Custom clutch lever possibilities???

TagZX-7R · 03-24-2006, 11:31 AM

I was born with a birth defect of my left hand which left me with only a thumb and two half-length fingers on my left hand. I've been like this my whole life and have always ridden bikes like this and it's never been much of an issue. However, due to the position of the lever on my 7R and the amount of travel the clutch lever has, I have a little more difficulty with it than any of the other bikes I've ridden. This is mostly a problem in low speed maneuvering and taking off from or coming to a complete stop. At speed I have no problems since I don't need to feather the clutch. Due to the size and power of this bike, I would like to be able to keep my thumb around the bar and still be able to fully actuate the clutch (probably hard to visualize).

Anyway, I'd like to reduce the distance and travel of the clutch lever to be about an inch off of the bar and fully actuate in that much travel. I've been looking around at aftermarket levers that might help accomplish this, but it's looking like I'm going to have to customize to end up with what I want. I have been trying to figure out how I could move the pivot point of the lever to decrease the required travel, but have also been thinking about maybe a larger diameter master cylinder.

Does anyone have any advice on where I should start with this or any aftermarket levers or MCs that might make this possible?

advodka · 03-25-2006, 10:15 AM

If you've had other bikes that the throw wasn't as much why not just switch the master cylinder from one of them to this bike? You could probably pick one up on ebay or your local cycle salvage pretty cheap. It's got a slipper clutch from the factory but I really don't think the throw of the clutch pushrod is much different.

TagZX-7R · 03-25-2006, 09:34 PM

That's actually a good idea. I'm not sure that it will be quite that simple though. If the clutch has a shorter throw, it may not necessarily mean it has a larger master cylinder which would be required to move the same amount of fluid to actuate the clutch as the current master cylinder.

advodka · 03-26-2006, 07:45 AM

If that doesn't work you can always try to find a shorter lever. Shorter lever = less throw. Alot of dirt bikes use to have short levers with liquid clutches you might be able to go to your local shop and see what they can match up.

LuvDog · 03-26-2006, 07:46 PM

These levers aren't exactly cheap, but I have a set on my bike and they are way more adjustable than stock levers.

I've got the shorty levers.

Pazzo Racing

TagZX-7R · 03-27-2006, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuvDog

These levers aren't exactly cheap, but I have a set on my bike and they are way more adjustable than stock levers.

I've got the shorty levers.

Pazzo Racing

From looking at their gallery, it looks like the shorty on the closest setting might get me pretty close to where I want to be. Do you have a pic of the lever on the closest setting so I can see where it sits in relation to the grip?

skiniOne · 03-27-2006, 01:21 PM

My friend recently lost two fingers on his left hand and I recommended a throttle style clutch that I saw on one of the biker build off shows. Exile Cycles was the builder and it looks like he is now selling the twist clutch on his site:

http://www.exilecycles.com/handlebars.shtml

I'm not sure if this could be adapted to a sport bike, but it would definately improve your grip.

TagZX-7R · 03-27-2006, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skiniOne

My friend recently lost two fingers on his left hand and I recommended a throttle style clutch that I saw on one of the biker build off shows. Exile Cycles was the builder and it looks like he is now selling the twist clutch on his site:

http://www.exilecycles.com/handlebars.shtml

I'm not sure if this could be adapted to a sport bike, but it would definately improve your grip.

Very cool idea, but $850 is a little steep!

LuvDog · 03-27-2006, 05:39 PM

yea... i can take some pics and post them.

LuvDog · 03-27-2006, 06:03 PM

it's a crappy pic, but here you go

TagZX-7R · 03-27-2006, 07:57 PM

thanks for the pic, I really appreciate it.

TagZX-7R · 03-27-2006, 08:01 PM

damn, I just went out to the garage and checked and that is exactly where the stock one sets on the closest setting. All well, back to the drawing board. Thanks again for the pics.

LuvDog · 03-27-2006, 08:04 PM

Really? on my bike these lever are WAY WAY closer to the bar at the closest setting than the stock ones were.

In fact... these lever are closer at the mid setting than my old stock levers were at the closest setting.

TagZX-7R · 03-27-2006, 09:13 PM

They may be a little bit closer, but here's a pic I just took.

LuvDog · 03-27-2006, 09:29 PM

Actually I think it's a lot closer.

It looks like you're measuring at the lever from the closest bend to the bar and it's 2.5 - 2.75 inches... the furthest part of the lever looks like it's 3.5 inches or more.

The furthest part of the Pazzo lever looks like it's about a full inch closer to the bar. The closest part of the lever to the bar looks like it's about 2 inches.

I can take some better pics.