To much free time on my hands-- and it works

[RacingJake]

Guess what I'm trying to do?

Top one power is off

Bottom one power is on

With alittle more welding on the bracket and second bracket to support the Ford starter soleniod and a switch on the handbar I'll be done.

I think it matches my bike prefectly.

 

[scotty]

Ill give you the wow award for that one Jake 8O 8O 8O .
At first I thought you were trying to get the stator cover off :lol: :lol: .
I started laughing but when the picture down loaded all i said was said WOW. 8O 8O

 

[WesV]

For those of us who haven't been around all the different GSs for a long time, please explain what is going on here! I see a ford starter relay, and it looks like it moves or somesuch?? Please explain how it works and what is its purpose?

 

[lecroy]

Looks good. I thought you didn't like all the high tech electrical stuff.


So, does the solenoid have enough force to pull in the clutch with all six springs on it's own, or do you have to pull in the clutch and then the solenoid holds it?

Are you planning to just use a push button, or are we seeing the future? (delay box?)

 

[RacingJake]

Hey I never thought a Ford starter soleniod was high tech but you are getting close Lecroy. I do have a Dedenbear RTD7 on order. I've crossed over to the darkside.

I've been looking around for an air clutch and much of them cost over $200 and if I piece together one from airshifter parts it's above $150. So I started thinking of something else that could work. So I pulled out this old soleniod that's been in my tool box for 15 years and with alittle cutting, ripping and welding I have something that should work.

The MRE lockup only compresses the springs to 1-1/8 of an inch and I only use 4 oem springs that should be close to 200 pounds static. The soleniod cannot pull the lever in but it can hold it in once the hand clutch is pulled in and power is supply to the soleniod, then the clutch lever can be released. I've tried to pull the lever out when power was on and I couldn't, it ain't coming out until the power is removed. It only draws 2-1/2 amps so that's not a problem for 10 seconds of use.

I should have it completed in a few more days then I'll have an electric clutch that when I stage the bike all I do is push a button and the clutch will stay disengaged until I let the button go. Once I get all the bugs work out and the delay box gets here I'll hook them up together and see if I can get some killer RT's. Or should I say Fast'est On Race Day.

Not to bad for a 6 dollar part. All I need to do now is slap on some blue oval stickers.

 

[Paul]

One word - INGENIOUS!
Let us know if it works OK at the track.

 

[RacingJake]

One word - INGENIOUS!
Let us know if it works OK at the track.

Well my wife calls me something else and it begins with an I too.

 

[lecroy]

I've crossed over to the darkside.

:lol: :lol:

 

[GSJoe]

Huh? :? I think I'm missing what's going on here. Could someone please enlighten me and all the other non-technical people here? Thanks!

 

[RacingJake]

Here goes, I got an 82 GS1100 that is for drag racing only. Instead of using my left hand to engage the clutch I'm using a electric soleniod to do the job for me. So when I stage the bike and see the last amber come on before the green does all I have to do is remove my thumb from the button and the soleniod engages the clutch for me. This way is faster and more consistent than using my hand on the clutch lever. When bracket racing racers do run on their dial in times and your reaction time is the only differance between a win or lose. This mod will reduce my reaction time alot.

 

[GSJoe]

Ok; thanks for the explaination!

 

[RacingJake]

I got it wired up and a switch on the left handlebar. So far it's working good, did a few op's checks in the garage (like 30). You can really hear the clutch lever snap back now due to the speed. My hand is just not as fast to make that same sound. One of my key features are that once you let go of the button and the clutch engages you can push the botton all day long and nothing is going to happen since it's a holding relay and not a pull in relay.

Big test will be at the track this week. May need alittle more find tuning with the cable free play. Biggest thing is it's a new process to learn when staging and launching. Who knows I might not need a delay box now??

Maybe I should go into bussiness making something like it but more pretty. Sell them for 50 bucks and everybody could get one and I could buy the island in the south pacific.

 

[scotty]

Make sure the island is long enough for a drg strip Jake.

 

[lecroy]

"My hand is just not as fast ..."

For what its worth, it's common practice to slow down the release on the air clutches.

 

[RacingJake]

For what its worth, it's common practice to slow down the release on the air clutches.

I never thought of that, more timed slip.

 

[cbxchris]

Never seen that one Jake. Hey good cheap idea if it works. Keep us posted on how it works! I knew EXACTLY what you were up to when I saw those pics. 8)

 

[Guest]

I've been working on something similar for my streetbike. I would like to be able to have my bike shift when I push a button on the bars. This is like the drag racers do. I would mount a small 12v motor (a remote trunk release motor would do just fine) under the seat & have the cable run to the shifter.When I push the button, the ignition would be killed then the elec. motor shifts the bike, then the ignition comes back on. Done properly these shifts are smoother than you could do with your clutch hand alone & can be done at full throttle. I think I need some kind of electric solenoid that could control these functions.
I am asking for your help with the type of solenoid I would need.

Diagram anyone????

Here is what I had in mind.....
http://www.holeshot.com/old/shifters/shifter3.html

Thanks, Paul

 

[RacingJake]

Only got ten runs tonight and the Ford soleniod worked great. I had it hooked up to the RTD7 box and that is going to take alittle time to get use too.

I was way to slow in releasing the button when the first amber lite, It feels odd doing it. I had 1.520 on the box and a few times I didn't release the button until the 3rd amber came on so I'm setting there on the rev-limiter with a green light and nothing happens until 1.5 seconds later a then bam I'm holding on for dear life. Also felt like the rear tire was spinning too coming out of the hole with a 7K so maybe a 6K chip will work better.

So I set the box to 0.000 and practice leaving off the last amber until I get use to using it. I did a best 60ft at 1.43, 330 at 4.12 and 660 at 6.46 so that's not to bad. The only thing I'm going to change is the button I'd had it up to high and my left thumb didn't like that.

So with alittle more fine tuning and practice I should get there.

 

[Anonymous]

Electric Shifter Enhancement

Electric Shifter Enhancement

I am not sure how strong that "soft steel" piece of angle iron is but I know what it is. It's like that corner bracketing stuff.....

I am afraid it will bend.

Simple mod - weld a piece of that flat steel in a diagonal from the lower right hand corner up to the left end of the top finger.

Then - box the whole thing in with another piece.
__
You'll end up with |\|--- solenoid here. (Sorry, no graphics --> |Z| )
---
This box with a diagonal will not bend under repeated use. Try to keep the whole assembly as light as possible.

Or, mill a piece of aluminum (Kats good at that) into the shape of a sideways or "L" shape.---> _|

Drill and tap 2 holes in the vertical leg of the "L" and mount it to the vertical metal piece attached to the plunger after putting in matching holes. Use small screws. (I know - you can't weld aluminum to steel)

The other horizontal leg of the aluminum L - use to attach to the clutch lever. If you don't want the aluminum to wear - drill the whole oversize and put in a simple steel sleeve - you can buy at most good hardware stores or size a piece of steel thinwall pipe. Or use a PVC sleeve.

A piece of aluminum flat plate is easy to fabricate a "L" shape. Make sure it is thick enough.

Or - don't do anything if you think that metal won't fatigue or bend.

Yep - I'm an engineer. Variations on this design are encouraged.

"Take 10 engineers, give them a problem, and you'll get 10 designs. Any 3 of them combined will work out all the bugs." Scheist. - Dieter
---

 

[RacingJake]

I did weld some more metal on the side of the bracket and it's not going to bend now. I'm not much of a welder but with my arc welder and about 6 sticks I can blast almost anything together.

Thanks for the other idea's.