Shifting pain

[durango9]

The continuing onset of arthritis in my left (clutch) hand has become a painful process when shifting gears.

I was wondering if anyone in the forum has done a modification to the clutch that would allow depressing the lever without having the flex or bend the 3 middle fingers. I'm only able to bend these fingers to 90 degrees which is not sufficient to depress the lever completely. I had thought of putting the clutch housing / lever on the inside of the handle bar so I could push the lever in with my palm instead of pulling it with my fingers.

Tried to do a search on the web, and did find some mods from the UK, but they looked pretty involved to make the change over to the right side handlebar.

Any thoughts on the would be appreciated

 

[mhgoldwing]

This should solve your problem

http://www.pingelonline.com/prodcat/electric-speed-shifters.asp

 

[T-Cat]

You might want to check out the link below for the Pingle electric shifter modification - they are made in Wisconsin - a bit expensive, but would let you shift by just pushing a button - Klictronic is another option (made in UK) and may be the one you found on web search - US contact link also listed.

http://www.pingelonline.com/electric-shifter-kits/77000-electric-speed-shifter-kit-honda-1800-goldwing-2001-2013.asp

[url]https://disabledmotorcyclerider.com/shifters.html

[/URL]

Here's a prior Trike Talk post on Electric shifters.

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/6476-Electric-Shifter

 

[RTwing]

I have ridden trikes with the electric shift and they do work very well - Another option is the Recluse clutch or automatic which engages with RPM. They are fussy and hard on clutches so I would probably stay away from that option.

 

[durango9]

Thank you very much for your responses. I will read over all the details.

I did not realize that these solutions existed, great news

This is another reason that this Forum is so great. Lots of knowledge.

 

[peteg59]

The electric shifters are good for someone with leg/foot issues, but rely on the stock clutch to operate from a stop.

I would not advise using them for shifting without a clutch in higher gears, as that can cause catastrophic failure of transmission components!

What you likely need is a Rekluse clutch. I'm not sure they make them for the wings, but they do make them for other Japanese bikes...

https://rekluse.com/

 

[JaysGone]

A few here may not agree with my solution to your issue as I too have severe hand issues.

Since the Pingle shifter isnt something Id add to any of my bikes.

My solution is rather simple.

Clutch?? What clutch??

I dont use it.

With most bikes Ive had. The GoldWing too. I only use the clutch when stopping or going from 1st to 2nd.

Having straight cut gears you really dont need a clutch at all. Upshifting isnt a problem and its easy to learn the rpm points if and when I do downshift.

When I used to road race my MGs and Camaros in my earlier SCAA days. No one used the clutch.

You just need to get to know the propper times to let off the gas and just shift it.

The main thing is to get over the fear I guess of doing some damages?? You wont.

The Wing wont grind or bang at all upshifting. Down shifting is a learned experience. Throwning a gear downshifting is an easy learning curve. The best solution there is dont down shift comming to a stop. Just slow down using the brakes and use the clutch when going eventually into 1st.

Can you possibly damage a transmition?? Of course you can. But I havent in over 200K miles of bike riding and who knows how many miles in car road racing.

https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/15588/clutch-less-shifting-why-does-it-work-is-it-bad

 

[durango9]

Shifting Pain

Thanks to all of you that responded. I appreciate your thoughts on the subject and the solutions suggested. I'm still reading.

As a side note the Pingel #77000 install instructions for the GL1800 clearly do not suggest this unit for a Trike. Their take on the difference between a 2 wheeler and a trike is the "Rotating Mass" of the trike puts increased pressure of the gears.

I guess I need to give that some more thought and more research.

Again thanks for your help

 

[mhgoldwing]

Thanks to all of you that responded. I appreciate your thoughts on the subject and the solutions suggested. I'm still reading.

As a side note the Pingel #77000 install instructions for the GL1800 clearly do not suggest this unit for a Trike. Their take on the difference between a 2 wheeler and a trike is the "Rotating Mass" of the trike puts increased pressure of the gears.

I guess I need to give that some more thought and more research.

Again thanks for your help

Try to find posts on other forums by "wheels", a double amputee who has ridden trikes for a couple hundred thousand miles and I believe he has the Pingel shifter.

 

[rodekyll]

I've used the pingel shifter. It's basically a bidirectional solenoid. It works good, but you can duplicate it with a pair of hood popper or starter solenoids.

The rolling mass issue assumes power shifting. Avoid the problems by unloading the throttle before shifting -- like you would for clutchless shifting.

And like folks have mentioned, the pingel doesn't do neutral or first from a stop. You still need a clutch for that. So if you still need the clutch and you have to mimick clutchless shifting anyway, perhaps JaysGone makes the better sense.

 

[Lee H. Mann]

I've used the pingel shifter. It's basically a bidirectional solenoid. It works good, but you can duplicate it with a pair of hood popper or starter solenoids.

The rolling mass issue assumes power shifting. Avoid the problems by unloading the throttle before shifting -- like you would for clutchless shifting.

And like folks have mentioned, the pingel doesn't do neutral or first from a stop. You still need a clutch for that. So if you still need the clutch and you have to mimick clutchless shifting anyway, perhaps JaysGone makes the better sense.

I did a foot clutch on a GL1500 years ago for a customer that had crippling arthritis in his left hand and added a Kliktronic shifter. The foot clutch was very sensitive to foot movement but in time I guess he got used to it.