In this case the CPSC was right. Consistancy is important. Getting on a bike
and have the lever switch from your expectations is very dangerous, of
course if it is your bike you can change it. Brian Blum in Berkeley
>From: John Betmanis <johnb@oxford.net>
>To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: RE: [CR]NOS Masi on E-bay, Now: Cable routing
>Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:33:07 -0400
>
>At 11:20 AM 10/04/2007 -0500, Cheung, Doland wrote:
> >I've also heard another line of reasoning is, "That is the way
> >motorcycles are routed."
> >
> >I myself prefer left-front because it coincides with left-front-shift on
> >my modern bikes.
>
>So how do you reconcile having your motorcycle front brake on the right
>handlebar? (I started riding Eastern European and Japanese motorcycles and
>it took some effort to adapt to the right foot gearshift on British,
>Italian and some Spanish bikes. However, I have read somewhere that the
>human body is better at coordinating the left hand and the right foot. That
>was irrelavant when I raced motocross because I never used the cltuch to
>shift.)
>
>Anyway, as I recall when I first started riding bicycles in England in the
>1950s, they all had the front brake on the right. Take a look at pictures
>of some old roadsters with roller-lever brakes. They mostly all have the
>front brake on the right and it can't be switched without major work. When
>I got back into cycling in the late 1970s, I found the brakes had been
>switched. At first I thought it was a Japanese thing, but it turns out it
>was a decree by the U.S. Consumer Safety Nazis. Kids who grew up sliding
>the back wheel of their coaster brake bikes could do the same with a heavy
>right hand. It's all in here:
>http://www.cpsc.gov/BUSINFO/regsumbicycles.pdf "Unless a customer
>specifies otherwise, the hand lever that operates the rear brake must be on
>the right handlebar. The lever that operates the front brake must be on the
>left handlebar."
>
>Of course, when it comes to classic/vintage bikes, I guess the best
>arrangement is how the bike was originally assembled (unless you find that
>awkward or dangerous to ride).
>
>John Betmanis
>Woodstock, Ontario
>Canada