BrakeAway Cruise Grip Resizing Method

Bedifferent

Old man on a bike
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
1,764
Location
Coldwater, MI
Ride
2015 Rocket 3 Touring
I plan on installing a BrakeAway throttle lock on my R3T this spring as I had one on my Valkyrie and loved it. The problem is, the flair on the end of the stock grip is to large. BrakeAway recommends the the flair be turned down below 1.900 inches for it to fit and work properly. Well, how do you do that, get it perfectly round and not butcher the flair on the grip. Since I quit teaching I no longer have my machine shop and a lathe to work with so here is what I did.

I discovered that a 3/4" deep well socket had a 1" OD and fit perfectly inside on the new grip I had bought for this purpose. A $12.00 replacement item. I took a short piece of 2 X 4 and drilled a 1" recess exactly where I needed it from edge of the board so as to be able to sand the flair down to size, but not sand or damage the area where the throttle cables attach. The drilled recess was used to prevent the socket from moving when I fastened it to the board with a screw and washer. I placed the grip over the socket and brought the wood block and grip over to the surface of my belt sander. My sander has a stop to keep the block of wood from moving. I began rotating the grip against the sanding belt as I gradually moved the edge of the block and the grip closer to the belt. When the edge of the block finally rested against the sanding belt surface I rotated the throttle grip a few more times on the socket to create a perfectly cut, round and flat flair. My grip flair is now .060 undersized or 1.840 in diameter.

You will find that when you cut the flair down, the rubber that is molded over the flair on the grip will separate from the solid plastic core. Simply cut it off with a razor blade at the two points where it will still be attached and you're done (shown in the last photo). In the end, you have a perfectly flat and round surface for the BrakeAway to grip and rest on. I have shown some pictures below to illustrate the steps. I have numerous wood working tool that I used to true up my wood block and a drill press to drill some holes, but I could have done this with less. You will, however, need a belt sander or some way to sand/grind/cut the flair down to size while rotating the grip on the socket. I know...I could have bought different brand grips but I decided not to do this. Good luck on your effort should you decide to try this method.
 

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