Thanks for the history Raymond, I’ve often wondered about the timeline of that bike.
I’m curious if you have any trouble going back and forth between bikes and right and left shifters?
Here in America all cars are left side drives, but the mail trucks I used to work in were all right side drives, I thought it would be difficult to adapt to, but your brain just learns to make that transition effortless after a while.
Nice photos btw.
Pleased to say I don't suffer many problems swapping between the bikes. Might have mentioned on another thread the habit of warming bikes for a full minute and using that time to project me mind into the ride? On the Bullet that's relax, drop into museum piece mind set, remember to think before changing gear or braking, come on now, you're not going to have any panicky moments, chill . . .
Immediately put into practice, select first, feel for the brake heading down the lane . . .
There's more danger of cofussedness swapping t'other way, use that projection to remind meself not to take 'normal' for granted. Come on now, which foot for the brake, you'll have to answer quicker than that . . .
No it doesn't become automatic, works better for me as stream of consciousness, remind meself where I am, plenty of clues, heavy feel to the bike, sit up and beg position, gentle thumping from the exhaust, replica Smiths chronometric speedo, right foot gearchange, oh yes that's right foot gearchange
and . . .
we've got a gear change coming up. No, it's a T-junction. That means we can deploy yet another of this bike's outmoded features. Throttle shut, let the speed fall, left foot feel for the brake, right foot, got to glance down for this one, heel placed on the Neutral finder, clutch out, push lever fully down, clutch back in and - this feels so weird * - we're
freewheeling towards the junction. This is why we kept left foot near the brake, we can immediately control what feels at first like a giddy rush towards the junction. But it's OK, we lose speed in a controlled fashion and look for the traffic. Two possibilities, it's clear, tap gear lever down to select second and drive on, or it's not clear, use the brakes to stop on the line, BTW you're already in neutral.
* Told you it feels weird to use the Neutral finder, but you can of course just change back through the box, carefully lift the lever till you feel resistance, clutch out, lift positively and feel the gear go in, drop foot away, clutch out. With practice and care to make each change a positive experience for you and the gearbox, most changes
will slot in as planned.
Because you have to give yourself plenty of time, you ride more defensively, you plan ahead better, you think about the actions needed to make a clean change, you enjoy each one that goes well, blame yourself for the ones that don't .
Hope it comes across why it's so laugh-out-loud funny to ride this motorbike.
