Am I missing something?

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Arnold Layne

New Member
Dec 3, 2010
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Nebraska
I've have only recently joined the MB crowd, and I really enjoy the look of the antique and board tracker customs. And make no mistake, my hat is off to you, lots of stunning craftmanship. My question is after all of the time and trouble you guys go to in creating these, why don't more of them go the extra 1/16th of a mile and add a hand clutch to emulate the originals? Once again, I am not whinin' cause you won't see me doing this kind of quality work, just curious. usflg
 
BarelyAWake

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
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Maine
Hand clutch? If you mean like a tank shift lever, then there's a coupla reasons - one being the moderate difficulty of converting the controls, the more important reason in my opinion would be the potential damage to ...rather sensitive and important body parts in a "sudden stop" situation ;)
 
bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
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living the dream in southern california
i'm also assuming you mean a frame mounted clutch lever of some sort.

here's the reason i wouldn't do it, unless i was building a show bike only...

antique motorcycles had a lot more power for taking off from the line, and race motorcycles usually were push started. they didn't have to deal with the pedal start from every stop.

the obvious difficulties you'd go through with normal starts, stops, slowing down, etc, not to mention panic stops is enough to not do it.

think about how much a bike jerks around sometimes when starting it. now think about controlling that bike with one hand on the bars and another on the lever.

also, a lot of the older motorcycles were belt driven, so the "clutch" was just a lever to engage the belt.
 
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msrfan

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2010
1,808
121
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Southern California
My homemade bike used to have a hand clutch but took too many hands to engage it, work the choke lever, twist the throttle and the compression release. So I changed to an autoclutch but will use the shift/clutch tank lever to engage a generator for lights in the future. The tank shifters really look cool.




 
ChopperDave

ChopperDave

New Member
Jul 10, 2010
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Washington State
msrfan said:
My homemade bike used to have a hand clutch but took too many hands to engage it, work the choke lever, twist the throttle and the compression release. So I changed to an autoclutch but will use the shift/clutch tank lever to engage a generator for lights in the future. The tank shifters really look cool.




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What really caught my eye wasn't the lever,(though that's cool too) it's the rear chain drive...PLEASE PLEASE...tell me more.
.wee.
 
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msrfan

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2010
1,808
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Southern California
I trimmed the inner pulley rim down and welded a sprocket on so I could have a chain final drive. The centrifugal clutch is a product made by 3rd Millineum Energy for late model Whizzers (1999 and later). They ran out of parts and no longer offer them. I modified it because I suspected the rear belt was slipping because of the 8hp Briggs motor has so much torque.


 
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msrfan

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2010
1,808
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Southern California
Hey cobrafreak, I checked out your build thread a while ago and really like the look of your bike. I may try to build one later with an old motor. It's cool how the chinese motor performs about the same as the original. Thanks for sharing it.
 
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hoodoo

Member
Dec 26, 2009
120
23
18
Buda, Texas
Arnold Layne said:
I've have only recently joined the MB crowd, and I really enjoy the look of the antique and board tracker customs. And make no mistake, my hat is off to you, lots of stunning craftmanship. My question is after all of the time and trouble you guys go to in creating these, why don't more of them go the extra 1/16th of a mile and add a hand clutch to emulate the originals? Once again, I am not whinin' cause you won't see me doing this kind of quality work, just curious. usflg
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I assume you are talking about that long handle lever that is so cool on one or the other side of the tanks. Although it is a cool addition (I intend to put a non-functional clutch lever on the 9hp Harleyish that is in the planning stages), because it is not functional, I think many of us are more concerned with the basics. I woudl like to add one to my 66cc stretched indian style bike.
What is interesting is that our 1918 indian (real deal) has one and the need for that clutch lever becomes readily apparently when you have to stop. You have the brake on the right, the clutch pedal on the left and guess what happens when you want to stop...you run out of feet real quick. It's not essentional with the sidecar (you don't fall over) but still fun to use and with ours it's easier to get started slowly by using the hand clutch rather than the foot clutch but that is probably due to it being over 80 years old.
 
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msrfan

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2010
1,808
121
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Southern California
A dummy lever would look cool, but why not give it some kind of function. Like let it activate a switch for the lights, ignition, etc? Or maybe use it for the clutch lock out so you don't have to have the one on the bar lever? How about a small linkage from it to the fuel shut off? I know, that's kinda of a stretch, but I'm just trying to point out all the possibilities so it will have a use other than looks. Like I mentioned before, I have my primary belt right under my de-commissioned tank clutch lever, so I'm desinging a bracket to hold a small generator, that usually rides on the tire, to ride on the belt instead. Every time I ride the bike people always ask, "What's that lever for? Shouldn't it be attached to something?". That got me thinking.
 
H

hoodoo

Member
Dec 26, 2009
120
23
18
Buda, Texas
msrfan said:
A dummy lever would look cool, but why not give it some kind of function. Like let it activate a switch for the lights, ignition, etc? Or maybe use it for the clutch lock out so you don't have to have the one on the bar lever? How about a small linkage from it to the fuel shut off? I know, that's kinda of a stretch, but I'm just trying to point out all the possibilities so it will have a use other than looks. Like I mentioned before, I have my primary belt right under my de-commissioned tank clutch lever, so I'm desinging a bracket to hold a small generator, that usually rides on the tire, to ride on the belt instead. Every time I ride the bike people always ask, "What's that lever for? Shouldn't it be attached to something?". That got me thinking.
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Actually you could use it for the clutch and get rid of the handlebar lever. Wouldn't have a long throw but would work that clutch good and also look quite good. The clutch is sort of stiff on mine.
 
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cobrafreak

New Member
Feb 16, 2011
1,049
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sacramento ca
On my Indian i have front and rear brakes on left and right respectively, throttle on the right that is activated by thumb only, and hand clutch on the tank. So when you take off you gas with right thumb and clutch with left hand on tank. When you brake you can grab both brakes and kill the engine in the process, but it is hard on tires, or you have to be quick and put the clutch in neutral then grab brakes. It took a little bit to get used to it but it works well. It would be cool to have two levers, one for gears and one for clutch, but it would be tricky to use. This is all about style, pure and simple. It's just neat to run a machine the way our great grandfathers may have done.
 
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hoodoo

Member
Dec 26, 2009
120
23
18
Buda, Texas
cobrafreak said:
On my Indian i have front and rear brakes on left and right respectively, throttle on the right that is activated by thumb only, and hand clutch on the tank. So when you take off you gas with right thumb and clutch with left hand on tank. When you brake you can grab both brakes and kill the engine in the process, but it is hard on tires, or you have to be quick and put the clutch in neutral then grab brakes. It took a little bit to get used to it but it works well. It would be cool to have two levers, one for gears and one for clutch, but it would be tricky to use. This is all about style, pure and simple. It's just neat to run a machine the way our great grandfathers may have done.
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You are absolutely right, when you make the it similar to what ggrandpop's had it really heightens the experience.
When I first drove a model T I was completely flustered with the hand brake/clutch, spark advance lever, throttle lever, forward two speed pedal,
foot brake pedal , and reverse pedal ....but after a few times the controls made sense and felt natural. Just like riding a bicycle, you start out all shaky and nervous and suddenly you are one. The old designs might appear intimidating as there were no automatic functions but in some ways you bond more with the vehicle and the controls become second nature.....right now I am trying to get used to the bowden cable control system on a 1921 Triumph, lets see, six different levers not including the clutch....and you have to hand pump the oil into the engine...no mechanical oiler. What is the old saying about the Brits?...They use five parts to do what Americans do with three...:)
 
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