[kfthompson]

To whom it may concern.......
I realize it has been awhile since I have posted anything, but life kind of does that to you.  I have a 2008 AVL Military that I am in the process of making into a bobber.
This is my inspiration:  http://royalenfieldmoto.free.fr/Bobber/details/index.html
 I have shed most of the excess weight, and have a solo seat on order, but I had some more mechanical questions.

1.  I am putting on a k&n air filter, and an upswept megaphone on the exhaust.  If I want to keep the stock carb for now, what kind of rejetting do I need to do?  ( i know this can start a long post war as to the problem with megaphones, jetting, etc. So please just give me info that can help)

2.  I want to put the dunlop k70 or k81 on this bike front and rear.  what is the largest width these rims can handle?

3.  Anyone ever cut a chrome fender before?  If so, is there a process that will help me to keep from losing the finish?

4.  This is a weird one:  Has anyone ever seen dual controls for one side?  e.g. clutch and front brake on the same hand.  The build is for my father in law who has a semi-paralyzed left arm.  he cant really pull a clutch or brake lever, but he can hold on!

I know this seems like alot, but you guys have came through in the past.  I really appreciate any help you can give.

Thanks in Advance,

kfthompson.


p.s. attached is the before and after for now. (after about 4 hours of work)

[Ice]

Welcome back.

 Back in the day of make do with what we have, we cut our chrome fenders slowly and carefully at first by hand with a hack saw and then later as time passed we gained access to a band saw so we used that. The big trick in either method was planing the cut ahead of time and going slow.

 The raw cut edge we painted with silver paint to delay the inevitable onset of rust.

 Alternate controls will take some thought.

 There are air shifters on the market. I looked up a nice one for a pal who was un able to shift due to a foot surgery. (hooray for fast healing) I will see If i can re find it, the price was nice and parts were decent quality.

  That might simplify things and open up some possibilities.
Foot clutch, foot brake, hand brake/ hand throttle and push button for shifting.

[kfthompson]

While I am thinking about it, anyone know of a cheap side license plate/tail-light setup out there?  All the ones I see are around $170, too rich for my blood.

[Ice]

 The old thread "successful carb settings" dissolved during server maintenance and that was a sad day as bunches of Bullet riders posted the specs for the jetting for the mods and average altitude. 

 Perhaps someone with a similar set up will chime in with what they are running so you can get an idea of where to start from.

Some 4.00-19's will fit without rubbing.
Link to some of Chris Bartlet's bullet pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisbartlett/

[matthewjohnson480@gmail.c]

Will be watching your build with much interest, had carpal tunnel surgery, makes pulling the clutch difficult.  Liked the french bike...Matt

[Ice]

 I have no experience with these company's but found the auto clutches very interesting.

Rekluse
http://www.rekluse.com/

EFM
http://www.efmautoclutch.com/

Disabled Motorcycle Rider
http://www.disabledmotorcyclerider.com/efmfaq.html

[bedlam]

You could run a 'suicide shift' with the clutch operated by the left foot and the gears shifted by hand. Quite common on chops but would need a foot lever making up that could pull the clutch cable.

Alternatively I've seen a bike owned by a chap who had lost his left arm, and the clutch lever had just been moved over to the right side along with the brake. He said it took a bit of getting used to, but then so did losing an arm...

[kfthompson]

I appreciate all of the info. I have been busy stripping the bike down, and getting it to look how I want it to. The clutch will be the last thing I do.  I had heard the double handle thing also, as well as the auto clutch.  That might be my best bet. Thanks again.

[tooseevee]

You could run a 'suicide shift' with the clutch operated by the left foot and the gears shifted by hand. Quite common on chops but would need a foot lever making up that could pull the clutch cable.

         More correctly suicide Clutch. Not suicide shift.

[bedlam]

I've only ever heard them called suicide shifts or jockey shifts, but neither are that common over here so my knowledge is limited to the meatheads on Discovery Channel. Whatever it's 'correctly' called, you knew what I meant.

[tooseevee]

I've only ever heard them called suicide shifts or jockey shifts, but neither are that common over here so my knowledge is limited to the meatheads on Discovery Channel. Whatever it's 'correctly' called, you knew what I meant.

            Yes, I knew what you meant, but suicide shift grates on my nerves & I can't help the correction. Jockey shift is correct. Suicide shift is not.

              And if you mean the Idiot Clowns from OCC, I agree with you. I have hated them since the first season 8 or 9 years ago because of their absolute perfect foolishness & their pretense that they are "bikers" & this is what choppers are. They are whores & idiots full of sound & fury (& bullshit) signifying nothing except the damage they've done.

               And please don't assume ANYthing about my biking history or what I like or don't like from any comments I may make about OCC.

[bedlam]

I couldn't agree more. At first I thought putting a show about making custom bikes on TV could only be a good thing. Wrong. Now everyone assumes that if you ride a customised Harley (as I do), you must be a moron like them. Actually, sometimes I am, but only when I choose to be!

Thankfully OCC seems to be slowly disappearing up its own exhaust as they all sue each other and fight over who owns the company.

The Great Biker Buildoff was a bit better if you ignored Paul Yaffe's nauseating belief in his own hype, but sadly the only 'personality' builder I really rated was taken from us - Indian Larry. Now there was a man who knew what a bike should look like.

Unfortunately, for many of us in the UK, those shows are our main connection to the American custom bike scene - which is why I don't know all the technical terms. Apparently neither do they! I have to be honest and admit that I thought the name was just a bit of biker slang to describe a (rather dangerous) setup where you have to let go of the bars to shift and can't put both feet down with the bike in gear. I stand corrected.

Thinking about it, probably not the ideal setup for our OP!

I've seen another variation on the jockey shift where a conventional hand clutch lever is on the end of the shifter so you shift and clutch with the left hand and there's no left foot control. What would this be called? Apart from confusing?

[GreenMachine]

My son recently acquired a shade tree mechanic chopper with a jockey shift on the side...It became a suicide shifter when it came apart as he was driving between Culpeper and my residence (The main nut for the shifter mechanism flew apart and is sitting somewhere on rt 29)..He sold that bike and brought a really nice 750 cc  bobber with mini apes to accompany his 1000 rr..I did drive it and wasn't all that impressed with that particular setup...Maybe some are better than others but I didn't care for it in particular..

[GreenRE]

The clutch-gear shifter on my Vespa and Chetak were on the left handlebar. Pull in the clutch twist to change gears. I understand that this does not solve your problem ....cant help but wonder if this has been tried on a motorcycle.

[Ice]

Found this easy pull clutch system / leverage multiplier thingy interesting.

http://www.mooseracing.com/catalog.jsp?level1=1756&level2=1782&level3=1784&level4=1800&product_group_id=7267&startPage=1