[Chillyhead]

Hi all, been away for a while so it’s great to back amongst you fine fellas.

Trying to decide between the Barracuda levers and the Puig levers.
I like the Puigs but that horrible font they use for “Hi Tech Parts” is just awful and is really putting me off. They look great though. On the other hand. The Barracudas don’t look as gritty are still pretty slick, a lot more expensive tough.

What you you guys reckon?

Cheers dudes.

 

[nightic]

Hi all, been away for a while so it’s great to back amongst you fine fellas.

Trying to decide between the Barracuda levers and the Puig levers.
I like the Puigs but that horrible font they use for “Hi Tech Parts” is just awful and is really putting me off. They look great though. On the other hand. The Barracudas don’t look as gritty are still pretty slick, a lot more expensive tough.

What you you guys reckon?

Cheers dudes.

I think these style levers, especially with cut-outs, prominent lever tips and very angular ergomonics, are too sporty for the XSR700 and look pretty generic at that (i.e. somewhat sharing the standard $20 ebay Chinese lever style).

The best fit, imho, are the Gilles Tooling ones (B34-FCLLE / B34-FBRLE-00-00, not the FXLs), although they're only available in a full finger version (and non-folding).

Otherwise some of Rizoma's (specifically the LBJ / LCJ range) seems a decent bet (stupid price alert!).

Personally, I went for a pair of fully Blacked-out CRG RC2 for an industrial and non-generic look.
(I opted for shorties, although their ergonomics means they're a hybrid size, comfortably allowing 3 finger use, if required.)
They're not perfect though, and had Gilles Tooling made a short version of the above lever, that's likely what I would have gone for (despite, again, daft pricing).

HTH

 

[nightic]

Photo of the CRG RC2 Shorty Clutch Lever fitted to the XSR700.
Pretty nice items overall and the replaceable Delrin tips are a nice touch (which although prominent are not the slightly twee, perfectly round shape that's often found on after-market levers) but they still verge too far to the racer side to be ideal (they have milled out areas but not the fully cut out sections, usually along the lever length, of generic/ebay parts). Also, the CRG logo is terrible.
(Had to spend an extra $20 to replace the stock Red 'Clicker/Pointer' with the pictured Black one too.)

 

[Chillyhead]

Hi guys, thanks for such great replies. You’ve hit the nail on the head for me. You’ve pinpointed the thing that I hadn’t realised was bothering me. Too sporty!

I really like the look of the CRG levers, much better look. That logo could be a deal breaker for me though. Any good ideas for covering it up? Paint would just come off after a bit.

The rizomas are nice too but nearly fainted when I saw the price.

Your advice is just what I’m after as the bike is almost perfect for me as it is, just needs a couple of minor changes. Black rad guard, mesh in the panel holes, USB sockets and now the levers. It’s in garage grey and I just love how raw the thing looks.

I’d love a pair that matched the engine colour but maybe that’s too much. I see now how bad my taste is.

The crgs look great though. I’ll look into that logo thing.

Cheers dudes.

 

[nightic]

Could probably do a decent job with a steady hand and a fine-to-medium tip permanent/paint marker.
Alternatively painting with an enamel paint and a very fine (~size 00 / 000) brush should also work well, as the logo is actually laser etched and so slightly recessed, allowing you to infill the logo.
The fact that it's recessed should also lend some resistance to wear, at least more so than a painted even surface.

 

[nightic]

Just had a closer look and would now say using a fine or extra fine permanent/paint marker would be the best choice.
May give this a try myself at some stage.

Somewhat related, but for anyone disliking the contrast stitching on the standard seat, fabric dye pens (Dylon brand, in my case), do a decent job of re-colouring or blacking it out.
(It needs to be 'painted' about 3 times for deep penetration in to the stitching, ime.)

 

[mattswan2512]

Does changing the lever adjust the bite point....or can this be done on the stock. Reason is its a smidge to far out for my liking and my gloves can sometime get caught and struggle to stretch. Sorry if this is a dumb question.

 

[nightic]

Does changing the lever adjust the bite point....or can this be done on the stock. Reason is its a smidge to far out for my liking and my gloves can sometime get caught and struggle to stretch. Sorry if this is a dumb question.

Assuming you buy adjustable levers, it allows you to select how close or far away from the bar the 'friction zone'/biting range will be (within reason).
In your case it seems that bringing the lever closer would benefit you.
Definitely a much nicer experience than using the stock non-adjustable bars and if going with shorter versions, keeps that pesky little finger out of the equation too.