Snapping your brake or clutch lever in the middle of the bush can be devastating. Losing one or both of them mid-race can be the difference between winning and losing.
To prevent snapping their levers, trailriders will often use handguards, but they can snap wrists. The only other option (except crashing less) is to invest in a decent set of levers.
After several crashes, I managed to bend the levers on my Yamaha WR250F long termer but somehow not snap them. Regardless, they needed replacing. I’m not a fan of wraparound handguards after snapping my wrist using them in 2008, so I decided to upgrade my levers and, so far, they have withstood more abuse than you can imagine.
WE RATE
TOUGH I didn’t think it at the time but handing the WR250F over to my brother-in-law for a squirt turned out to be the hardest test the new levers have endured. After, apparently, dragging the bike behind a cement mixer he’d managed to ding and scratch the GYTR pipe, destroy a radiator and scratch plastics but the levers were totally fine. They must be tough.
LIGHT PULL The shape of the levers where they actuate improves brake and clutch feel and lightens the pull. This helps on long slogs.
BETTER SHAPE The contour of the levers fits the shape of your fingers far better than the stock ones and the blades are a little wider, allowing better grip.
EASY FITTING Slipping the levers on was as simple as unbolting the stockers and bolting in the new ones. There are no extra bolts and, without handguards fitted on our bike, they didn’t require any mods.
FACTORY LOOK The blue anodising looks awesome and completes the levers’ works appearance.
WE DON’T RATE
PRICE While much cheaper than pivoting ones, the GYTR levers are still far more expensive than the stockers. Still, break a few flimsy stock levers and the GYTR pair will have paid for themselves.
VERDICT
Levers are levers, there isn’t much that can go wrong with the GYTR ones, which is why the only thing I didn’t like was the price. They are easy to fit, super strong, push out in the event of a crash and look awesome. They lighten the clutch and brake pull and feel much better in your hands than the agricultural levers that come stock on the Yamaha WR250F. If you can stomach $120 for levers, do it, they look cool!
Mitch Lees
Get it here
Bill: Clutch and brake $65.33 each
Browser: yshop.yamaha-motor.com.au
