Left hand rear brake
 

Has anybody used a left hand rear brake?

I am still adapting to the bike but am wondering about fitting a left hand rear brake.

Part of the reason is to help prevent the bike from sliding backwards when I am stationary on very steep terrain. I quite often find it awkward to restart the bike on a steep uphill because the front wheel will just slide and it isn't possible to use the back brake and kicker at the same time.

I also hope it will help me to stay more balanced on the bike as I normally ride on the balls of my feet but this is not possible when I need to use or cover the rear brake, plus the benefits of having the foot free in a right hand corner.

Has anybody else fitted a LHRB and how do you find it?
I have looked at the Clake website and was considering the SLR as it is so much cheaper than the combined rear brake and clutch master cylinders. If I go down this route there are 2 options - use the SLR for the rear brake (1st finger for brake, others for clutch) or order the SLR for mineral oil and swap the rubber components on the clutch m/c so this can be used for the brake (1st finger clutch, others for brake). There is also the question about purchasing the dual control kit which retains the existing footbrake at the expense of some power at the hand brake.

I'd be interested to hear opinions, particularly if you have experience of using a LHRB set up.

Did you do a search on the forum? There are a quite few threads on the LHRB solutions available, and peoples experience.

I did consider it myself, and even went as far as buying a second hand master cylinder, similar to the one that Rekluse uses for their kit. My plan was to fabricate the rest of the parts myself. But I never got around to doing it, and nowadays I don't feel the need.

However, I planned to keep the rear brake pedal as well has having LHRB, for obvious reasons. To me, the rear pedal is the "panic" brake, and I use it when I stop thinking and just start doing things the way I am used to in an emergency.

I once watched my daughter on a borrowed Beta 250 where there was no rear brake pedal (and she wasn't told before trying it). She went right off the track, not because she carried too much speed in the first place, but because the bike didn't respond like she expected when approaching a turn and trying to hit the rear brake.