Shorties
 

You see, I wanted some good lookin' and feelin' shorty levers but didn't want to pay the big price for such. I looked around in the 'mans's room' and saw all those tools and screws and stuff and removed the stock levers for some serious crafting. They look and feel great and were free!
I prolly won't be wantin to market these gems right away but if you're patient---------We'll see :D
Wow, what a wonderful life--Getting something for nothing and self satisfaction to boot. Yeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

http://media.use.com/images/s_1/9d96...c4572d8f_1.jpg
http://media.use.com/images/s_1/9d96...c4572d8f_2.jpg

:popcorn:
A for effort but in the looks department you get an F. Just my .02(which aint worth shit).

Wouldn't it have been easier just to cut them half an inch longer than desired, and curl the ends a bit? Probably a neater look... But, yeah stuff that's free is fun... ;)

brutal... Good try, but no... No Man! lol

Easier?
 

Tweety
Easier is not an option cuz the "handcrafted theme" dominates all aspects of my lifestyle. Look at the "terminator" in 8541Hawk's avatar----bet it wasn't made in China like a lot of other stuff for $37.00. Someone once said " a man's got to know his limitations" and here are some higher res pics of mine. Enjoying the comaraderie here as it's a great place to exchange ideas!
http://media.use.com/images/s_2/186e...9cb07bb7_1.jpghttp://media.use.com/images/s_2/186e...9cb07bb7_2.jpghttp://media.use.com/images/s_2/186e...9cb07bb7_3.jpghttp://media.use.com/images/s_2/186e...9cb07bb7_4.jpghttp://media.use.com/images/s_2/186e...9cb07bb7_5.jpg

Hmmm.........

+1

That is shorter. Gotta give you that. Looks rough. Maybe if you cut them at a 45 degree angle so the ends taper in, then smooth and radius the ends. A little bit more work applied to your original idea, wod make a lit of improvement in my opinion. For that matter, if you notch both pieces, you could remove most of the transition bump altogether.

Countersink the screw heads (use a larger drill bit the depth of the head) and don't use wood screws.

Overall, going to have to say Lever Fail.

I think esthetics was not part of this idea ;) but if these levers work and zxbud like it, I'm all for it! C'est la vie :)

Tie Wraps
 

I first used tie wraps instead of screws to have a little preliminary fun with this idea but they tended to slip off------not good. And Tweety, I wanted to retain the knobs on the ends cuz I just like them and they provide a notch for my third finger.

ZXBud, I'm all for trying new things, but that looks brutal. If you were to cut down a couple inches, and take it to a good welder (or do it yourself...), it'd look better. That looks like you rigged it up as a temporary fix, just to get the bike home after a crash or something...

You have a great looking Hawk, don't cheese it up???

+2. And nevermind what it looks like am I the only one that looks downright unsafe to?

LOL, this is becoming more fun thread then I expected ;)

Bud, did you ever think about a half lap joint (wood working term)? Like this:
http://chestofbooks.com/home-improve...ght-Timber.jpg

Then countersink the screw heads or have someone weld them up. I personally don't see a safety issue yet. My friend that used to own the RC51 had cut levers. Basically the shorty Bud made without the tacked on piece. I rode it a lot without issue. I didn't like it, but it still worked fine.

Same thing I was thinking. I think he could still do that to his existing parts and make it much nicer to use. (and look at, lol) :p

I thought they were bad but refrained from commenting until I saw the higher resolution pics. They're not just bad, they're really, really bad.:)

Maybe you can find some 30 cent fake carbon fiber covers for them.

I still think Tweety had the best Idea. If he had cut them a bit longer and bent the end up a tad, it would accomplish the same end of the existing ball as a stop for the finger to rest on. It would look cleaner, and function safely.

I'm in the same boat as you Captain...

I wouldn't trust 'em...

I think "the best idea" is to get new levers.

I'm all for D-I-Y, but thats pushing it into unsafe.

Safety First
 

I know for sure the front brake will lock now and as for the clutch, most shifting is clutchless even 1 to 2 with some finess. Even downshifting, again with finess, is without drama and I've done it with all my bikes for as long as I can remember. If the gears are unloaded they'll move up or down.

:eek::eek:.........i'm all for frugal modifications ZX, esp those with a creative bent, but this is totally unacceptable. What are you smokin dude?

Go back to the "man's room" right now and make something that doesn't sacrifice adjustment, is smooth across the pull surface, and hopefully with a little more aesthetic appeal. Yu ought to be ashamed of yourself/

You know there is a reason why you have the clutch for :) I hope you don't shift gears all the time without clutch, sure you can do this, but you do tend to round up the edge of the gears this way and eventually they will start to slip out of gear under stress, especially second gear!

Gears
 

I had a friend who was a certified Honda tech for years in Kalamazoo, Mi and after 75,000 mi on his Goldwing he opened up the engine to find no measurable wear in the trans despite clutchless shifting the life of the bike. So if the gears don't clunk anymore without the clutch than with it then there's no problem. And 2d to 6th is never clunky. Just coordinate the right hand and left foot and it's all ok.

As I said, sure you can do that, I do that from time to time, but I would not recommend this from first to second gear in any case, plus if your friend is Honda certified, I'm sure he knows it is not recommended by Honda or any bike for that matter despite his findings on the Goldwing, what makes me wonder is why he had to open the Goldwing motor and transmission at 75k? That is way early for this bike, not to criticize your friend, but you don't think that sounds a little weird? Just curiosity...

Yes, just curiosity that's why he looked into it, no other reason. He convinced me if there's no clunk there's no wear. As for clunk, this one will clunk like a harley from 1st to 2d with the clutch used and I don't like that one bit. And doesn't Honda recommend shifting to 2d at about 10mph? Nobody does that either if they want any kind of smooth acceleration.

You have got to be kidding. Seriously, at what point are you going to tell us this was a joke to see if you could get anyone to agree that is was good? Sort of the emperor has no clothes deal, right?

If this isn't a joke... Nope not going there. Great goof, I bet you have one hell of a poker face

Right on, man! Just remember to wear proper safety gear when riding:

http://thereifixedit.files.wordpress...protection.jpg

Um, Ain't following you here. Do you mean--good levers or good clutchless shifting?

Do you have a pic of the hooptie these guys are fixing up. I wanna see the spinners, too! :p

LOL, I had a good laugh reading the last few posts, I knew this thread is going to be fun ;)
ZXBUD, you must be a comedian :) I can appreciate that ;)
You made my day!