Forum

[MHSILVERW]

Hi, As I ponder a rigid conversion for my 350 I was wondering if anyone has converted their bullet to 'hand-change' rather than foot change. Wasnt sure if this could be done from the gear pedal fixing or perhaps the neutral finder...somehow! Just a thought as something to complement the rigid style...I cant see any accessory or parts on the Hitchcocks site for this - but might be a useful option for some. I gather yrs ago MZ offerred some sort of hand change for their TS250 & TS250/1 (well listed a part in the spares book) - anyone done this with a Bullet?
Mark

[Exile]

I did see this one...


http://www.realclassic.co.uk/bullet07082400.html (You'll have to copy and paste the link..)



Nice article too...

[PeteF]

Why not a lever throttle, manual advance, exposed valves, belt drive, girder forks, flat tank..... Honestly, if you want a pre-war bike why not buy one?
Just my opinion.

[MadMike]

I concur Pete. I have never understood why anybody would want to take a perfectly good swinging arm frame and make it rigid, then to want a hand gear change!!!!!!! Frankly if that is what you want then there are plenty available. They are tue vintage and veteran motorcycles. I accept that a disabled person may want/need a hand change, but other than that why would you want to let go of the bars in order to change gear? If the operating lever was on the right then you would not be able to reach the front brake lever, and if it was on the left then you have clutch operating issues. It is a free world and each to his own but why on earth would you????

[MadMike]

Me again. The easiest way would be to simply weld a long lever with a hand grip to a spare gear pedal and then shape it around the tank.

[Norm]

I did something like this to a cafe racer I built last year it wasnt really a gear change lever but a neutral finder lever because with the rearsets it was too hard to get your foot to the neutral finder.You could also change gears with it but once we fitted an 8 ball billiard ball to it and the fact the lever was long up beside the tank every time you went over a bump in the road like speed humps the weight of the 8 ball would throw it into neutral. Another great idea that didn't quite work out

[Bullet Whisperer]

A couple of years ago I restored a customised T150V which had been thrown up the road. It was a café racer style job, but someone had converted it to hand change on the left and foot operated clutch, also on the left. I asked the new owner, who I was rebuilding it for, if he would like it putting back to 'normal', but he didn't, as some big name in the U.S. customising scene had built it. That was the only bike I have worked on that I chose not to test ride after the job was done - the end of our lane tees with the very busy A40 and I didn't fancy having my left foot up and trying to control the clutch, while my left hand was off the bars shifting gears whilst trying to move off from the bollard into the traffic. Sod that for a game of soldiers - no wonder it got crashed in the first place. Hand change machines were a current thing when the roads were much quieter and what traffic there was would have been much slower. It would take a braver man than me to convert anything to hand change - good luck if you go for it though! Paul.

[Peter 53]

Convert to left-hand lever and clutch lever at the top of the shifter?
I've seen this done. I was actually condiderign a foot clutch a while back as I had problems with my hands, but riding in heavy London traffic meant commom sense prevailed.

[Peter 53]

[Bullet Whisperer]

Here is that Trident [maybe]. Paul.