Clake SLR and hi performance line

[Bandicoot]

Had it working, now it's fighting me. Try again tonight but if I don't get it I'm not worried.

With the Clake's I found pulling the slave off and pumping it up from there ... let the slave draw the fluid down and the air up. It takes a little longer coz you might have to remove & refit the slave a few times throughout the process but it seems to work everytime. When you have to do it a few times it becomes a quicker process .. Good Luck !!

[Johnno]

I spent a couple hours on it last night and went no where. I didn't have enough hands to try what's next: one person operates the slave, the other syringe and the bleed screw. Going to bring it into work and do it after hours.

I'm at a loss as to why I had it working but now can't get anywhere. I had bubbles coming up and out of the master but no mini geyser and the subsequent draw back like last time.

Never had such bad luck, maybe it's a sign. Right from Owen promising to ship it today! Then doing so a week later after I rang him again to Gary getting my address wrong for the second or third time sending me the bleed screw. To having this whole debacle go on for a couple of weeks.

[Johnno]

Okay final update from my attempts anyway, I had it start to work tonight, plenty of lever there and cracked the bleeder for who knows why, with a little bit of air and a lot of fluid coming out. Then instantly no lever.

I think the diaphragm is buggered somehow but I can think why because it was working when the bleeder screw broke and even worked there after if you held your finger over the hole.

I am also intrigued by how hard you have to pull on the lever to get the rear brake to work, remember I switched the stock clutch master cylinder to operate the rear brake which is actually suggested. I have a nice full lever, it doesn't fade like it has air ( I know it hasn't ) but you can't hardly lock the rear with one finger even when pushing the bike. If you fairly pull on it with 2 or more fingers, yeah it locks. Walking backwards it takes a big squeeze.

I have the bike in my van and it's headed to a bike shop for them to sort out.

If I had my time over and heeding the many warnings of grief people have had with these things, I doubt I'd bother.

[Johnno]

Edit: I'll reserve judgement until I try my preferred brake pads particularly in the rear. Either an EBC or Dunlop sintered pads, I think I have the clamping pressure as the lever feels nice and not spongy.

Amazing how something relatively simple turns into an utter debacle.

FML....

[Johnno]

I took it to a shop and they got the SLR to operate the clutch. Now, the guy may have adjusted something that wasn't supposed to be as its pretty firm ( supposed to be light as ) it requires the lever to travel near all the way to the bar despite having no sponge at all at the level. Which traps your finger if you try to use the rear brake ( the old clutch lever ) in unison.

It's really awkward to use. Okay, if you use the brake on it's own like trail braking around corners like I was due to having no air in the rear tyre as I rode around the hood it's good. I was tramping on the brake pedal that isn't there a few times.

But to try and use both at once, if you have the clutch as the brake and the SLR as the clutch, is just arse..

That's my thoughts so far.

I'll try and adjust it.

Edit: I made one little adjustment and improved it no end. Much lighter and less finger trapping. Lucky I didn't start throwing the toys out of the pram.

[Johnno]

Lot's of silly stuff happened, but it's finally on there and working. It's completely retarded to get used to the first time you ride, your clutch lever is now your rear brake. But, here's my report from a quick ride in tee shirt and shorts ( gloves and helmet ) just to see if anything would fall off prior to a trip I am taking next week with a friend to a place called Bike territory.


I went for a burn at the disused coal mine at the end of the street ( this is Ipswich.. ) and yeah, some stuff is starting to work.

The big thing you wanna do, well, I do, is brake turns. Like Clutch in, skid around and braaaaaaiiirrrrrr off in another direction. But you scissor your index finger between the levers, so I decided not to do that for now.

But steep descents, really steep, wow.. You're gonna have the clutch all the way in anyway, but now you can have your arse right out over the tail light and have very precise control over the rear brake. it's just so friggin good.

You can use the rear brake as traction control on shitty off camber turns, just trail it a bit as you dial the gas on. That's nothing new, but actually being able to do it really easily with finesse is great.

Stand up wheelie safety with a finger on the rear brake. I could always do stand ups but even after owning my Beta for a while now it still amazes me how you can just yank the front wheel off the deck so high and easily, its like a speedway bike.

My 300 likes you to use to clutch when gear changing, particularly up. But I'm finding my best tactic is to keep my index finger on the rear brake ( formally the clutch ) and just try an sync the gear changes better.

When bikes had drum brakes I had no issue with using the rear but since discs came along using the rear was just a mess for me. Also a few years of road racing not touching the rear brake had an effect too.

But now I can use the rear it was stunning in just a couple of minutes just how important the rear is in stability and so many other areas. I just can't use the foot pedal anymore due to injury, age and a couple other reasons.

The SLR isn't perfect, nothing is and I never thought it would be. Bikes have had the rear brake operated by a pedal for some time now you'd be naive to think there wasn't a reason for it.

I can still do brake turns, better than I ever could with a pedal you just need to clutch in do a u bolt on a tight trail and then take off. I might get smoother with it, like more fluid.

But I feel encouraged by what I encountered today.

I just hope I don't destroy the thing next week.

In all, I would say if you don't have trouble using the rear brake pedal then probably an SLR is a solution to a problem you might not have. But, if you do, then it could worth the trouble ( and there is trouble ) fitting one and getting used to it.

I am acclimatizing to it. I remember trying race shift on my road race bike, that's where you reverse the shift pattern and its down for up changes. It worked really good but then you have to think about it.. Then you go 16,500 rpm in third and shift up.. into second. I swear I felt the pistons touch the bottom of the fuel tank. I reverted back to conventional street pattern there after.

The SLR is slightly less catastrophic if you get it wrong and frankly when it WORKS like on a downhill or whatever you get this warm feeling like when they administer opiates in hospital.

I sure there will be swearing when I hit the trail properly.

[Johnno]

I am just home from 2.5 days of riding at Bike Territory which I have to say is absolutely world class. Set in and around a 10,000 acre sheep and cattle property we simply had the time of our lives riding diverse terrain in near perfect conditions..

The Clake SLR, operating my clutch and my original clutch master and lever operating my rear brake is for me, a game changer.

That is FOR ME. I can't use the rear brake with the pedal for a variety of reasons, with the Clake SLR I can have my backside out past the tail light with my lower legs keyed to the side panels, knees gripping the seat, standing on the balls of both feet while modulating the rear brake with an accuracy and finesse I would never have dreamed possible.

I near drove Ian completely Berkowitz raving about the thing. I was always the biggest pussy coming down hills due to me having to rely on the front brake which is just death. You gather speed, you spot that pumpkin sized rock in the rut at the bottom of the hill and you KNOW it's going to kill you because you are doing it all wrong.

Well, now I love big down hills because I can get a break for my arms, I am using my legs to hold on, usually I have the clutch in with my index finger and operate the rear brake with my middle finger. Out on the trail at anything higher than a trot I generally use the index finger to swap between the 2 levers as I require.

Fail and bale on hill climbs is a piece of cake ( mostly ) now. You can clamp the rear brake on and bale at the same time.

This thing is going to keep me riding because I wasn't going to be if I kept going like I was with no enjoyment and too much frustration.

[Johnno]

I had planned on using my new fangled video editing software to use the vid I attached here and a new one from my gopro pointed down focusing on me using the SLR but the SD card was faulty.

Next time.

So far I have a couple days down at Bike Territory and today with a couple of hard enduro maniacs at club riding area. The biggest issues I've got so far are really things that will be overcome. If I remove my goggles half way up a mountain because they've fogged, it's kinda hard to get them back on with both hands because, obviously you can't hold yourself there easily with no brake pedal.

One guy today, Anthony, always does about 2 or 3 minutes of donuts on the back wheel when we get back to the parking area and as soon as he saw my clutch is now the rear brake he was like OooOooOooh!!! slow wheelies I said yeah man but you are using the clutch as well, no? It's not easy with both levers there.

I think I'll get the hang of it though.

You can't imagine the control you have with the rear brake via a lever versus a pedal.

No one wants to ride my bike with no rear brake pedal, they're like **** that!!

As I've stated, what I did was for me and my specific needs. I wish i could use a rear brake pedal like I did, but I can't.

It's hard for the guys I ride with to get their heads around the fact that my best days are behind me. I am 53 years old, nature and time have not been kind to me, but I love riding and will run on as long as I can. For sure, you can always improve your ability and fitness, but old father time is working against me. I can take 2 steps forward but my age and physicality will ask for 1 step back in return.

No I can't see a Rekluse on the horizon...

https://youtu.be/bNerUZKwSqY

[Bandicoot]

How do you go using the kill switch now you have clutch & brake on the same side ????
Is it awkward or do you just drop the clutch to stall it ... or do you select neutral all the time before shutting the bike down

Just being nosey & curious ...

[Johnno]

I've removed the left switch block completely and fitted to the throttle side the ktm kill start / stop switch block that should have been fitted for ADR, now I just to remember to push the kill switch again to get it to start.