Last Saturday I had a go on a Honda 125. No problem with bike control but I did have issues with the gearchange. Basically I suffered a severe fracture to my left leg 18 months ago. Whilst pressing the gearchange is fine the hooking motion is a problem. When I owned a bike back in the early 70's it had a right hand gearchange. Is it just classics that have this or are any bikes made this way around as standard or an option?
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i have a friend who has the same problem as you. we swapped the peddels over. he can lift up with his right and press with his left. job sorted. it took a bit of work but it was worth it.
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Only old bangers have the change on the right.
This include old bangers that are still made today - Enfields I'm pretty sure.
I had an old Honda in the 1970's that had a left side gear change, but it also had a rocking pedal so you could press the front for down or the back for up. IUt may be possible to modify to something like this. Some bikes/scoots have up/down buttons as well nowadays ISTR.
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the laws were changed in the USA , making it a legal thing for the gears to be on the left, this was back in the 70s , and so all the major players went with the left.
brit bikes were on the right , but at this time , brit bikes (ltd) were going bancrupt.
even the enfield (made in india since 1955) was on the left , but modded to suit curtain countries)
very few bikes are rh change now , some of te old morini,s could be moddified (dart etc) , but they are getting scarce.
the new enfield , which is LH , CAN be modded ,
not a lot of choice ??
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I would strongly suggest that you contact NABD (National Association for Bikers with a Disability) who have an excellent technical resource for this sort of thing.
Freddy is quite correct, it was US legislation which forced the change; even their own bikes weren't immune since Harley's Sportster was a right-foot change, it having been designed in the first place to compete with the influx of British bikes in the 1950's.
The Sportster solution was a temporary, almost Heath-Robinson fix for 1975/6 which involved the gear lever being mounted on the rear brake shaft, a cable-operated rear brake and a long curved gear lever which made slick shifts impossible. In 1977 they sorted out a better solution, but the old Ironhead gearboxes, never the strongest of things, suffered dreadfully as a result and left the bike with a reputation for destroying its own transmission which it's never shaken off.
Earlier Sporties BTW have a superb box. I have a 1972 which changes up and down better than any Bonnie I've ever ridden.
Edited by Harleyman on 01/09/2009 at 20:46
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