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Looks like he just changed the cable routing/stop/adjusting screw from a 90 degree bend to straight ahead.

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Alright. Well, I want to hear the audio recording when it comes time to put that shifter back together! :21:
 
Alright. Well, I want to hear the audio recording when it comes time to put that shifter back together! :21:
Are these known to be hard to put together?

If I set the twist part to 6 and press it at the bottom it clicks into place with very little effort.
 
That shifter shown was mine and the aluminum shaft didn't hold up. Version two was pretty tough to bend but the wrench fit the grip teeth so yeah, suicide shifter on Muscle Spasm... It works well, grip shifter, derailleur, and cluster are from three different sources and it still does what I want it to do. I can't get the very smallest cog because of frame clearances so I locked it out with adjustments. Folks need to stop thinking about IF it will work and just MAKE it work...
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What you've got going looks good. Should be a comfortable rider. The comfy ones are the ones I keep on the road.

Carl.

Sent from the edge of an alternate universe...
 
I tested it last night and although I didn't fine tune it, it seems to work OK. I ordered a motorcycle foot control to use as a shift handle, I'm not sure if it will work, so this part of the build might be stalled until it shows up.

Shift Lever.jpg
 
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I tested it last night and although I didn't fine tune it, it seems to work OK. I ordered a motorcycle foot control to use as a shift handle, I'm not sure if it will work, so this part of the build might be stalled until it shows up.

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OoooooOOOOoooo! That is a cool idea for a shift lever!
If you got the housing back on with the cable in place and it's shifting, you did well. Sometimes the housing can be tough to get 'locked' back in place on the Grip Shifters.

Looking forward to your progress!
 
Where it seems most people who've done this, mounted their handles by clamping to the tube that sticks out. I plan to mount it to the vertical surface. I filled the area where the rubber grip catches, with JB, then drilled and mounted three 1/8" pins. Right now my plan is to make a steel plate that will fit over the pins and glued to the channel that is filled with the JB. Then the handle will bolt to this plate.

The piece filled, drilled and pinned.

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How the plate will (hopefully) mount.

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If the foot lever I posted before doesn't work, I'll probably make a handle out of aluminum like this.

PA120563.jpg
 
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Does that work like a ratchet shifter? That is what I really wanted for this build.

It's a button for shifting up one gear at a time and a lever to downshift a few gears at a time. Kind of a ratchet shifter but it's 2 different things. A button and a lever. Would be hard to make into a stick shift I would think.
 
I took some scrap 1/8" steel and after a lot of cutting and grinding, came up with this.

PA120566.jpg

It works great so far.
 
Psycho, does it still 'index'? Meaning, click into each gear as you shift it? I like the looks of it.
Got a grip or a handle cover planned for the shift lever?

I'm guessing your cover would have to be affixed to the metal part, and then would pivot and follow the path of the shift lever.

Maybe before you lock it all up, take it apart enough to show the steps in a video of how you put it together. This could be a really cool mod that others (like me :grin: ) would like to try.

For video loading to the site, record your video on your phone, upload it to Youtube (if you don't have a channel yet it's really easy to get create one) on your channel. Then when it is published on Youtube, just copy and paste the URL link into a post here on your thread.

Not a lot of builders use video for their build steps, but I have found they add a personal touch and can be a drawing card for people who scan through these builds and are interested in the process.

I just counted and my channel has 75 videos of build process clips, full test rides of finished builds, and build updates over the past 5 years of building here on RRB! :13:
 
@OddJob it's the correct grip shift for the derailleur he's using. Scavenged from the same bike, why wouldn't it index? He changed the handle, cable exit and the mount (great job by the way) to get the location and look he wanted. Really he just rebuilt the whole thing except the click, click, click indexing...
Carl. :crazy:

Oh and, how long is your bike, axle to axle?
I can't really call mine Long without being the longest...
 
Yes it still indexes, in fact it's still very stiff when it does. It looks like it lines up on the sprockets, but without my idler gears I can't pedal to test it. The good news, the sprockets are only about a day away (that is if USPS doesn't do one of their famous "lap around the world" to get them to me).

The rear wheel, derailleur, and shifter are from the same bike. In fact that part of the frame is from the same bike, so I hope it works. It was a Walmart bike, if it worked from the factory is anyone's guess. Quality, fit and finish were not top priority when making these bikes, a perfect example was the stock frame shock mounts. After I cut them off, I went to tack them together to reshape them both at once. They were about 3/16" off from one another, and not on the side I cut!:43:

As for video's, it's not going to happen. I have no interest in setting up lights and a camera and worrying about if I'm getting the right angle and all that stuff. I'm very simple, my welding table is a cinderblock on the patio, my frame jig are my eyes and a tape measure. So any video I would make would be a perfect example of how NOT to do things.
 
After I cut the locking pins flush with the metal stem I made, the rubber cover fit back on. If it wasn't cut out to fit the gear numbers, I would consider using it as a cover.

A couple of pics with a paint stick pistol grip and the rubber cover.

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I can cut down both the twist piece and the base to narrow it up as much as a 1/2". I'm thinking of cutting about 1/4" off the white twist part and adding set screws that would go into the tube of the base to lock it in place.
 
@GuitarlCarl , Carl, I like this guy. I think he's a keeper! :21:

Psycho, first of all, there is no "not how to do things" when it comes to rat rod bikes! :wink1:

Secondly, I like the rubber grip shift cover. What about a plug to fit inside the black 'hole' on the end? These chrome caps can be found at your local hardware store for a buck.

chromecap.jpg

They come in many different diameters. I've used them on a few builds.
 
After about an hour of cutting, drilling, grinding, and filing, I had the lock collar on with 3 set screws, and made a fairly nice looking cover out of a 1 1/4" PVC cap.

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Once I had them done, I promptly dropped the shifter on the ground and discovered three things.

One- The plastic ring I made the collar out of is too soft.

Two- PVC is very brittle when you grind it very thin.

Three- It only takes 2 seconds to waste an hour of work!

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At least now I know the collar idea won't work with what I have on hand to work with. The pins to lock the handle from slipping held up fine, so I guess I'll have to try screwing it to the twist piece.
 
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