American Voyager Association

Today I swapped my 87's brake and clutch levers with a set from a 94 to 06 kawasaki concours, which are adjustable. There must be some leverage differences, because I was pleasantly surprised that the front brake feel went from spongy to very solid . The brakes are working better than they ever have, almost to the point of being adequate. Also, these levers are adjustable so you can set them as you like, but to me all positions felt much more solid than with the previous levers. HTH, Steve

If all you changed was levers, how would that make a difference in the brake function, unless the lever made a stroke difference in the cyliner to put more pressure on the fluid?

Just asking????

That's the only thing I could think of, that's why I suggested it was a leverage issue. I looked to see if it was holding the piston somewgat compressed, but that didn't seem to be the case either. I didn't do the swap expecting it to help the spongy feel, I did it just because I had the levers and i thought the adjustments would be nice. The improved brake feel was a very nice surprise. BTW, the system is clean, with new fluid and well bled, still the old lever would come about to the hand grip with a good squeeze. Can't do that now! Steve

Did the levers just bolt right on or did you have to do some modifications to them to get them to work?

Thanks

direct bolt on. Steve

Do they have the same tang set-up to satisfy the Cruise Control Switch?

Bill O

oops! didn't check that, but they do have the flats for the brake lights, so I would expect it's the same. The voyagers' levers look to be the same as the early model connie levers. Steve

When Working properly, The front brakes are excellent. I see no reason for a new lever. Sounds like you have a problem somewhere

On my bike is a problem with the brakes was. Lever soaking touched the steering wheel and then the bike started to slow down. Replaced caliper, set with four pistons and floating 320mm discs. Now the sensitivity, as a sports motorcycle.

Do you have a picture of that setup? I did 4 piston tokiko's and 320mm from a zx11 on my connie and it's incredible. I looked at the voyager for the same conversion, but the rotors won't go on because of the hub size and bolt pattern. How did you address that? Steve

Steve, I'll try to do something like drawings, just everything was done in the garage on the lathe stanke.Vse drawings of the head, capital improvements. Until fasteners calipers. My address for personal messages.

HA I got caught! Biil O Called it right - the little tang for the CC isn't there - subsequently the CC won't engage. Nice Catch Bill ! I'm gonna take a look at this a little better, but for now, it's not the free lunch I thought I was getting Steve

My CC doesn't work anyway, so it might be a mod I would be interested in. I do like the idea of better front brakes as that is 90% of my braking. For a heavyweight, I don't think they are bad brakes, but having stopping power like my SV650S would be great.

Problem solved ! I pulled the concours lever and the stock voyager lever and compared the two more closely - it is a leverage issue, in that the connie lever curves outward more from the bar than the voyager lever. In an attempt to see if I could replicate it (more or less) with the voyager lever, I ground the flat portion of the lever that limits the outboard travel app .040" . This is the flat area that steps down to the tang that contacts the brake and cc switch. When I bolted it on, it was very close to the concours lever. The end of the lever is definitely outboard of the handlebar more, and when fully compressed, the lever is probably 3/8 to 1/2" further from the handlebar. While it doesn't really depress the master cylinder piston any more per amount moved, it seems like the brakes are alot better because the lever doesn't come as close to the handgrip. Don't be afraid to give this a try, it's easy and a real win / win. Steve

Steve,

Just wondering if your brake hoses might be due for replacement. I have not personally experienced it but understand that the hoses will 'balloon' as they age, giving mushy brakes and longer throws of the levers. Might be something to take a look at.

Just a thought,
Ohio Mike

I rode 4 or 5 different Voyagers last summer. One of them had a slightly bent lever, which required a slightly longer reach of the fingers. Rick and I got the ruler out just to make sure. Don't recall how far it was off, but it felt really good! You could always tweak the lever forward a hair. Course, you might want to have another lever onhand in case the modification doesn't go so well, LOL.

That's exactly what I did.

While I would expect my 23 year old hoses to be an issue, I was really surprised at how much the lever modification really improved the feel. Not mushy at all, and not trying to come close to the bar like before. Steve

That's what I used to think until I gt my new BMW after 17 years with three Voyagers. Got on a friends Voyager after riding the BMW for a few months and was shocked at the Voyager's lack of braking compared to the BMW. The Voyager's brakes were good for its day but many newer bikes have much better brakes.

An upgrade to the stainless steel braided lines is a big improvement. My 2002 stops so much better now....

problem is not only in Voyager, but eliminator, and other bikes with similar calipers. The fact is that these saddles are very soft and thin metal in brake bracket just decompressed, thereby reducing acquired in stocks.