changed it anyway due to the lever being much wider than stock. Now both levers match and it IS more comfortable to me with that nice fat lever. $40 well spent!
So, to sum up:
•The Kuryakyn clutch lever is drop-in after sawing off the tab, and appears to work in all STs?
•The Kuryakyn brake lever requires a part or parts be transferred from the OEM lever, and doesn't fit '08s and later bikes as well?
M-88, what year is your ST?
Has anybody found a replacement for the Kury brake lever in question? It looks like using the Kuryakyn brake lever will work but won't be as aesthetically pleasing, and may mar the adjuster wheel.
•The Kuryakyn clutch lever is drop-in after sawing off the tab, and appears to work in all STs?
•The Kuryakyn brake lever requires a part or parts be transferred from the OEM lever, and doesn't fit '08s and later bikes as well?
M-88, what year is your ST?
Has anybody found a replacement for the Kury brake lever in question? It looks like using the Kuryakyn brake lever will work but won't be as aesthetically pleasing, and may mar the adjuster wheel.
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I installed these GL levers last night on my new-to-me ST and all went very well. The test ride this morning proved everything you guys said about the vast improvement, especially on the cluth side.
Being new to this site, I have already found it helpful.
Thanks all.
Being new to this site, I have already found it helpful.
Thanks all.
I've read that the Kuryakyn knob also has to be swapped out with the OEM knob.
How is that done? Removing the actuator from the Kuryakyn lever seems straight forward, but I'm wondering about the knob.
How is that done? Removing the actuator from the Kuryakyn lever seems straight forward, but I'm wondering about the knob.
I finally got the Kuryakyn clutch lever installed and it's fantastic.
Now I'll do the brake lever but I'm curious if anybody can show a pic of where it needs to be relieved. I've seen the pics of the other levers but would like to see one of the GWK lever. Somebody volunteered to press the sleeves and do the swap for me and if I could show him where it should be done, it would be cleaner than me using a file.
wjbertrand
Ventura Highway
Here you go:
Has anyone actually tried the Kuryakyn Adjustable CLUTCH (not brake) lever that fits a GL1800 on a ST1100 AND did it work out OK? I would prefer to buy the Kuryakn adjustable (that fits the Gl1800) for my ST1100 clutch lever - but only if someone can affirm that it indeed works. Thanks.
I ordered the Kuryakn levers today. Can't wait to see how they work after the install.
Absolutely. It went on very easy. The only change in procedure was not transferring the original wheel/dial from the factory brake lever to the Kuryakyn. Nothing was swapped out. Thinking that the wheel/dial had to be carried over to the new lever made me put off installing it.
This was a great mod. Effort was noticeably reduced and I can hold the clutch lever in for the longest stop light, no problem. Braking with one or two fingers was also improved. The Unified brake system means that the front brake needs more effort (you're using only one disc instead of two) and that isn't easy with just two fingers covering the brake.
And a little touch of chrome doesn't hurt, either.
To clear up this misconception, when you apply the front brakes you are using both disc's just not all the pistons in the caliper. It means that once the left brake grabs the disc it activates the secondary master cylinder which applies pressure to the rear disc. If you only apply the rear brake it will actually apply pressure to a couple pistons in both front disc's. If you want more info there is plenty posted here on the site.
Interesting. I took the stock brake lever off my 08 ST1300A and had the same problem with the Kury lever being much narrower, like Finalchecker discovered. I wonder if the abs model is different, or if Honda changed something between 2008 and 2010, back to a narrower stock lever.
I like the feel of the wider levers. I wonder if adding spacer(s) would allow for a good fit for the Kury brake lever.
Byron, thanks for the info. Does my description apply to some other bike or earlier version or am I the victim of an urban moto-myth?
Mark, the installation surprised me as I thought the brake-side Kury would be a problem, but no. I'll take a look to check the alignment but as I recall it was pretty dead on.
Shimming it top and bottom shouldn't be a problem if you can find the right size hardware. Use care when tightening the nut do you don't pinch the lever. A little lube and a little play are good things.
Mark, the installation surprised me as I thought the brake-side Kury would be a problem, but no. I'll take a look to check the alignment but as I recall it was pretty dead on.
Shimming it top and bottom shouldn't be a problem if you can find the right size hardware. Use care when tightening the nut do you don't pinch the lever. A little lube and a little play are good things.
I'm guessing there is a difference between the ABS and non-ABS bikes when it comes to the setup on the handlebar. I took a closer look and to make the Kury brake lever work on my bike (08 ST1300 ABS), you'd have to swap in the stock lever insert that pushes on the brake m/c and the stock thumbwheel, BUT the thumbwheel location is further from the pivot bolt on the 2008 stock lever, so the insert would not hit the adjuster thumbwheel at the proper point. In other words, I don't see a way to make it work. Too bad because the Kury levers are nicer.
So I am still a little confused. I have gone through this thread a couple of times trying to see if anyone has the same year/model of ST1300 as I do...and was surprised to see many folks don't list what combo they have. Anyway, has anyone put these on a 2003, NON-ABS model? I'd like to try them if they would work. Thanks...
For the record, I put the GL1800 Kuryakyn levers on my 2010 Non-ABS 1300.
So far, the only mention of change I've seen starts at with the 2008. Post #40 on p.4 of this thread talks about the fitment of the Kurys on a 2008 1300. finalchecker has some detailed pics of the Kury brake lever on his 2008 ST. He doesn't mention if it's ABS. Maybe somebody can tell by looking at his pics?
My Kury set up on my Non-ABS doesn't look like his. The adjustment knob is in the same position as the stocker. So it looks like it's the ABS models that have a little trouble with the new levers.
Note that finalchecker was using the Kurys apparently with no real problem until he took a close look when he pulled them off for routine maintenance. It was then he "found a few problems". I'd say that these were potential problems since he never "paid them much attention".
So in Mark's case, the Kury knob would clear the upper portion of the lever mount but the actuator "cam" wouldn't strike the piston squarely. If the lever was shimmed up, the knob would probably strike the upper portion of the lever mount. I'm guessing that the only real fix would be to weld a something on to the face of the actuator cam with a larger surface area to fully contact the piston in the front brake lever housing. Then shim the lever from the top to keep the know from binding.
In Brad's case, maybe he could check the parts numbers for that brake lever assembly for both ABS and non-ABS STs for 2003 and 2010. I'm thinking there should be change in numbers for the ABS model and no change for the non-ABS model. If this is the case then the levers should be a perfect bolt-on for his bike. If not, I got nothin'.
So far, the only mention of change I've seen starts at with the 2008. Post #40 on p.4 of this thread talks about the fitment of the Kurys on a 2008 1300. finalchecker has some detailed pics of the Kury brake lever on his 2008 ST. He doesn't mention if it's ABS. Maybe somebody can tell by looking at his pics?
My Kury set up on my Non-ABS doesn't look like his. The adjustment knob is in the same position as the stocker. So it looks like it's the ABS models that have a little trouble with the new levers.
Note that finalchecker was using the Kurys apparently with no real problem until he took a close look when he pulled them off for routine maintenance. It was then he "found a few problems". I'd say that these were potential problems since he never "paid them much attention".
So in Mark's case, the Kury knob would clear the upper portion of the lever mount but the actuator "cam" wouldn't strike the piston squarely. If the lever was shimmed up, the knob would probably strike the upper portion of the lever mount. I'm guessing that the only real fix would be to weld a something on to the face of the actuator cam with a larger surface area to fully contact the piston in the front brake lever housing. Then shim the lever from the top to keep the know from binding.
In Brad's case, maybe he could check the parts numbers for that brake lever assembly for both ABS and non-ABS STs for 2003 and 2010. I'm thinking there should be change in numbers for the ABS model and no change for the non-ABS model. If this is the case then the levers should be a perfect bolt-on for his bike. If not, I got nothin'.
Thanks for the direction. I did my research and found the following:
2003 Standard lever is 53170-MCS-G01...the same number as on the ST1300 ABS model. (Same #s for 2007 models, including P)
2010 Standard lever is 53170-MCS-305...which is also the same number as the ABS model.
The 2008 AND 2009 years seem to be the strange years. They have 2 part numbers listed for the standard and the ABS. While one of the numbers is the same as the 2010 (53170-MCS-305), there is another number listed here for these years. That number is 53170-MCS-R01.
So it would seem that if anyone was successful in putting them on ANY ST1300 from 2003-2007, ABS or not, all will be well for me to try it. 2008-9 seems to be the problem years, but I have not seen pictures of what is different. For once it isn't what I have. LOL.
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