I like my front brake to be actuated by the right brake lever, Is there a rule, law, or convention stipulating which brake, Front or Rear, is to be actuated by which lever, Left or Right?
I like front/right and rear/left because the front/right combo matches my motorcycle.

Also which do you prefer and why?

I know I cross posted in bicycle mechanics but I wanted to know if there was a classic/vintage reason for which side is preferred.

I usually go Left front, unless the front caliper is British style (ie: has the cable on the left) then I kinda have to go right front to get good cable routing on 52-54cm frames.

Right/Front for British sourced bikes and fixed gears, all else get right/rear - left/front.........and no, I've never been confused....with the brakes that is

Most of mine are set up Right/Front, been that way for over 40 years. I only have one bike that is set up differently, and that one is a rod brake roadster and I can't conveniently switch that one.

Aaron

On all my bikes it's left/front. Always have been. Guess that's what I got used to.

I used to set them up right front, but as my motorcycles got both faster and had better rubber on them I found that I was doing a fair bit of skidding (and the occasional rear wheel riser) when grabbing a huge handful of front brake in panic mode. Much better to skid the rear on these narrow tires IMO. I now run the right to the rear, as that seems the more standard method anyway. Most my rear brakes are single pivots that are set up more for feel around descent corners than for outright braking power.

Left/Front. If I am hand signaling in traffic, I want the rear brake for speed modulation. I don't want an accidental clamping of the front brake causing me to go over the bars.

Right front. Thats the way I learned over 40 years ago. I change every bike I keep to that configuraton, which presents routing issues with side pulls with the cable on the right side. I rode motocycles for a number of years and learned to NOT panic with the right front. Periodic hard braking to understand the limits, sets me up for successful brake control and expectations of results. The practice works for both left or right for the front. Being right handed has something to do with it too as that is the side I do most of my precision control, writing, shooting weapons and cameras, tool selection, ignition key, painting, turning fastners to the right to tighten, shifting (including front rings on DT shifters), etc. My right fore arm is even bigger than my left! So I like to play to my strengths!

I took a break from bikes for 30 years and during that time, the preferred front brake control moved from right to left. Don't know when, my suspicion is that it was gradual or I was not aware of left/front controls on other bikes. My early bikes were 3 spd English "racers" and the rest were center pulls until I came back.

Left/front for me on all bikes.

+1. I stick with the left-front for these same reasons, even on my old British calipers.

I prefer the front brake on the right lever, so with center pulls I do that. And of course, if the cable attaches to the left side of the brake, the other end goes to the lever on the right. But if the cable attaches to the brake on the right side, it goes to the lever on the left.

I know some riders really do all their braking with one hand, braking only with the front brake. That's great. But for this to work, you have to put the front brake on the same lever on every bike. That's probably why I habitually brake with both hands.

Left-front is how every one of my bikes has come to me, it's never caused a problem, so I've had no compelling reason to switch. If I purchased a Euro bike that was right-front, though, I'd probably respect it and keep it in that configuration for novelty's sake.

Agreed!! I am "moto" all the way. And I signal a right turn with my right hand, left turn with my left hand.

Odd but, my experience and memory differs from SJX's from norms back in the day. Every road bike I remember from back in the 70's was front brake on the left.
I was quite surprised to learn, just in the last few years, that some prefer it on the right side.

I wish I had learned on Right/Front but I fear switching now would be confusing to my muscle memory. I wish I could switch so I could pull the rear brake with my left hand and shift gears with my right in preparation for stopping. Not a huge deal but would be better I think.

I use right/front regardless of brake type or age of bike The head tubes of my bikes are tall enough for it not to matter much.

All my bicycles have a right front... it started with riding fixed gear bicycles and vintage British bicycles and I switched all my bikes to this.

The fellow that owned my 1955 Lenton died because of a bicycle accident; he had purchased a new road bike and was going into a corner hard and grabbed what he thought was a handful of rear brake on the left side and on modern bicycles, this is the front brake.

Only my wife rides with a left front here but she is also left handed... at 40 she won't be switching and my daughters have been taught with a right hand front and warned that other people's bicycles will probably have backward brakes.

Left-front, just because that's what I'm used to and that's how they come to me. I am aware that right-front makes more sense, but it never seems like it's worth the conversion, both mechanical and mental. The only right-front I've got is my wife's '50s Raleigh Sports, which came with a rear coaster brake; I think it confuses her, but it's not worth the break from tradition.

Same answer as the other place you posted the same question..

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-left-or-right

Is there a Law, ? remnants of the British Empire , perhaps.

BF Sword in the right hand , so pass on the right.

Right front so it matches my motorcycles.

Right front all of mine.
I learned Cyclo-cross running dismounts on the left side.
A sliding rear is no big deal while a locked front produces a big muddy whack.

Been riding motorcycles for a very long time, RF is programed in.

-Bandera

Right front on all my bikes that I keep. I have better hand strength and control that way.

Come on OP, that's pretty bad form.

Left-front, left-front, left-front. Because why? Because that's the way my first bike was rigged, and because that's how the cables seem to want to be. I've played acoustic guitar most of my life, and my left hand is larger and stronger than my right.

The tandem is the only bike rigged differently. It is right-front & rear cantilevers, left-rear drum. The cables seem to want to be that way - the drum actuator is on the left.

Moto, duh!