06-11-2019, 03:19 PM
Your BSAs had brakes? Good thing mine Lightnings had a torquey motor to slow them by down shifting. A habit that sticks with me still despite the CBs good brakes. The only time I use the rear brake is downhill on a sandy or gravel roads.
Never had problems with the British placement of the shift lever and rear brake. But my 66 Lightning ended up having a unique shifting pattern. After converting it to a Dunstall styled café racer, I found the rear set shifter I bought to be a piece of junk. So I just mounted the BSA shift lever backwards and used the passenger foot peg. The result was a 1 up and 3 down shifting pattern. Great for drag racing, but a little awkward for emergency stops in a racing crouch.
I often wonder how my motorcycle buddies and I made it through our 20s. "The decade of decadence" as my close friend use to say.
Never had problems with the British placement of the shift lever and rear brake. But my 66 Lightning ended up having a unique shifting pattern. After converting it to a Dunstall styled café racer, I found the rear set shifter I bought to be a piece of junk. So I just mounted the BSA shift lever backwards and used the passenger foot peg. The result was a 1 up and 3 down shifting pattern. Great for drag racing, but a little awkward for emergency stops in a racing crouch.
I often wonder how my motorcycle buddies and I made it through our 20s. "The decade of decadence" as my close friend use to say.