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New guy from San Antonio, dont have a bike yet, but looking.

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RandomHero

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Making an intro thread to say Hello!! My name is Roger and im in San Antonio. I have never ridden before but always wanted too. My dad used to ride until her got married to my mom, and his entire side of the family are active riders. However they all live up north and im here in Texas.

Since this is an intro thread, i figure i should tell you a bit of something, i have recently made an into thread at the main forum for the bike im looking at buying (Suzuki Savage) to see if anyone has any ideas for me. Ideas you say?

well heres my into post from over there, give it a read and you will understand what im talking about...


wallof.txt but please bare with me...



Anyway, im a car guy (owned a V6 swapped MR2) however i have recently been bitten by the bug to ride and have decided on a Savage after a whole lot of internet research and stuff. Thought about a Buell Blast, but i want a Savage.

There is however a problem. I was born with a disability in my right hand. Which has never really stopped me from doing anything. I can drive 5spd car just fine. This is me for reference ( http://www.superhonda.com/photopost/data/519/medium/P1100047.jpg ) . Now i have balance and everything so i can ride properly, i rode my bike all the time as a kid and jumped it and did all sort of crazy stunts.

Heres where i need help and maybe you guys can help me out. What can i do to the bike to completely remove the right hand controls?

I went to HD a few days ago and talked with the salesman who works part time at my mothers office, he let me sit on some bikes to get a feel for the handle bar placement and stuff and i got to sit on the buell blast training bike. i probably coulda got more info but the training class wasnt in session when we were there. i also talked with a mechanic who has done some work with the wounded warriors program. Unfortunately, he hadnt done anything for right arm disabilities so he was just as lost as i was for ideas.

Ive come up with a few ideas, but since i dont have a bike in front of me to see how it would work i cant say if it would or not. Im currently browsing CL for used possibly not working Savages (im poor), as i can wrench on it to make it run on the cheap.

Maybe you guys might have some ideas on how to eliminate the right hand controls. I know its got to be possible somehow as ive seen some bobbers without their finger controls. Also i think alot of people have seen the youtube video of the bamarider that was missing his right arm and still raced his bike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNtfAz7Lbio


Ideas i have so far.

follow the bamariders idea and drop the clutch lever, and move the brake over, and run a twist throttle on the left.

Thumb throttle + Linked brake system. as far as the linked brakes, google-fu came up with a dual lever foot brake that runs on 2 independent master cylinders. i know there would be pros/cons to this set-up.
http://i.imgur.com/9DcL4.jpg

Anyway, i hope some of you might have some ideas or might be able to point me in the right direction. Like i said this is my first bike so i dont have alot of knowledge on how they operate but i can learn and i understand the basics. Im up for trying anything that may work and be simple and safe. Im gonna try and find me a non running Savage so i can at least get it running and if i cant find a way for the bike to be safe for me, i will just have to realize riding aint for me and sell a running Savage for some profit.
Click to expand...

Please feel free to help me with ideas and feel free to ask any questions. I have a few ideas i think might work and a few ideas from the other boards seem to be good (EFM Autoclutch)
 
also, can anyone recommend a good mechanic in San Antonio? or a good custom bike shop?


also, im currently looking for a non running Suzuki Savage for cheap, if any of you have one or know where i can find one, that would be great!! :rider:
 
Welcome. Some of the early military and police motorcycles had limited or no right hand controls and I believe that some of the newer ABS bikes allow both brakes to be operated by one control or the other.

Mert Lawill is a dirt track racer from the 60s and 70s who build prostetics for motorcycle riders. You may want to contact his office.

http://www.mertlawwill.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1


A friend of mine without the full use of his right hand recently completed the Trans America Trail on a stock Yamaha WR250. Best of luck.
 
Welcome, and good luck.

I don't know of any savages being sold, so I can't help you there. I would think there'd be some way to modify just about any linked system so you don't need the front lever at all. The ST (my ride) is linked, and works quite well. The proportional valve that controls the linking may be changeable, I'm not sure...never thought about it. Swapping the throttle from right to left seems like a mundane task, too. More difficult would be deciding which of the electricals are important enough to have to hand at all times. My guess is the starter, emergency flashers, kill switch could be moved off the handlebar, to some other location easily accessible, but not crowding your left hand.

As both an AF Vet, and someone who's known more than a few with damaged limbs, welcome aboard, and I hope to see you out there. Durned near brings a tear to my eye every time I see folks overcoming disabilities to do the things they love to do. If I can be of service, let me know.
 
Welcome to TWT.

I don't think it will be all that hard to swap the controls to the left side since on most or at least a lot of bikes everything other than the starter and kill switch are mounted on the left. The brake can be converted to foot control and with the linked systems out there it may not be necessary to do a lot of work to achieve this. With a little bit of shade tree engineering I see this as a project that could be done.

Now if you were to find a bike that there is a Recluse system for the clutch, the front brake could easily be moved to the left handlebar.


Posting with Tapatalk for iPhone.
 
Hemibee said:
Welcome to TWT.

I don't think it will be all that hard to swap the controls to the left side since on most or at least a lot of bikes everything other than the starter and kill switch are mounted on the left. The brake can be converted to foot control and with the linked systems out there it may not be necessary to do a lot of work to achieve this. With a little bit of shade tree engineering I see this as a project that could be done.

Now if you were to find a bike that there is a Recluse system for the clutch, the front brake could easily be moved to the left handlebar.


Posting with Tapatalk for iPhone.
Click to expand...

the more i think about a linked system, the more it scares me. that is, unless its rigged with ABS, and on a small bike like the Savage im not sure how that would be to do.

I was looking at the Rekluse systems, but noticed they were mainly for dirt bikes, thats when i found EFM http://www.efmautoclutch.com/ , which is more for street/cruisers/choppers.

I do however like this from Rekluse. http://www.rekluse.com/brake.shtml
 
I was concerned about a linked system, too, when I first started looking at the ST.

If you're going to do a lot of dirt riding, then I fully understand. Since I don't believe you will, there's really nothing to be scared about. They can be finicky at maintenance time, but other than that, they're great systems, and easy to get accustomed to.

Putting ABS on that bike might prove....difficult. Not impossible, just rough.
 
Welcome. I'm originally from San Antonio myself.

I'll leave the engineering discussion to guys who are more mechanically inclined than me. And that would be most of them. But bike controls aren't all that complicated; I have to believe this is doable.
 
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