It's alive!!

[Mark]

For those that are interested, I rode my Scrambler for the first time in over 20 years. It's not the first right hand drive bike I've owned, had a '72 sporty, but the one thing that threw me was the reverse shift pattern. It's loud and dirty, but man was it fun!

[Jordan]

It's not reversed - it's just the way the originators of the ratchet footchange mechanism - Velocette - designed it.
Other makers decided to reverse it, but Norton, AJS and Matchless as well as Ducati and others kept to the "down for up" system.

Jordan

[DewCatTea-Bob]

" It's not reversed - it's just the way the originators of the ratchet footchange mechanism - Velocette - designed it. "

____ It's always been quite very obvious that Dr.T was more than merely inspired by the extremely similar Velocette !


" Other makers decided to reverse it, "

____ This is a sore-point that I & many other older-riders have always been quite distraught about ! ...
DUCATIs & the vast majority of other motorcycle-manufacturers had always kept the foot-type shifter as Ducati has it on our Duke-singles !
The logic for our old shifting-method was that it's more important to successfully complete UP-shifts than down-shifts, and it's easier to use your foot/toe to gain pressure to press-DOWN than it is to lift-up on the shift-lever/foot-pedal, and also, the shift-lever doesn't travel downward as low as the foot-pedal/brake-lever may, therefore it's better (at least in the USA) for the brake-lever to be on the LEFT-side, for when braking during left-turns (which are most often wider [thus higher] turns, than for likely sharper right-turns), to help avoid pavement-scraping (as would otherwise be more likely with brake-levers on the right-side),, thus the good-sense of the ORIGINAL shifting-arrangement !
But THEN the bass-ackward Japs had to go & build THEIR damm-design exactly the opposite (of the long ESTABLISHED & original foot-shifting arrangement) !
And then the ignorant US-gov. waited until 1974 to pass a law that ALL motorcycles (made for the U.S.) must shift by the same method (starting for 1975),, well AFTER Jap.bikes had become the vast-MAJORITY of motorcycles sold in the U.S. ! - (Thus then forcing us all to accept the damm Jap.arrangement.) _ Which has always been my main grievance against all the upstart Jap.bike makers !
__ So therefore, it's TODAY'S motorcycles that have it REVERSED !!


Upset-Cheers,
-Bob

[machten]

__ So therefore, it's TODAY'S motorcycles that have it REVERSED !!

I'll add my vote to that! And if you want to see how silly it got, have a look at Ducati's 1976 900ss with the swapover gear linkage to accomodate the US market. What a crime.

Kev

[DewCatTea-Bob]

____ If only that untimely US.law had been enacted a decade sooner before the damm bassackward shifting Hondas became so popular, then we'd now ALL still be shifting like our old DUKEs do,, and also, then 1974 would not have been the very-last year for those of us here in the USA to have continued still having opportunities to purchase newer Duke-singles. _ I'd like to think that the 250 & 450 single-models* would've otherwise continued-on being available for the U.S.market for at least another 5-years. _ (* The 350-single likely would've been replaced by 1978, due to the production of the 350-twin.)


Dukaddy-DUKEs,
-Bob

[Mark]

I agree it makes sense, but when your daily riders are an '82 Maxim and a '96 road couch, it make you think about what you're doing.

[Bevel bob]

All my bikes have to be the same , which is why i am converting my 76 GTS to rhs gearchange, if i ride a modern bike i soon get tangled up. I wont ride an old Triumph either!!.

[Scrambler]

I also restored a 66 Scrambler. This was originally my dads bike purchased new in 1966. The bike has been everything from a hill climber to a desert racer. I had in a box after my dad passed away. A broken back took me away from being able to ride for a couple of years so i decided to put it back together. I built is up as a cafe racer if you had built it in 66. All NOS or custom fabbed parts. Syds did the motor to match a Diana head that Erv Kanamoto had ported back in 1967. All carbon fiber tank and tailsection to match. The bike really runs good now. I haven't figured out how to post "reduced' image pictures to the forum yet. Jim F helped with the two that i did post but there are more on Photo Bucket. Look forward to seeing some of yours when complete.

Mike Mc

http://s1186.photobucket.com/albums/z375/mmcgeach/

[Mark]

It is now Jan. 6th 2012 (happy new year Heads) No snow in Waukesha WI cranked her up and went around the block