Quest For Weirdness

[PAULYBOY]

Another whaddya think thread. My 20 YO and I are modifying a bike and making it slowly into a rigid frame with a solo seat and ape hanger bars. I mentioned suicide shift as an off the wall suggestion and he took it. I'm thinking of modifying the clutch cable to work by way of the left foot, and installing the suicide shifter up to about mid tank height. He has an 8 ball shift knob leftover from the deer avoidance ( or did he just fall asleep at the wheel) accident that totalled his F150. I've got a bar mocked up utlizing the standard footpegs to go just forward of the exhaust, and an idea of how to modify the clutch lever from the handle bar to act as a foot operated clutch. Does anyone have any ideas of how to fab a shift rod about 10 to 12 inches that I can graft the splined ( grooved) section of linkage to?

[TheCafeKid]

Hrmm. Thats an interesting idea indeed. Im not entirely sure how you would go about fabbing a foot actuated clutch, but one mod ive seen done on a few custom rod bikes with suicide shifters is to swap brake and clutch side on the bars. Would make for a bit of re-learning how to clutch and throttle, but apparently its not all that difficult, as it seems to be a pretty popular way to go about it.

Having the female spline set up done to a shifter bar might require some machining. Or perhaps, you could use a spare stock shifter lever, cut the section that attaches to the splines out, and weld it in to your new lever..just an idea.

[PAULYBOY]

Actually, Josh, the first weird idea I had was to bring the shift rod up and over the engine case to the right hand side, so you could clutch with the left and shift with the right. As for the idea about sectioning and welding, thats what I meant to imply, but I'm not typing that clearly today.
The other thing I'm trying to do on my son's "student budget" (meaning I get to pay out of my ever shrinking paycheck), is to fab forward controls, with the brake on the right and the clutch on the left of what I thought were called "highway pegs". Linkage rods and mini heim joints would do it for that, taking both off from theor original points on the main power unit.

[micahcondon]

I chopped the rear end down on my first 850L, put on a solo seat and some shorty pipes and drag bar, and it was a fun little bobber.

I tried just putting a long handle on the shift lever w/ the clutch there - very stylish but not too practical in rush-hour highway traffic :-) I also welded a bar w/ forward pegs to the front of the frame, and welded up a rear brake extension lever which worked pretty well. Thought about making a shift linkage w/ heim joints as you suggested, but never got around to it.

In the end I decided it was most rideable with the standard controls so I went back to that and it was a very fun ride, except in the rain w/ no rear fender. A little cramped, though, w/ the lowered seat

[tkent02]

Another whaddya think thread. My 20 YO and I are modifying a bike and making it slowly into a rigid frame with a solo seat and ape hanger bars. I mentioned suicide shift as an off the wall suggestion and he took it. I'm thinking of modifying the clutch cable to work by way of the left foot, and installing the suicide shifter up to about mid tank height. He has an 8 ball shift knob leftover from the deer avoidance ( or did he just fall asleep at the wheel) accident that totalled his F150. I've got a bar mocked up utlizing the standard footpegs to go just forward of the exhaust, and an idea of how to modify the clutch lever from the handle bar to act as a foot operated clutch. Does anyone have any ideas of how to fab a shift rod about 10 to 12 inches that I can graft the splined ( grooved) section of linkage to?

I'd say read your signature line.

If we try to solve tomorrows problems with yesterdays thinking, we'll never improve our quality of life, nor the length of time to enjoy it.

That stupid shifter crap went away fifty years ago for a good reason.
You want to kill your kid, just shoot him.

[Mark M]

I chopped the rear end down on my first 850L, put on a solo seat and some shorty pipes and drag bar, and it was a fun little bobber.

Very cool. I think I like the bobber look over the cafe look, every time I see a decent bobber I love it and want my own.

Question for the more experienced members of the group - exactly how bad is the ride on a hardtail frame, if you use a sprung seat? Short trips only, mostly a weekend toy/styling exercise kind of bike.

Thanks,
Mark

[tkent02]

Question for the more experienced members of the group - exactly how bad is the ride on a hardtail frame, if you use a sprung seat?

Does "the Flying W" mean anything to you?
Only applies to old dirt riders, and hard tails.

[Mark M]

Does "the Flying W" mean anything to you?
Only applies to old dirt riders, and hard tails.

It does. That is what I was afraid of...:-D

Mark

[Nessism]

That stupid shifter crap went away fifty years ago for a good reason.
You want to kill your kid, just shoot him.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

20 year olds do NOT need distractions while negotiating the motorways. Foot clutches and hand shifters went away for a reason. And ape hangers and rigid rear ends seriously effect vehicle handling as well.

Don’t mean to sound harsh but you are supporting this craziness and stacking the deck against your boy. Wait until he hits 100k road miles without incident before going down this kind of crazy road in building a bike.

[tkent02]

20 year olds do NOT need distractions while negotiating the motorways.

Well said.

[PAULYBOY]

Well said.

IBID. Thanks, gentlemen. I'll take all the comments under advisement. After all, you're all much more accomplished and tenured riders than me.

[Zooks]

I tend to agree. I want to restore an old WLA (or similar WW2 bike) in the near future but the 'suicide shifter' thing is not something I want to use in traffic on a regular basis. I will just use it for shows and vintage club runs.
Give your boy a fighting chance and get him a bike that handles and stops well and isn't crazy fast.

[PAULYBOY]

I don't plan on changing the rake or length of the front end, except for the small 2 or 3 degree change that occurs from lowering the rear of the bike by 3 inches. If thats a factor, I'm sure I could lower the front also. As for crazy fast, that aint gonna work. I chucked the idea of a foot clutch and a suicide shift. Looks like this will be a very slightly modified bike. All you guys bring up good points, which I passed on to sonny in the last couple of days. So my prime fabrication will be the mount for the solo seat and the running forward of the brake and shift to the "forward control" area. Heim joints ( ball joints) here I come!