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left hand throttle/brake

12K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  1_armed_@_ dangerous 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, I was needing advise/help, first let me explain in short. In 2001 I crashed my CBR929 breaking my R. femur, L. hip, my R. arm in 4 places, every bone in my R. hand as well as my R. brachial plexus (the nerve strand that controls all movement of the arm & hand) basically ripped my R. arm completely off, it was being held on only by the flesh on my shoulder & what was left of my leathers. It was a single bike accident all my fault blaming no 1 but myself, but that's all history, here is where I'm at now everything but my R. arm is all good, but I have had several surgery's & nerve graphs to try & repair my R. arm but I still have no use of my R. arm at this time. But I have adapted & figured out how to do about everything that I have to do w/ the use of just my left arm EXCEPT get back to doing my thing that I want 2 do more than anything & that's just to get back on a bike & ride, I have adapted my Yamaha 4 wheeler by just flipping the throttle over to the left side & rigging up a cable & pulley for the front brake lever but the brake setup isn't the greatest & not safe enough to try on a sport bike on the highway, and I was wondering if anybody has seen anything that I can do to adapt the throttle & brake lever over on a 2006 600RR that I have just bought? I have searched the net but haven't found much for such a conversion & I know that I'm not the first or only person w/ a disability that wants to ride so surely there is something that I can do that will let me swap the throttle & brake over to the left side? I'm 35 years old & my dad starting me riding my first motorcycle when I was 4 years old & I have always loved riding so surely there is something out there that can help me do that, I just wanna ride! Sorry for such a long post & thanks in advance to anyone that can give me any suggestions.
 
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#2 ·
If you have no use of your right arm whatsoever, are you sure you can safely ride a motorcycle, even if you are able to rig some sort of throttle/brake and clutch swap conversion? (How would you work the clutch?)

I'm not trying to put a damper on your project, I'm trying to visualize how you would go about such a thing. Reversing the controls is probably not all that difficult, but doing it in a manner where you don't need both hands to do something may be challenging.
 
#4 ·
I'd rip off the rear brake and rig that pedal to work as a clutch. (that may make your bike not street legal) Switching the levers around shouldnt be difficult, but I think you will have to pay for some time at a machine shop, for a custom part.
 
#5 ·
Vash said:
I'd rip off the rear brake and rig that pedal to work as a clutch. (that may make your bike not street legal) Switching the levers around shouldnt be difficult, but I think you will have to pay for some time at a machine shop, for a custom part.
I thought about that but I think a foot clutch would be problematic. Unless it's some sort of reverse clutch that you constantly have to hold down to engage, you would need both feet up to put the bike in to gear initially.
 
#6 ·
Didnt think of that. It would be mighty annoying to have to kill the engine everytime you want to go from first to nuetral and vice versa.

I suppose one solution would be to build some sort of latch that would catch the clutch once its pressed all the way down, farther down that you would need to press it during normal shifting. Still, its kind of half assed, and would take some getting used to, even assuming you barely need to tap the clutch pedal to release the catch. But if he cant work his right hand what other choices does he have?

Some sort of knee actuated lever?
 
#7 ·
Mister Tee said:
I'm not trying to put a damper on your project, I'm trying to visualize how you would go about such a thing. Reversing the controls is probably not all that difficult, but doing it in a manner where you don't need both hands to do something may be challenging.
There's actually a site I ran across of a variety of handicapped folks doing various things to overcome the issue. It appeared most had some kind of prosthetic. That doesn't really address your thought directly, but it was interesting to note there appear to be at least a few working to overcome physical limitations.

Just in case you hadn't read this article, sl420ed, it was interesting and insightful and explains why you can't find something and how you might be able to achieve your goal: http://www.ama-cycle.org/roadride/DisabledRiders.asp

Note the resources at the bottom.
 
#8 ·
I do not think to many of you have riden with a foot clutch on a m/c & believe me they are the pitts. Still that is all we had on the Indian & HD bikes right at the end of WWII. EVEN the British had eliminated the foot clutch & gone to hand clutch, while some (those having normal hands/arms could be with a hand shift, but most went to foot shifting).

I think his best chance is to get in with others that are handicaped as so many here are not experienced with anything but normal hand control levers, gear change on the left & brake pedal on the right.

At least I am accustom to m/cs with various forms of foot to hand clutch, to even patterns, to right or left throttle, to also left to right spark, to hand gearchange lever on the left or right, to foot gearchange lever on the right or left to kickstarter being right or left to kicking to the rear of the bike or forward to from the inside of the machine to the out plus several with hand starting arms AND I have no sensible suggestion for 420.
 
#9 ·
http://www.nabd.org.uk/adaptions/javaindex.htm

This is usually a simple matter of transferring the throttle and front brake lever to the left side handlebar. The front brake can then be operated by tandem or thumb lever and, in the case of a machine with a twin disc front brake, one calliper can be linked to the rear brake system for ease of use. Also the switch-gear would require adapting to suit left hand operation.
If the rider's disability only involves difficulty with operating a twist grip throttle (i.e. fused or stiff wrist, tendonitis etc) the only requirement may be the use of a thumb operated throttle (as used on quads). Where it is a matter of reduced mobility or amputation of fingers it may be that a thumb operated brake lever will solve the problem.
1. Left-hand throttle
2. Left Thumb brake (7/8" bars only)
3. Left-heel brake
4. Left-hand twin levers

Thumb Brake Kits Here

http://www.nabd.org.uk/adaptions/adaptionkits.htm#hyd

There are several thumb brake kits for the rear of the bike I am sure one could be modified with a larger MC for the front.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I regress . . .
 
#13 ·
that cool

there is a guy who rides motorcross with clutch brake and throttle all on left side. i have a small atv that i am trying to get ready for my kid to ride he does not use his right arm from an infant stroke. i bought a twist grip conversion but you twist forwards to acccelerate when you put it on that side. trying to figure out another way. i know there are brake master cylinders you can buy for the right side. look for something from a scooter. you should be able to figure out how to clutch and gas with one hand maybe or put a gas pedal on it and use clutch and brake with left hand
 
#15 ·
I too had a bad accident a year and a half ago I shattered my pelvis and femur tibia fibula radius ulna right hand both feet and also had a brachial plexus injury leaving my right arm totally paralyzed before my accident I owned an operated a fab shop, where I did lots of custom work on everything from sewing machines to planes, trains, automobiles ,boats and everything in between I’ve built several sportbikes ,cafe racers Harley’s vintage racers and dirt bikes and a completely custom Jeep wrangler pickup truck I built in 2016 before the gladiators came out so I’m pretty confident in my abilities even one handed. Currently I have a 2018 Yamaha or six that I’ve been writing for the last year left-handed I put a single cable thumb throttle on the left-handleb the clutches on the left-handle bar I took off the rear brake, and I ran a hard line from the rear master cylinder up to the front distribution block to both brake calipers I adjusted my rear brake pedal all the way down so that it wasn’t as easy to stomp on it and I let a little bit of air into the lions so that it would be a little squishy and wouldn’t be so grabbby. I am able to ride just fine and even break aggressively or progressively depending on the situation there’s only been a few times where I have wanted a rear brake and that’s when I’m riding and gravel or parking lot situations when I’m having to go slow and keep the bike up and drag your break, but the more I ride it the more comfortable I become my right handlebar is still on my bike but it’s completely bare. I Put the start button and the Killswitch on the left side also along with the mode switch it’s not totally necessary but it definitely helps to add a steering stabilizer and I just keep my right hand in hand holster ive put about 8000 miles on my bike one-handed and it’s awesome feeling has any questions feel free to contact me anymore happy to help.
 
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