The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

ok... I've been doin some reading/investigating on suicide shifters and I think I'm gonna do it. I will have the shift bar made with the twisted metal to match the sissy bar. Now here's the question.....

I'm leaning toward putting a clutch lever on the suicide shifter (lever will be mounted verticle and below the grip).... or do I wanna turn the shift lever into the clutch.

I'm thinking with an aftermarket lever on the suicide shifter, I can just remove stock clutch lever/cable and remove the shift lever/linkage, and if I don't like the setup, it'll be easy to return to stock. That and I can still have 2 feet free when I stop ( wifey wiggles a lot) lol.

I know many don't like the suicide shifters, but just wondering what your thoughts are on which route I should go.

The old school guys called it a jockey shift & a suicide clutch. That would be a foot operated clutch.

No opinion from me but suggest good medical insurance & life insurance.

sounds cool ... i would go with the clutch on the shifter my self

If you rode by yourself I'd say go for it, but if you ride with the wife on the back I don't think I'd try it. To much going on with two people on the bike, some of the women ride like they have ants in their pants. Remember you still have to watch out for and be able to react to the morons in cars and trucks that could give a rats a$$ about motorcycles. But who knows I could be wrong and it might work out perfectly for you. Good luck if you decide to do it, I think it will look pretty cool. 

Welcome humpywarrior!!

HI... I USED TO BE JUST HUMPY BUT I LOST MY OLD E MAIL AND HAD TO MAKE A NEW LOGIN NAME

weight my friend weight. how much is this gonna weigh on the shift shaft? You don't want it pulling down as if it may shift gears when you hit a bump. If you decide to do it use aluminum for shifter and put clutch on pedal. Just my opinion. good luck 

never thought bout that.... I can't imagine it'd actually that easy for it to shift? The metal won't be as thick as the sissy bar, just will have the same twisted styling.

They been doing this on the RoadStar for years...  http://members.aol.com/marnmart/myhomepage/

Check out the RoadStarRiders   http://forums.delphiforums.com/1602/messages?msg=165368.1

Ya I stumbled across that 1st link last night.  I'm leaning towards something like Jeff's shifter but like I mentioned earlier, putting the clutch lever on below the grip. I've always been a HUGE fan of the older stripped to the basics strictly business bad*ss kinda sh^t.  Just think this will get me one step closer in that direction, that and a satin black with gloss black flamed paint job.

Gotta say I think that auto clutch would take all the fun outa riding. That and WAY outa my $ range.

Churchkey:

The old school guys called it a jockey shift & a suicide clutch. That would be a foot operated clutch.

No opinion from me but suggest good medical insurance & life insurance.

As far as I know, it's a suicide clutch if it doesn't have the friction device so you can place both feet on the road while stopped.  I read in an AMA magazine about how the old H-D's had a friction device for that reason.  Just having a simple pedal might be dangerous.  I wouldn't try it.  You're probably better off with the clutch being on the jockey shift. I imagine going through a hilly city like San Francisco or Seattle will be a PITA.

I personally think it looks awesome, but the clutch on the lever is a good plan.  They call the pedal clutch a suicide clutch for a reason.  Also, how hard do you ride?  If you like twisties I would think that might get combersome but I could very well be wrong, its happened before ( dont tell my G/F I think I have her fooled   ) 

On the old harley's the stock original clutch pedal there was a cam like friction pivot that allowed you to pivot the clutch pedal and the put you feet down at stop. The chopper crowd or people that couldn't find all the parts just put a return spring on the pedal so you had to keep you foot on the pedal to keep the clutch disengaged. I think thats were it becomes a true suicide clutch.

I think its an accident waiting to happen, but thats just me. Your bike is a personal thing and if you like it thats all that matters .  Good luck.

Hello,

Sorry to poke my head in, but as someone who rides a jockey-shifted/suicide clutched bike with his 8-year old son on a daily basis I thought I might be able to help...

The item youngja refers to is known as a rocker clutch and they are available from some catalog shops like www.masclassics.com . Here's an example of a rocker clutch:

On my bike I converted the stock forward control shifter to a true suicide clutch (think of a clutch on a car: push on, let off) using a clutch cable I shortened, a trottle return spring, some ingenuity and half a dozen clutch adjustments to get it working smooth as butter. The shifter is made from a Hurst shift lever & knob I had laying around the garage; I even made a little shifter boot to add to the look.

As far as riding goes, I too read horror stories on the various V-Twin forums and so on. Really, it isn't THAT big of a deal. I have been a drag racer for over 15 years and I am used shifting my 10-second Buick down the 1/4 mile, and I wanted something to remind me of that hence I went for it. The first day was a little rough as far as 1st gear starts go, and I stalled a few times in traffic (the bike moved very little). Once I isolated the problem and relubed the cable, by Day 3 I was able to feather the pedal with my left foot and "creep" along in Southern California freeway traffic with no problem. As far as stopping, finding neutral doesn't take long at all, or I can rev-match and slip the bike out of 2nd and into neutral as I roll to a stop and not use the clutch pedal at all. I commute 20 miles one way to work daily in stop & go and freeway traffic, take my son to school & tae kwon do, etc., etc. Left hand u-turns are not an issue because of the "feathering" I can with the left foot. There is a good sized hill as I leave my house with an uphill left turn-- again, no problem, I just keep my forefinger on the front brake. I have made one panic stop and just let the bike die. I've lost my "suicide lean" balance only once when I put my left foot down when I had the pedal down and my finger on the front brake-- POONK! A quick stall & I had refired within a few seconds.  

Once you get the hang of it, it really is a blast as it greatly augments the "man & machine" invovement factor. Some of the looks I get when at the hangouts are priceless, people seem amazed I ride the thing every day and that it isn't a weekend or bar-hopping bike. Not so!  I have received appreciative comments from way-old school guys, and at some point I want to try and adapt a police-style tank shifter to my bike. While I like the look of a true "behind the leg" jockey shifter, I have extended footpegs for my son's feet which put his left foot uncomfortably close to where he could kick the bike out of gear without realizing it, hence the route I took.

At any rate, thanks for letting me contribute, I hope this helped. If you have any other questions, please let me know.

TRacer, this is an excellent technical post you are to be commended.   The work is clean and well thought out.  I hope you don't mind I've added it to Popular Mods under 'clutch' to spread the info for those so inclined.  This may not be as competitive in the twisties but it looks good and you seem to have assembled a relatively safe system.