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Throttle on the left hand???

22K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  markk53 
#1 · (Edited)
Standing in the lot at bike nite and a bike comes down off the bridge and the guy is using his left hand for the throttle and as a turn signal...bike is looking very interesting as it turns into Quaker Steak and Lube...so we head down to where it is parking...

What a surprise...don't know how the pics will show up on this...took them by my cell...the guy said he built the (Indian) bike from the ground up...by himself, a young guy maybe in his twenties....bike was in great shape!
 
#3 ·
Oh I have had a couple of meals there, it is okay....I really like the barbeque outside during bike nite...they make a good burger!

Some of their meals are really different, not the typical dinner meal. I try something different each time. Why ....are they on some Health Dept list???:confused:
 
#7 ·
Oh well your loss...I go to see some of the bikes...some of them are so nice...like this Indian...and I found other examples of really good paint jobs so that when I decide I want my bike painted I know who I can take it to...


Older Indians had the throttle on the left hand side and the manual spark advance on the right hand side. I've only had the chance to ride one, and it was a brief experiment, and it was confusing, and challenging, at best.

He was in his twenty's and said he (re)built it from the ground up?

If that's true then I'd say he has a TON of cash and a LOT of time to learn how to work on archaic bikes. And I do mean he has had YEARS to figure that stuff out. (I'd also say he was fibbing to you.) Nice looking resto though!
Well he was saying that he has built bikes with his grandfather and his father before, but this is the first one he built by himself...he knew every part of that bike and where he got it and how he installed it....I heard him talking to another couple of guys there while I was waiting to get a pic of it! Maybe his "mentors" have always worked on older bikes like that....;)
 
#5 ·
Older Indians had the throttle on the left hand side and the manual spark advance on the right hand side. I've only had the chance to ride one, and it was a brief experiment, and it was confusing, and challenging, at best.

He was in his twenty's and said he (re)built it from the ground up?

If that's true then I'd say he has a TON of cash and a LOT of time to learn how to work on archaic bikes. And I do mean he has had YEARS to figure that stuff out. (I'd also say he was fibbing to you.) Nice looking resto though!
 
#10 ·
Thats a nice looking ride. Talk about having to completly re-learn to ride. That would throw me for a loop trying to ride something with throttle on the left.

He was in his twenty's and said he (re)built it from the ground up?

If that's true then I'd say he has a TON of cash and a LOT of time to learn how to work on archaic bikes. And I do mean he has had YEARS to figure that stuff out. (I'd also say he was fibbing to you.) Nice looking resto though!
Some people get into that stuff at a very young age, especially if someone like a father figure inspires them. Just because he's in his 20's doesn't mean he didn't do the work.
 
#9 ·
Last night was it....they finally pulled the winning ticket for the Harley! Last week it was for the Victory!

See if you go you can sign up for the raffle and the tickets pulled from each night are to see if they win either the Harley or the Victory....or both! They were decent looking bikes....the Harley had a paint job by the person I am going to have paint my bike (I hope)! It was cool....looked like raven feathers....;)
 
#11 ·
Oh, I didn't mean to imply it was impossible that he rebuilt it, just un-likely. But if he'd been working on bikes since a kid with his father and grandfather then yeah, I can see it. These bikes are, of course, somewhat rare, but the people that know, and I mean really KNOW how to work on them are even rarer still. So if the kid got an early start and is soaking up everything he can from his mentors, then he's an extremely lucky individual.
 
#14 ·
#22 ·
Most European bikes had the foot shifter on the right side. Ossa was an exception. Bultaco had the shift pattern reversed on the Metralla due to the link set up - one up four down. The Triumphs and BSAs along with most all other British bikes had the right side shift pedal from the thirties on up. I rode a 38 BSA 500 with the right side shift - a bit clunkier than my Bultacos no doubt, but very entertaining.

The thing that happened relative to the standardization had more to due with the huge influx and influence of the Japanese manufacturers who's machines virtually all had left side shifts. Some had a right side stub for conversion, but very few. So when it came time to standardize, it was the majority rule situation.

There were some weirdies there in the left side shift bikes from Japan too. There were the upside down patterns, now called roadrace patterns, where first is up. But they had some complications in neutral placement in some too. It could be N then up for 1-2-3-4-5 and there might have been some N then down for 1-2-3 or so.

The most notorious, the most insideous was the infamous rotational pattern from Bridgestone and maybe some others. It went N-1-2-3-4-N-1-2-3-4-N-1-2-3-4 ad infinitum. Yes, you are reading this right, you could shift through 4th and if, not knowing what gear you were in, you went for another gear you'd hit neutral, if you thought you missed a gear and shifted again you'd be screaming the guts out of the engine back in first. :eek: Talk about a dangerous pattern!

Personally I liked the right side shift/left side clutch... but then again I liked Bultacos and flat tracking. :thumbsup:
 
#17 ·
Quaker Steak and Lube... I saw that place on an episode of Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel. Looks like good food.
The bike is great. I would never ride it though. I sat on a Harley with the right side shifter. The owner told me to take it for a spin. I declined. I was fairly certain that at some point I would go to shift and lock up the rear brake or something stupid. Heck I have a hard enough time remembering where the stupid blinkers are when I switch between my Kawasaki and Harley.
 
#18 ·
I have to say...those old bikes look very sharp. He did a great job restoring it. Those old Indians are worth a good chunk of change. I know a guy who's selling his for forty G's. I'll just stick with my five hundred dollar Yamacycle. Nice pics, Raven! You'll have to post the pics of your paint job (when you have it done). :D
 
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