One of the first things I noticed on my new TL Predator was how big and awkward the hand controls for clutch and front brake seemed to be. You had to extend your grip too far forward to grab the front brake with a standard 2 finger grip, and then it wouldn’t come in far enough during hard braking, (and I’m a big guy with big hands too, it was even worse of a grip for my wife) I figured one day I’d modify them but no rush. Maybe Polaris made it this way, as it seems to make you get off the gas in order to reach forward to grab the brake.

After an unfortunate accident slamming into a far side of a witches eye at 30 mph in mid-air off a blind jump, the stock brake lever was slammed/forced forward by the pair of my clanking steel snardlies and the cheap pot-metal cast brake lever broke. OUCH! Yet the stock bars or steering stem didn’t bend at all. I hit way-hard guys, and I’m impressed I didn’t bend the frame, a-arms, or other suspension parts.

$22 at the dealer later, a new brake lever was in my hands and I figured I’d try to mod it a bit to get it to pull in further……….after comparing the 2 stock Polaris levers, I noted the original was stamped Revision C, and the new unit was stamped D…….AND THEY’VE CHANGED THE BEND AND SWEEP OF THE LEVERS!. Much nicer!

Rev D lever is almost 3/8” – 1/2” swept back further at the very tip, and tapers in along up the grip length. In the lever pocket where the master cylinder piston pins seats, I took a small stone in my Dremel tool and relieved the pocket about 1/16” deeper to bring the grip in further while under braking. Some porting and polishing later, its a custom fit that really helps as my braking comes on at about 3/8"-1/2" lever deflection, instead of almost instant to 1/4" brake grab from the factory.

It really works out much better now, so check out my new posted pic’s in the gallery to compare the 2 brake levers. Note I had a drill bit in the pivot point hole to keep the 2 levers uniformly positioned. They really are different.

So a cheap tip for a better grip? Check out what letter is stamped in the small circle on the bottom of your brake lever, and while I can’t speak for differences between Rev A, B, and C, I know D is a better sweep for a easier and safer grip.