Knowledge needed!
 

Does anyone know if these will actually fit a 98' Hawk??

Black Short Brake Clutch Levers for Honda VTR1000F Firestorm 98 05 CBF1000 06 09 | eBay

They should as log as u have the stock brake and clutch MC's

I do. my brake lever is bent, and I've put it off for a while but i think its time to go ahead and change them out.

i should say i hope they fit because i bought i beleive the same thing the other day! my clutch lever is bent so i finnaly wanted to get that fixed. i havnt gotten them yet though but when i do ill let you know how they fit

It would be awesome if you'd do that! Did you order them on ebay as well?

They look the same as ones I bought a while back. They fit fine but the design means you actually lose leverage from the stockers. (weird bend and shorter length).

So now my brakes take more effort. Not desireable in my opinion but they do work.

they offer the full length ones as well. Do you think those would be a better option?

see but even with the stockers im only using 1 or sometimes 2 fingers. never more than that. and since its alwasy my pointer and my middle finger, im only using the first half of the lever anyways.buy some people d use 4 fingers all the time and if thats what you do the longer lever prolly is a better choice.

I have those... same ones. They fit fine and look good, but I do wish I hadn't got the shorties.

Even so, it's not a big deal. When I pull the clutch in, my little finger is against the ball on the tip of the lever.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...0/835/32gj.jpg

Long ones may help but the inherent design is leverage deficient. It has a funky bend to be stylish but that reduces leverage. You will see when you put them on.

Like I said, mine are still on, but I also have CBR calipers with RJL pads so WAY more stopping power than stock to begin with.

Stock replicas are like 10 bucks a pair so you can always switch.

I only ever use 2 fingers but less leverage is still less leverage. 2 fingers on a stock lever still gives much more power than on a curved lever.

So at those sweet times when you need a big amount stopping power, you may then make the assesment that the solid object is approaching way too fast.

I feel like that is not the best time to find out.

Keeping the curved levers farther from the bar helps with headroom.

If I hold a wrench 6 inches down from the head to torque something down, it doesn't matter if there's still 2 feet of wrench past my hands for more leverage, because I'm only holding it 6 inches from the head.

On the stock brake lever I'm using two fingers, the only way the longer stock lever helps is if I hold the bar different so my two fingers are pulling the end of the lever. The stock lever only gives more leverage if u hold the end by using all 4 fingers.

Although I'm not sure how the bend in the shortys will come into play

Yes, intuitively that seems true the whole fulcrum thing, but in real life it doesnt work that way.

If it did, there would be no benefit to radial brakes, but the advantage is huge.

The bend changes the direction of force to limit mechanical advantage. This is the same reason shocks lose efficiency as they tilt away from 90* from the swingarm.

If you look closely at the levers, they dont provide the same leverage. (just one ride after you swap them will convince you)

Interesting while since u have then I'm sure ull know better.
That's interesting about shocks loosing effincy as they get further from 90 degrees from the swinger.

Makes me wonder about bikes like the 1199 and 899, which have completely horizontal shocks. Yet those are race bikes.... I don't understand.

I think I'm going to go with the full length ones. I'm in the habit of using all 4 fingers anyway. For some reason, the 2 finger method feels strange to me, but I was brought up with the 4 finger thing beaten into my head. If they don't feel safe, I can always buy the oem replicas later.

You know what they say. "If it feels good, Do It!!"

I live my life by this! it sometimes gets me in trouble! lmao