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Message started by Rocco on 05/25/09 at 10:23:19

Title: dead man's clutch??
Post by Rocco on 05/25/09 at 10:23:19

i saw a rat bike the other day and it had no clutch on the handle bars but a gear shifter from a car down below?

i heard an older guy say "they don't call it a dead man's clutch for nothing!"

is that really really old school? how does it work? i'm very intrigued by the whole thing!

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by dasch on 05/25/09 at 10:43:09

...it might have had a clutch lever on the gear shifter, or a foot powered one; a pedal like in a manual car replacing the gear shifter. You hit the clutch pedal and reach down and shift with your hand. That is old school, but it works just fine on nice, lazy roads.
I think they call it that because it's easier to die with only one hand on the handlebar ;)

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by marshall13 on 05/25/09 at 10:50:15

4E737F7F731C0 wrote:

the earliest bikes with gears had hand shift, foot clutch... the clutches come in 2 varieties, "suicide", and "rocker"... the "suicide" variety is basically the same as your handclutch, it self applies the clutch from the de-clutch position(if your foot slips off at a light with the trans in first, the bike jumps... that's where the "suicide" comes from)... the "rocker" takes a deliberate action to make it clutch... think of a "toe-heel shifter" rig on a dresser with floorboards... pressure to the "toe" lever end de-clutches the bike. then one slowly applies pressure to the "heel" lever, and the clutch engages... the clutch and levers have a neutral mechanical advantage by design, so if you have the bike de-clutched, and your foot slips off the lever, the clutch remains de-clutched... no jump into the intersection.... in the early 70s the fed hiway safety boys, and DOT decided that americans were too lame to handle differences in shift configs, so every bike sold as new here had to have left foot shifting, left hand clutching(it also allows both hands to remain on the bars during a shift, and you to use both feet at a light for balance)... that rule only applies to OEM, not the owner, so you can change to foot clutch if you like... check out left side pics of old harleys, and you'll see the shifter up on the tank... "seat of the pants" shifters were just a simplification of the shift mechanism, eliminating a few moving parts, and a few pounds of weight... it offers no real advantage, and a few disadvantages....

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Savage Eddie on 05/25/09 at 10:59:22

My buddys doing a "suicide shifter" on his Honds rat. hope he takes some pics i can post

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u248/socomiou1/bike/IMG00299.jpghttp://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u248/socomiou1/bike/IMG00297.jpg

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Rocco on 05/25/09 at 11:17:04

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! :o

makes sense, that's pretty freaking cool! i think i'd prefer both hands on the bars ! !

i heard u have to be crazy to ride a bike

u have to be insane to ride a bike in south fla

but a suicide shifter IN south fla??!! that dude was nuts ! hahaha

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by marshall13 on 05/25/09 at 11:37:41

310C00000C630 wrote:

saw a suzi v-twin with a suicide shift and no front brake on craigs-list the other day(on a hill, this bike would have no brake available at a stop with the clutch "in").... i call those "posing conversions", as the only advantage to such a mod is how "cool" you look sitting on it at a bike night.... the extra mass of a hand shifter that has no positive stop for the shift handle WILL cause rapid wear on the internal shift mechanisms(forks, dogs, cams, etc).....

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Rocco on 05/25/09 at 12:44:55

i don't think i'd ditch the front brakes lol i like to look cool, but i like not eating trunks a little bit more!

and i agree, you are posing if it'll get u killed easier...i'm thinking the point behind riding is to stay alive to ride more! lol

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by marshall13 on 05/25/09 at 13:03:11

437E72727E110 wrote:

i subscribe to the buckminster fuller theory of design... "form follows function".... that suzi i mentioned is in complete violation of that theory... a mechanical mod should increase functionality, or comfort.. one that does that, and also increases the bikes beauty( a very subjective measurement) is a great mod... reducing functionability for "style" is almost always a dopey move.... i know, this flies in the face of current "custom" trends, but which bike would you put more miles on... one that "fits like a glove" as far as comfort and function is concerned, or one that "looks rad!!", but is uncomfortable, and hard to control? saturday nights on the beach "strip", the latter is most likely to be seen, but for the monday to friday commutes, the former is the ride of choice....

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Rocco on 05/25/09 at 14:04:29

hell yes! now, i'm going for "that's wicked!" and i can still ride her everyday safely ! !

stupidity is no longer cool!

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by High-Def on 05/25/09 at 14:06:46

Dito, daily rider here so I can only mod so far before it get's into that "just not practicle" stage.

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Yonuh Adisi on 05/25/09 at 14:58:32

Even though the FireLizard doesn't look like it would be good as a daily rider, and looks very impractical, I can still use it for one and zip around traffic without a problem. She still gets great mpg, and like I said, works fine as a daily rider.

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Demin on 05/25/09 at 15:30:12

stupidity is no longer cool!

It's not?!...darn! :-? :o ::)
:-/

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by marshall13 on 05/25/09 at 17:33:01

7046475C41684D405A40290 wrote:

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Yonuh Adisi on 05/25/09 at 17:47:15

464A5958434A47471A182B0 wrote:

[quote author=7046475C41684D405A40290 link=1243272199/0#10 date=1243288712]Even though the FireLizard doesn't look like it would be good as a daily rider, and looks very impractical, I can still use it for one and zip around traffic without a problem. She still gets great mpg, and like I said, works fine as a daily rider.

she looks like a sweet ride.. a little slower steering than stock, but the longer wheelbase adds stability... you made design decisions that fit your ideal, and conditions.. your minidrum front brake would be a handicap in florida, potentially, but in new mexico it's a good solution... my critique of cusomization trends had nothing to do with any ride ive seen here, it was more meant for the "disco lights and transparent clutch covers" set.....lol[/quote]

I didn't think you were referring to any of the bikes here, I was just mentioning that you can make it look radical and still have the daily rider aspect as long as you keep in mind that it is a daily rider and not a trailer queen. ;) ;)

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by JohnBoy on 05/28/09 at 12:33:19

I have seen a couple of custom rigs that have the clutch cable running to the inside of the left hand grip. The right twist is gas and left twist is clutch. I can se where it might be slightly quicker, but not for me.

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by marshall13 on 05/28/09 at 13:45:25

6C494E4864495F260 wrote:

another variation on way old harley rigging...flatheads and early knucks had manual spark advance.... you twisted the left grip for spark advance, right for throttle... the earliest model t fords had manual spark advance too(2 levers on the column, spark and throttle, plus 3 pedals on the floor... forward, reverse, and brake)... those riders and drivers of the 20s and 30s must have had some octopus genetics...rofl

Title: Re: dead man's clutch??
Post by Rocco on 05/28/09 at 23:27:44

i assume also there were no women drivers either lol just kidding ladies!!