| Author | Message | ||
     Froggy |
Sorry if it has been asked before, Badweb has been kinda busy so its hard to keep up.  So yea why did they put the belt drive on the left side and wheel on the right now? I feel the belt stands out more on the right because its the side of the bike more people see. | ||
| Stealthfighter |
it´s a normal thing on metric motorcycle engines: clutch on the right side, final drive on the left side... | ||
| Jaimec |
And it puts the exhaust on the right, so when I'm at a traffic light the bike isn't farting on my ankle anymore! | ||
| Beastie |
And it puts the exhaust on the right, so when I'm at a traffic light the bike isn't farting on my ankle anymore! You are gonna miss not being able to use you exhaust as a leaf blower down the sidewalk. | ||
| Buellistic |
It is a Harley-Davisdon thing as the chain was on the left !!! Could this also be left over from the BICYCLE ??? In BUELLing LaFayette | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
arent most motorcycle chains and stuff on the left side? I know every bike i have owned except the buell it was on the left side | ||
| Eboos |
If I am not mistaken, the original sportster engine and transmission was designed with dirt track racing in mind. With the final drive on the right side, it was out of harms way while cornering to the left. | ||
| Jackbequick |
If anyone ever made a kick start bike that was kick started with the left foot, I can't think of it. It would seem unnatural to the majority of people. So having the kick start on the right was a given. I think the original H-D engines, like knuckle heads and later, had the chain drive on the left simply because the kickstarter was mounted on the right end of the transmission and worked through it. Putting the chain drive over with the kick starter would have been an unnecessary complication. All the "big" H-D's use a transmission that is in a case separate from the engine. In the later models the kickstart mechanism is left off (replaced by a blank cover basically) and an electric starter fitted. Having the engine and transmission in the same one piece casting or case is called "unit construction". Or at least it was when the British bikes started using it. The Sportsters and Buells have unit construction engines. And, with the crankcase and transmission sharing the same casting in the XL engines, and with no kick starter, my guess is that it was easier and cheaper to manufacture with drive on the now not used for anything else right side. So the right and left drive thing on H-D's and Buells relates to unit construction (right drive) or non-unit construction (left drive). It's not obvious unless you know them or study it a little, but on the left drive models the drive belt pulley is mounted on a transmission output shaft that is hollow. And the mainshaft (or transmission input shaft) and output shafts are concentric with the drive entering the transmission through the center of the output shaft. So everything goes into and comes out of the left side of the transmission. Changing drive side on any of the engines is not a simple task, like you could just choose one side or the other. The 1125R uses a different type of transmission. It has a countershaft transmission as opposed to the layshaft transmissions used on all the H-Ds and Buells. On a layshaft transmission, the input and output shafts are in axial alignment with each other. The drive path drops down through the layshaft in some gears and then back up to the output shaft but the output is always in line or concentric with the input. On a countershaft transmission, the two shafts are parallel, some distance apart, and the gears on one drive gears on the other. Inputs and outputs are generally in from one side on one shaft and out to the other side on the second shaft. On the 1125R the primary drive and clutch are on the right end of the input shaft and the drive pulley is on the left end of the output shaft. And I bet all the other Rotax engines are that way too. So it would have been unnecessary, or even gratuitous and expensive, to move the drive to the other side for no apparent good reason. Jack | ||
| Spatten1 |
Jack: Great description. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Harley the only manufacturer that still uses the layshaft tranny? Isn't it a stronger configuration to just run power off of the countershaft with a really beefy bearing at the sprocket end? That appears to be how the 1125 engine does it, in the standard fashion for the non-Harley world. | ||
| Ulendo |
kickstart on the left ?? husky 610 | ||
| Unibear12r |
I can remember a number of people kick starting their bikes while standing off to the left of their bikes. I can't remember what brands but Husky rings a bell. Right hand kick start Sportsters with right side chain drive and right side shifter too. Around 20 years worth from the late 50s to the mid 70s. Even early 50s if you count the KR models. | ||
| Firemanjim |
Early KTM's,and my Ducati 250 Scrambler were L/S kickers,Jawa was also,and the shifter doubled as kicker. | ||
| Adrian_8 |
The old European dirt bikes of the early 70's were LS kickers...just about had to be off bike and kick with right foot...those were the good ole days... | ||
| Jackbequick |
You're probably right right about H-D (and the thriving aftermarket in trannys made for those and the clones) being the last of that type. But I have no complaints about them in use after putting about 6,000 miles on a M2 and now riding the Dyna for two seasons. The M2 tranny was more positive and closer to snickety-snick than the Dyna. I think that is because of the more direct linkage and less mass in the drum and gears. The Dyna is intended for and thrives in a more placid regimen. I would advise anyone new to H-D cruisers to make sure they give the shifter a full positive stroke each shift, up or down. And down shifting thrives on nicely matched throttle blips, especially if you're trying to keep the engine RPM up while doing it. And by "up" I mean like 3,500-4,000 RPM of so. I occasionally miss a downshift and it is always because of a half hearted attempt on my part. And when it happens, I upshift and then downshift again. A second downshift will usually put me down two gears and can generate moments of embarrassment or excitement. The countershaft tranny does seem like a better design and more likely to be a no-brainer in use. If it accounts for the snickety-snick shifting of rice rockets and many other bikes it is a good thing for sure. I didn't give the left side start thing enough thought. There are quite a few that way, I just forget that because I still used my right foot when I was around them. On the left side drive H-D's the centerline of the cylinders is not on the centerline of the frame/wheels but slightly to the right of it. The aftermarket right side drive trannys for the custom frame and chopper market put the engines back on the frame centerline. But one of the two probably has the center of mass closer to the center line than the other and I think it is the left drive. Maybe. The offset to the right is not noticed because of the width of the cases and pages is equal. Chopper guys are, IMHO, riding with a number of other illogical choices for the sake of the look of the bike and their image. So they probably do not care if the balance is right on the centerline or not. Jack |
