Hand control options

[jamestnewsonr65]

Im looking to simplify the handlebars a bit on my build and have already ordered an Acewell which arrived the other day.

I would like to keep the clean look and find some alternative controls and levers which are simple and clean looking. If possible I would like to use the existing cabling as I just received a set of featherlight throttle and clutch cables.

I will be removing the choke from the handlebars and installing choke pulls on the carbs.

If anyone has any suggestions on levers which work with the cables (not essential to work with them) or control options then I am all ears.

Thanks
James.

[steve hawkins]

If I were you I would see what you could do with your original levers.

You could strip and polish them.  A few 'lightening holes drilled in appropriate places could bling them up a bit.

Its an all or nothing thing, lose the whole lot, or keep the whole lot.

I have just gone to choke pulls make out of a couple of push bike spokes - shortened.  And a couple of cable clamps and washers.

Now what to do with the choke lever?  I just pulled it off and put a 41mm diameter brass cap, secured by original bolt, currently.  Its going to be fettled as it still looks a bike odd.

You could also legally lose your front brake light switch and associated wiring.  MOT rules state that all bike after 1986 have to have a front brake light switch as well as back.  Tony's bike does not have a front brake light switch as a result.  My R100 is 1982, so I am considering this.  If you leave anything behind that indicates that a brake light switch was fitted, you might have some explaining to do to the MOT man, so remove the switch.

I have lost my Kill switch as well, it had stopped functioning reliably, and stopped the bike as a consequence.  I removed rotary switch and smooth and filled where necessary.  I used a screw head cover over the hole.

Although I have run a bike without indicators, its not something I would recommend, especially since you are from 'that London', and every drives like a c*nt there.....

If I think of anything else I will let you know.

Cheers

[jamestnewsonr65]

I tried stripping one of them today and that to was a right pain in the arse, and I'm not sure the finish would be how I want it.

I might send them to the guy that did my other aluminium bits as they all turned out fantastic. Not sure the paint will be stripped with the vapour blasting though. Will give it a whirl, at least then I can send him the callipers too.

I'm not sure about no indicators! You are right though the daily commute from west to East is a minefield of complete arses on bikes.

[steve hawkins]

They were originally anodized.  So abrading and polishing them is your only answer.

They fade with time. you could always get the re-anodized?  As long as it is not some garish colour.

Polish alloy would be nicest.  I am also looking at modifying mine further, time to get the hacksaw out.

Rev Light

[lukasgrech]

I have just gone to choke pulls make out of a couple of push bike spokes - shortened.  And a couple of cable clamps and washers.

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but I've been looking at going for some choke pulls myself. My bike starts mostly without choke, and I would like a cleaner look.

Steve, any photos or instructions for how you made yours? Cheers!

[steve hawkins]

My first comment, is that if you can start it without chokes, then its time for a tune up.  You must be rich low down.  Time for a carb refresh methinks.

However, I went to a local pushbike shop (not Halfords) and asked for two old spokes with securing nuts, which they gave me for free and a couple of wire clamps (consisting of a bolt with a hole drilled through it, a washer and a dome head nut - which you do not want = £3.50).  You will need another washer and nylock nut each side as well.

Basically you take your carb off and remove the choke cable.  The you undo the nut on the carb that holds the lever assembly so that you can remove one of the levers (short one), and then put the other back on. back on.  

You then get your spoke, with its securing nut fitted and secured with Loctite.  Push it through the normal guide, till you can thread it through the clamp bolt with the lever set to have the choke off - get an idea of how long it needs to be and then cut it with a hack saw.

For final assembly, you need to ensure you have the two washers either side of the spoke as it goes through the clamp bolt and it is secured by the nylock nut only enough to grip the spoke, but not enough to prevent its rotation as the lever moves.  you could bend the bottom of the spoke if you want.

Check to ensure that the choke is able to be set fully off when the lever is down.

Rev. Light

[jamestnewsonr65]

This might give you an idea of how it should look/function.

These were the ones I was going to buy before steve mentioned the spokes working.

http://boxermetal.com/online-store/#!/~/product/category=3027367&id=13179793

[lukasgrech]

Cheers!

Yeah I have been thinking it is time for a carb refresh anyway, time to do some serious Snowbum and manual reading. Bit weary of getting stuck into the carbs as I've never done it before. 1st time for everything!

[jamestnewsonr65]

Steve, did you add this sort of thing to the end of the cable to attach it to the carb?

[steve hawkins]

Not quite.

The hole was on the bolt and not the nut.  However, you might get that to work as well.

Cheers

Rev. light

[lukasgrech]

I made some choke pulls out of 1.5mm diameter stainless steel rods. coil one end a couple of times around a pipe, and hey! cheap and super simple choke pulls.

Sorry for the incredibly shaky and crappy photo quality, but you get the idea

[jamestnewsonr65]

I like that idea. Might use that on mine.
How did you attach the other ends to the choke?

[arvo92]

I had similar ones before I turned back to original system. The end of the wire is just put through the choke pull lever and turned into U shape ending. Nothing tricky, pure mechanics.

[Luca]

Yeah I have been thinking it is time for a carb refresh anyway, time to do some serious Snowbum and manual reading. Bit weary of getting stuck into the carbs as I've never done it before. 1st time for everything!

Don't let Snowbum's sermon scare you.  Bing CV's and similar carburetors aren't complicated and are a great candidate for a first carb rebuild/cleaning.  Once you've confirmed or made the rubber good and the insides clean, all you need are some simple adjustments with the engine at operating temp.  

Just be careful to keep strong solvents away from rubber (including the impossible-to-see throttle shaft o-ring) and plastic and don't go scraping the important brass bits.  The enrichener or "choke" discs can also be installed backwards, so pay attention to them when you dismantle.

Lastly, leave the slide needles alone and put the mixture and idle screws back as you found them and adjust from there... and rebuild one carb at a time so you have the other as a reference  

[lukasgrech]

James, as Arvo said, just thread the rod through the choke pull lever, and bend it upwards. Works a treat.

Re-built my carbs with all fresh seals and clean, clear passages all around. Really simple carbs to work with, it was my first time ever doing something like that and it was very straightforward. Dialling in the optimum settings afterwards is simple too! I love my R65!