The Truth About Cheap Motorcycle Levers

One of the challenges when buying online is not having direct physical access to the product you have interest in. To bridge that gap retailers (we do this on our own site) use high resolution images, write good descriptive copy, post product video reviews and allow customers to post reviews. The buyer then uses these assets to educate themselves before pulling the trigger. Unfortunately the product does not always live up to the picture or the reviews. These MSZ Levers are a perfect example of just that. Sure they may look a lot like a CRG Lever, the truth is they are not even close.

At $35 - $40 per set it is easy to see why riders purchase these levers. When you put a picture of them next to CRG Levers they look pretty similar. In this video we compare them side by side in person which clearly shows the MSV Levers lack the quality and precision tolerances of the CRG. More importantly the MSZ Brake Lever in this video caused the brakes on a 2017 R6 to lock up which was the beginning of this project.

After our "The Truth About Cheap Motorcycle Levers" video went live it did not take long before there were hundreds of comments on this video. Inside of the first 2 days there have been multiple comments posted by riders saying their front brakes locked after installing MSZ Levers.

The images above were sent to us by a rider who crashed as a result of having his front brakes lock after installing MSZ Levers. Yep, the pic to the right is the X-Ray of broken bones caused by the wreck.

After the rider who crashed his Suzuki GSXR 1000 when the MZS Brake Lever caused his brakes to lock up posted a picture of the bike post crash on our Facebook post I reached out asking for permission to use them on this page. He not only gave permission, he sent more images to me via email including a couple shots of his X-Rays. We added this picture to erase any doubt someone might have as to what lever was on the bike. To be clear we are not doing to hurt someones business, we are doing it to help other riders avoid a similar fate. If we sell a couple of quality levers along the way that would be cool as well.

This project started with the pic of a comment left on one of our YouTube Videos posted by a rider experiencing his front brakes locking. He had just installed a set of Spiegler Brake Lines on his 2017 R6 and a set of MSZ Levers. Initially he thought the issue with the brakes was related to the new lines. We worked with him remotely to help determine the cause was the new MSZ Brake Lever. The levers in this video were sent to us by him so we could use them in this project.

The bottom line here is for levers, clip ons, rearsets, brake components or drive train components best practice is to stick with Brands that have a proven track record. Looking at that list there is not much margin for failure while riding before it becomes a real problem. Sure there are many riders with MZS Levers (and other cheap parts) that have not experience issues. That said there is a list long enough of riders that have you should ask yourself if the savings is worth the potential risk before purchasing.

We offer levers on our site from several brands we believe in such as CRG, Driven Racing, Vortex Racing, Lightech and more. Each of them has a solid reputation earned over many seasons and offers excellent customer support if there is an issue with one of their parts. The CRG Spectrum Levers sell for $129.90 PER SET on our site making them our most affordable option. If that is more than you want to spend we recommend leaving your OEM levers on the bike and enjoy the ride!

- Brian Van Owner and Founder STG