[Gary856]

Do this if you haven’t done it. Get on your bike, assume the normal riding position, hold the grips, close your eyes, and reach for the levers. Are the levers angled for your fingers to reach them naturally? Very often the levers are angled too high, which would force you to bend your wrists up uncomfortably. Once you’ve got the levers angled to suit your own natural wrist/finger position, the hand-controls (shifting and braking) and bike-control would feel sooooo much more natural, because bio-mechanically, your grip is strongest when your wrists are at a natural angle. Even a small change in the angle can make a big difference.

[eternal05]

Great advice. The same is also VERY true of the foot controls!

[TrialsRider]

…the following is not generally an option on street bike controls:

Dirt bike trick; I also move my levers way in on the bars, for increased purchase and to prevent them from pinching your fingers in the event that you clip a tree.

The lever mounting clamp is only tight enough that in normal use it stays put, but in a fall it spins on the bar and will not bend or break the lever

[Gary856]

Interesting trick on the lever’s lateral position, TrialsRider. I normally use two fingers to clutch/brake and I was thinking it was too bad that I couldn’t take full advantage of the leverage offered by the long levers since my index/middle fingers are closer to the lever pivot points. I could move my hands outward more (toward the bar-end weights) and achieve the same effect you’re showing (pulling on the levers farther out from the pivot), but that would result in longer reach for the levers, which makes lever control a bit harder, so it seems a wash. An adjustable-reach clutch lever would be nice.

Back to the angle thing. The clutch lever on one of my bikes is noticeably stiffer than my other bikes. When I first got the bike, I had to bend my left wrist up slightly, and I needed to use 4 fingers to control the clutch lever comfortably at low speed. After I angled down the clutch lever, now I can easily use 2 fingers again.

[TrialsRider]

My levers are set about 15 degrees below horizontal, the limit being how far back and low you need to get when going down extremely steep slopes and still reach the lever.
Note the hydraulic reservoir on my clutch, plus the little adjusting screw on the short side of the lever, that’s the true sign of a one finger clutch
This picture shows how little you need to apply it to completely disengage the clutch:

…and there is still lots of adjustment for riders with shorter fingers. These are fully adjustable reach controls

[Author]

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