Clutch advice

[andy650]

You need heated grips, will help massively with thin gloves in the winter.

[650]

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

Thank you everyone for your input, there are some excellent suggestions in there, some of which are genius ideas that I had not even thought of, such as moving my clutch lever inboard... Why did I not think of this super simple idea? I am a moron!

Anyway, to answer some small points made in there too.

I have a custom handle bar set up with a DL650 clutch cable, the routing is very smooth and the cable runs very lightly. My worm gear is very well greased and runs very smoothly, I doubt that I could get a softer cable pulled clutch. I also have adjustable levers fitted and because I have small hands, the lever travel is limited, but they have been brilliant up until now. My front brake lever is perfect especially when combined with the Yamaha blue spot calipers I have fitted (See my build thread). Even with my weakened fingers, stoppies are a little too easy! Despite having this lot though my left hand starts to hurt within minutes of riding due to my fingers being twisted and not bending normally. I can only wear thin gloves to ride in, which makes winter riding horrible!

To further complicate the issue, I have a spinal problem as well which is why my bike is so heavily modified in the first place. Basically, I am worn out and useless. If I were dog, I would have been put to sleep long ago!

My reason for not buying another bike is that I am out of work and have to rely on my partner. Spending lots of money on a newer bike or scooter is just not viable, especially when I ride only once or twice a week on warm days.

I have been treated by the specialist arthritis hospital and have orange goo for physio, it feels like a non-Newtonian fluid in that it is soft until I have to squeeze it! Steroid injections have been denied because it is all of my fingers joints and they are twisting. I also have bone growths that are making my fingers crooked. I have asked to have the bone growths removed in surgery, but this has also been denied. At only just 43, this is distressing.

Without getting too political, I am not a Tory voter and I was also involved in the local campaign to support the NHS. However, I believe that it is the chronic underfunding of the NHS that is making treatment harder for me to get rather than the NHS being rubbish, every specialist I have seen has been fantastic. I was discharged from the pain clinic after ten weeks and told to go to a private practice, which I have been forced to do. Psychological support in my area is non existent and our local hospital is facing closures of some departments. It is looking very bleak.

I was also a professional climber for several years and used to do one arm pull ups. I was climbing at French 6b or English E2/3 grades which sped up the damage to my fingers. Strength is not my problem, hypermobility (Why I was such a good climber) and other conditions combined with arthritis throughout my joints is what has done the damage. Physio has to be gentle now or it makes things worse.

I shall now investigate those links to hydraulic conversions, they sound interesting.

The NHS is bloody fantastic and absolute concrete evidence that democratic socialism is great. As are schools, uni's (until Blair ruined that one for us all), the fire service....so on and so forth.

ANYWAY! I digress. The hydraulic clutch you've linked to looks good. But please don't think that hydraulic will be a magic fix. The reality of hydraulic clutches is that it's a bit easier as you haven't got a cable under tension that required both modulation and additional effort, as the cable has a constant "put me back to my untensed state, please" requirement.

Pulley systems allow very weak people to lift incredible amounts of weight. Might be worth looking into something along those lines. I have spied one or two over time (I did a LOT of investigation a few years back when my wrist was particularly bad) alas, I've no idea where they are now. I could have a good old search for you tonight though

[Bibio]

if you can grip ok then how about turning a throttle into a clutch so instead of pulling your turning to engage/disengage the clutch. you would have to find out if it is legal though.

you could modify a left hand thumb brake into a clutch using a hydraulic lifter. scroll down http://www.versastep.co.uk/p/versastep-products.html

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by andy650

You need heated grips, will help massively with thin gloves in the winter.

This is something that I have thought about, but I worry that it will make my grips too fat. I use really thin rubber grips at the moment and have even thought about swapping to thin Odi's from my MTB.

Originally Posted by 650

The NHS is bloody fantastic and absolute concrete evidence that democratic socialism is great. As are schools, uni's (until Blair ruined that one for us all), the fire service....so on and so forth.

I could not agree with you more. I am currently reading political philosophy for fun ( I know, what a nerd!) and this aspect of it really appeals to me. I am an old school leftie it seems.

Originally Posted by 650

ANYWAY! I digress. The hydraulic clutch you've linked to looks good. But please don't think that hydraulic will be a magic fix. The reality of hydraulic clutches is that it's a bit easier as you haven't got a cable under tension that required both modulation and additional effort, as the cable has a constant "put me back to my untensed state, please" requirement.

Pulley systems allow very weak people to lift incredible amounts of weight. Might be worth looking into something along those lines. I have spied one or two over time (I did a LOT of investigation a few years back when my wrist was particularly bad) alas, I've no idea where they are now. I could have a good old search for you tonight though

This is something that I am considering greatly. £300 is a lot to spend on what could be a bit of a turkey. Given that I run my lever close to my bar though (small hands), I am concerned that I may lose yet more travel.

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by Bibio

if you can grip ok then how about turning a throttle into a clutch so instead of pulling your turning to engage/disengage the clutch. you would have to find out if it is legal though.

The grip idea is interesting, I currently use a paddle on my throttle so that I control that with the palm of my hand, doing the same with the clutch has potential.

Originally Posted by Bibio

you could modify a left hand thumb brake into a clutch using a hydraulic lifter. scroll down http://www.versastep.co.uk/p/versastep-products.html

Now that is very interesting, I also love the variable foot peg idea too, that would solve another issue I have with lifting my feet up.

[NedSVS]

I also have trouble with pain in my left hand on longer rides. I converted my curvy to hydraulic clutch using TL1000 parts and although it worked perfectly there was no significant improvement and I have now gone back to cable. I have been off my bike for nearly a year now waiting for a an anterior cervical discectomy at C6/C7 (basically the nerve to my right arm is trapped in my neck). I've had excellent treatment from the NHS in the past but all this waiting has really wound me up. I hope you find a solution - I'm sure you'll share it with us if you do.

[ophic]

"suicide clutches" were once fairly commonplace - perhaps these are still legal?
Basically using a foot pedal as a clutch, meaning you couldn't put one of your feet down so if you overbalance whilst stopped you also take off into traffic. Hence the name. Most designs had a locked position so this didn't happen.

And no-one would steal your bike

[Geodude]

Its just a pointy pos anyway, bring it to me Jayne and i'll give it the old yeller treatment

xGx

[650]

Originally Posted by NedSVS

I also have trouble with pain in my left hand on longer rides. I converted my curvy to hydraulic clutch using TL1000 parts and although it worked perfectly there was no significant improvement and I have now gone back to cable. I have been off my bike for nearly a year now waiting for a an anterior cervical discectomy at C6/C7 (basically the nerve to my right arm is trapped in my neck). I've had excellent treatment from the NHS in the past but all this waiting has really wound me up. I hope you find a solution - I'm sure you'll share it with us if you do.

Let's get one thing straight. This is NOT the NHS's fault, there's a concerted effort from the Tories to make the NHS appear totally inadequate. The push for an American style, privatised health system is happening under our noses, right here, right now. Branson just got awarded ANOTHER massive chunk of the NHS - Virgin Care is taking over, he's also in the process of suing the NHS for not awarding him other contracts. How's that for you? Just as G4S will inevitably replace the Police and (probably) the armed forces as we know them.

Couple that with a unanimous vote from the Tories to continue public sector pay caps (they cheered when they won the nays) and you have nurses walking out, left, right and center. When Supermarkets offer a better salary than NHS nurses who have trained for five years, you know there's something fundamentally wrong with the government and society as a whole.

[johnnyrod]

Bib's twisty clutch is something I suggested to someone a few years back, he'd broken his wrist and it was pretty weak after that. Travel of clutch and throttle are most likely different, but you could modify the lever at the worm end to change its length and get to the leverage you want. He never tried it BTW, he was just looking for ideas.