I just got a '13 250s that my adult son will be riding. He has very short fingers. Look down at your hand... now pretend the last joint is missing. That's about how long his fingers are. But his hand is normal size width. As he said, buying gloves is a traumatic experience for him.

I haven't picked up the shop manual or anything yet for the bike. How easy it to change the reach for the levers? Is there a lot of change I can make with the stock levers? If not, is there an after-market lever that you'd recommend for this situation, something easy to adjust?

 

You actually have a good deal more slack allowed in a clutch cable than what you normally see listed in most manuals. And to be factual, they're probably listing that more as a minimum than a max. You can slack that cable out to the point where you are getting "at least" full clutch disengagement. You obviously don't want to go beyond that as you can have shifting issues and more wear on the clutch. Just play with the slack on your bike with it running going in out of gear, and you can find that max cable slack location. I'm betting you'll get him a sweet spot without being at max slack.

Many enduro guys with cable clutches have often run more slack to just minimize hand cramp over a 3-5 hour enduro. Every little bit helps. The adjustment can change a little during periods of extreme abuse, but outside of actual racing, horrid conditions, I've never felt the clutch on my KLX change even in some decently long sand conditions.

 

Look at some MX shortie levers to see if they have more of a dog leg (the Z bend in the lever). You might find one with a closer reach. I have small hands so I can only actually catch the lever with three finger tips. Thing is I only use two on the front brake and maybe three on the clutch, so I survive with the stock levers. I have them virtually horizontal to the ground, in line with the backs of my hands when holding the bars - shortest reach.

Move the clutch perch and the brake reservoir as far out on the end as possible to get the inner dog leg curve where it can be used. I do that for that reason.

Other possibility at some cost - have someone cut and TIG weld a lever with a more extreme dog leg. This can definitely be done. You're just cutting the lever, sliding it back some, then rewelding. Fact is dog legs came in when riders actually bent their very malleable Magura levers into a dog leg shape for the same reasons - easier gripping.

If you cut, cut so the lever is sliding straight back, drill one or two pin holes to locate the lever for welding and to see how it will work. After welding the back side closest to the grip can be ground to contour for more clearance on the grip when pulled in. Also, make two and run bark busters, no sense in breaking something that requires that kind of work and may as well make two when doing the work.

You're going to have to be on the edge with the clutch adjustment since you're going to lose some lever travel.

 

I tried to bend back a bent lever and it broke. But if I had anieled it first I am sure it would have bent easily. Anieling aluminum is opposite as steel, you heat and quench to make softer.

 

I doubt you could get a stock lever to bend even if you tried annealing, they are cast, not forged. The old Magura levers were not cast, but forged and would bend very easily allowing them to be straightened and even shaped. Back in the 70s riders would replace their Japanese lever assemblies to put on the Maguras because of that characteristic. Bend them, bend them back. I had them on my trials bike for that reason.

 

Thanks for all of the replies. It looks I can't actually adjust reach for the clutch and brake lever. On my KDX 220 there is a little screw I can use to adjust the reach. I'll probably wind up replacing stock with something that is adjustable.

 

I have a set of these
Zeta Clutch Pivot Lever | Shop | Wheeling Cycle Supply
Zeta Brake Pivot Lever | Shop | Wheeling Cycle Supply
and yes they're adjustable.

 

Just curious on your observation here. You're saying your cable doesn't have a long...about 3 inches...threaded male/female segment in the cable housing somewhere...or a threaded male/female segment down at the clutch pivot arm where the cable goes into the clutch cover? That's probably unlikely. And there's not adjuster screw on the brake lever? I'd say that's unlikely too, but the possibility exists on a later model that I'm not familiar with. The clutch cable, however, almost absolutely requires some manner of adjustment in the cable even if it's from an aftermarket outfit.

 

I'm saying on my kdx 220, there is an adjustment screw right on the brake lever that adjusts the reach between the handlebar and the lever. Loosen the small bolt, move the screw in and out, tighten the bolt. I don't see anything like this on my '13 250s.



I'm always ready to admit I'm blind and just missing something. I'm not sure how much you can change the actual gap between the handlebar and the lever by playing with the clutch line housing itself. I thought that was primarily for setting the slack in the clutch -- how much play there is before the clutch actually engages. You are saying I can fiddle with the clutchcable housing and that will adjust the reach?

 

Yes. You can often get a fair amount of reach adjustment with cable slack. Like I mentioned in my first post, just make sure you don't go too far to where the clutch is still dragging. A little goes a long way to reducing the reach by a few degrees.

LOL!...no, not suggesting you're blind on that brake lever. Like I said, I haven't seen your model master cylinder/brake lever. My '06 has an adjuster there, but apparently they dropped it later.