Suicide clutch
 

I know old Indians, and i think old HDs to, have the suicide clutch. I asked an old timer why its called that, he says cause if you use it wrong it will flip you over backwards. At highway speeds that equals death. That makes me afraid to ride it and i've been riding for a while. Anyone ever rode an oldie with the suicide clutch?

Really they were called that was because (the I know betters will be in shortly) you had to shift with one hand, clutch and release with a foot and break and throttle with the other hand.and foot... on a hill it was a PITA..... definitely a hand/eye/foot/hand coordination thing..... hence suicide shift.

I will be proven wrong in a matter of hours, TIA

The old timer is full of shit. Flip you over bacwards?

Suicide clutch got the name because if a rider couldn't find neutral and he lost balance his foot would come off the clutch causing his scooter to jump into traffic.

flip over backwards ? thats funny . Maybe he's thinking about a "suicide kick start"

I had one of those! ( w/a magneto.)

Gimpy

Left foot clutch. Left hand on jockey shift. Right foot on brake. Right hand on throttle to keep the damn thing running and to steer.
Better find neutral fast coming to a stop at a signal/intersection or out you went into traffic.
Also factor in usually 1 or more false neutrals to keep you on your toes.

The old bikes had "rocker" clutches, not suicide clutches. The clutch pedal stayed where you put it, if the tension was set correctly.

Now, a rocker clutch could become a suicide if the tension was too loose. But even then it simply mimics a car clutch - pedal down & you're disengaged; pedal up & you're engaged.

Nope,, just the thought of having one Scarrred me...




.

I like the idea, but starting on a hill with one terrifies me.

I had an old 1942 "45" Flat Head when I was 16. It had the rocker clutch and hand shift on the tank. Not all that bad to ride except my front brake cable was broke. As said above it was a little tricky starting out on a hill when the light changed. Some fancy foot work as you went from left foot down and right foot on the brake, to right foot down and left foot on the clutch. Of course, when you are 16 you can ride anything. LOL.

I rode one for a bit back in the ... well a ways back. If you didn't have a front brake, you were in for some fun. A left turn from a stop was a real experience. You had to start to the right because your right foot was down, then transition to a left turn. Fun to ride though.

Only one I ever rode damn near killed me, didn't they call it a mousetrap clutch also?

Buddy who owned it seem to do well on it, just getting used to it I suppose.


Al

Mousetrap was a device used with the first HD hand clutches. It was a "force multiplier" so that it didn't take as much force at the lever to operate the clutch.

Years ago my next door neighbor offered me to take his 45" Servi-Car around the block. I declined but he persisted. It had the tank shift-arm and a not stock foot clutch. I got it into 1st and slowly proceeded down the driveway. Shifted into 2nd with ease and brought it back within 3-minutes. Came to a crawl to shift back into 1st to creep up the driveway. I think it had a reverse idler but wasn't going to use it anyway. Three forward gears.

The owner took that Servi-Car to a bike show a few months later and won 1st place! More than a Machine!!!!

My father rode a trike as a Chicago P.D. Said he saw guys break their legs a couple times starting the things. All the other stuff was tricky as well, but at least he didn't have to worry bout falling over! Tank slap at any speed above 45 mph, too. Sheesh.

Adjusting the thing could bite ya, loved it on my pans

The old rocker pedal worked good but in the 60's and 70's many hand shift choppers had a modified clutch pedal that did work like a car and no front brake. This worked OK in the flatlands but of course if you came to a stop on a hill with the rear brake foot pedal stopping, no neutral and the other foot on the clutch you were in trouble. I converted my '56 pan chopper to hand clutch and the drum front brake that would atleast hold on most hills. I felt a lot more confident after that.

I remember the trick with the mousetrap was to wrap your fingers around the lever and use your body to pull back the first 1/2" then grab with your hand. It was easy once you got it moving over center.

Exactly, the suicide clutch was a mod to make it more like the clutch pedal in a car.

that only happens when i been drinking. i like it sometimes because it keeps the handle bars clean but i've only had it on 1 of the last 3 bikes i've had. with as fast as we ride it's nice to be able to keep both hands on the bars.

I thought the term was suicide shifter — suicide because you had to take you hand off the handlebar to shift. The clutch was a foot clutch — nothing suicide about it.

But after looking it up on Wikipedia I guess the clutch was called suicide too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_clutch

Good answer, my very 1st bike/scooter was a Cushman Eagle with a suicide clutch and left side shift lever, probably not too many guys on here remember them, left foot was the clutch and if you was in 1st gear at a stop and started leaning to the left you had better be quick in getting that thing in neutral because your foot is coming off of that clutch, ahhhh the good ole days........

Jessica, I have owned and ridden several Harley Flatheads with an original rocker clutch. And I put a suicide clutch on both the Panheads I've had. I still own one of those Pans and although it had a hand clutch when I bought it I soon altered its original foot shifter and adapted it for use as a suicide clutch pedal. And I made my own jockey shift (hand shift) lever.

Either the old-timer you asked has no idea what he is talking about or perhaps he was having a joke at your expense? A suicide set-up will not flip you backwards. And in fact, using a suicide at speed is not a problem. But trouble may occur when the rider is stopped because the left foot has to depress the pedal to operate the clutch and therefore said foot cannot be on the ground at that time. If the bike has a front brake then the rider can apply it while the right foot is on the deck and if balance is maintained then everything is fine. If no front brake then life can get tricky. And contrary to popular belief a bike will not necessarily jump into traffic if the rider's foot comes off the clutch pedal. Why not? Because he/she can close the throttle immediately and the engine will stall. Alternatively, the rider can hit the kill button if there is one. But of course another problem may then develop if there is traffic immediately behind the bike. :icon_cool:

Certain old two-wheel Harleys had a rocker clutch as standard. And for those who wanted one a rocker clutch was still available from H-D for Big Twins (BTs) through about 1978/79. The Servi-Car had a rocker clutch from its introduction as a 1932 model through 1947 and then it received a suicide clutch pedal as original for 1948-later models. The mousetrap was a hand clutch booster used on certain BTs as original for 1952–67.

Some say the term suicide clutch originated from a rocker clutch set-up that did not operate properly for one reason or another and the pedal would move by itself, therefore allowing the clutch to become engaged without the rider intending it to do so. Some feel that even a proper suicide clutch set-up (similar operation to what you’d find in some cars) is not really a suicide if the bike has a front brake. My opinion is that the lack of a front brake has no bearing on whether or not the term suicide clutch applies; it is the clutch pedal set-up itself which determines the description. Will we ever know the real origin of the term suicide clutch? Probably not.

Are you considering a suicide clutch for your Street Bob? If so, I advise that for now you try balancing on your right foot at traffic lights etc and keeping your left foot up. Even if you feel yourself starting to lean left slightly, remain calm and try to correct yourself without lowering your left foot. After you become familiar with keeping your left foot up you could fit a suicide if you wish. But even if you do, it would be a good idea to practise with the new set-up and stay out of heavy traffic until you feel more comfortable with it.
Eric

No offence meant but there is no such thing as a suicide shifter. Why? Because shifting should not cause any problems and therefore it should not be linked to the word suicide. Some people incorrectly use the term suicide shifter when referring to a bike with any sort of hand shifter, regardless of what sort of clutch is involved. And the phrase suicide shifter may have resulted from people being confused about what constitutes a suicide clutch. Some people use a hand shift lever with a hand clutch lever attached to it and a guy once called that set-up a suicide shifter because he had to take off with only one hand on the handlebars. But I told him there was nothing suicidal about that.
Eric

Suicide clutch is a myth- it's not much fun if you're on a steep hill with traffic, and you'll look stupid if you kill it at a green light, but you'll live.

When I got rear ended my foot slipped the clutch and I went into a pick-up in front of me- but once you master it, you'll love it!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2..._Devilknob.jpg

Excellent write-up, SBT.

To add something for those thinking about coming into the suicide fold - Baker transmission folks make a shift drum (N1) that puts neutral at the bottom. Shift pattern becomes N-1-2-3-4, etc. It is perfect for a hand shift, and as long as your clutch is adjusted properly (no drag), it is easy to find neutral when coming to a stop.

During WW2, a lot of allied soldiers getting their H-D WLA changed the foot clutch to hand clutch.

Foot rocker clutch was a typical american feature. European bikes also had the shifter near the fuel tank, but had a hand clutch on the bars.

All of the Harleys I owned when first starting out were tank shifters.If the rocker was not adjusted properly no way could you trust the bike running in gear with clutch disengaged and both feet on the ground.That clutch could engage when you least expect it too,someone walking in front of you,or behind someone at a stop sigh or whatever,hence the mo****r "Suicide clutch" I know first hand it happened once and you can bet I learned how to properly set up the rocker.A Harley at idle will instantly take off when it does your always surprised and with a foot clutch trying to get control of the bike get your foot to the rocker is near immpossible.In the meantime you have covered quite a distance.

I was lucky with my rocker clutches. Only time the tension slacked off was when I was going down the road. Lost the nut and spring washer twice.

I had a 51 HD with one of them. Once ya get used to it all is ok.

No such thing as a suicide shift. It is a jocky shift or tank shift.

A suicide clutch was a modification to the rocker clutch so that it was like the clutch in a car. Step on it to disengage, release to engage. I knew some guys that had these on HD flatheads.

The proper terminology is suicide clutch and jockey shift. My 53 Pan was set up that way not much to it once you ride it for a day or two.

I've got a foot clutch, does that mean I'm gonna die???

No, but from the first post and what the "old timer" said, you will flip over backwards.

Damnit! Not lookin forward to that. Maybe I'll put the stock setup back on.
Thanks for the heads up:icon_beerchug:

Just trying to help a Brother out! :icon_woot: