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 .
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.

[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.