That "Old" Indian custom had a lot of non-original parts, but the engine was old..
This business of foot clutches and sudden releases of the clutch resulting in suicide seems a little silly to me. I think It's really best for all parties if my gearbox is in neutral while I am sitting at the light. This is explicit in the manual for my machine, which claims it's not good for either the clutch or gearbox, forget which, to sit and idle with the clutch disengaged. Clearly being in gear is not the safest. Even on a hand control bike, clutch cables DO break, and they usually break when the lever is pulled in. Of course the other solution to this suicide thing is a hand on the front brake, which should immediately stall anything with a front brake that isn't a joke.
So, the suicide clutch thing really only applies to guys who are big fans of peeling out from traffic lights, on their old school chopper with no front brake.
The tank mounted and jockey shifters (jockey shift is on the side of the engine, under your thigh generally as I've seen them) are very cool looking, clutching aside, and getting the controls and cables off the bar defines the old school look. I talked to a guy who rode a jockey shifter custom Harley and he said it was a blast, that there was nothing better than tapping that knob under the seat as you accelerate out of a corner.
