Author Topic: What do these terms mean - British bikes?  (Read 17601 times)

brown

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What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« on: January 05, 2011, 08:09:43 AM »
What does term "tickle to start" mean?

What is a thyristor?

Why is the shift lever on the left side on British bikes?

Offline Rex

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2011, 08:59:15 AM »
What does term "tickle to start" mean?
Grab it under the armpits, preferably by surprise....then flood the carb.

What is a thyristor?
A diode which conducts electricity at a given voltage level. Commonly found in household dimmer switches,early colour TVs etc  but the bike version is termed a Zener diode and it's non-adjustable (extremely simplistically put).

Why is the shift lever on the left side on British bikes?
Because British bike riders are superior intellectually to the riders of Johnny Foreinger's bikes, and we prefer to show that superiority by being different.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2011, 09:33:30 AM by Rex »

Offline L.A.B.

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2011, 10:51:13 AM »
Why is the shift lever on the left side on British bikes?


Left side?   

They were usually on the right side before 1975.     
L.A.B.

Offline Revband

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2011, 06:11:34 PM »
Some joke answers upto now, but to be serious for a while.

Tickle to start.

Refers to flooding the Carb float chamber using the small button on the top.

What is a thyristor?.

Nothing to do with bikes as far as I know but.

A type of semiconductor device where 4 layers form 3 PN junctions. Thyristors are very efficient devices for switching large AC signals but latch-on until the signal passes through zero making them unsuitable for DC switching.

Why is the shift lever on the left?.

As L A B says it's not it's on the right.

The reason probably is that early hand change bikes had the lever on the right as most people are right handed, it just progressed from there.

Offline Alex_James

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2011, 09:59:16 PM »
The gear leaver was on the right because we drive on the left.
When turning right at a junction you can select first gear ready to go, the bike will be held on the foot brake leaning to the right with arm out to indicate. You are now ready to turn right. Compare this with moderen bikes next time out . Remember we had no indicators. :D

Offline 33d6

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2011, 11:21:51 PM »
Hate to argue with Alex but the gear lever on the right had nothing to do with riding on the left side of the road.
Its very simple. Very early motorcycles had a direct belt drive from the engine to the rear wheel on their left side. As transmissions, chain drive, clutches and gearboxes etc, were developed the drive to the rear wheel stayed on the left and the means of changing gear was installed out of the way on the right hand side. This was practical as hand change was employed in those days and as most people are right handed it suited nicely to have the gear change where it was natural for most people to use it.
When finally the current style of positive stop foot change was invented in the late 1920's it just replaced the right hand side hand gear change that existed before it. It was an option you bought that bolted onto the right hand side of the box where the hand change entered the box. This caused new problems because at that time most bikes had the rear brake on the right hand side as they are now so the lucky rider with the new fangled fancy foot change had both to brake and to change gear with the right foot and do both at the same time. Obviously this didn't work that well so the makers took the cheap way out and just simply transferred the rear brake across to the left hand side.
This arrangement lasted from the 1930's to the late 1960's when it became more and more obvious that British motorcycle manufacturers had to get in line with the rest of the world and have the foot brake back where it was operated by the right foot like it is in every other vehicle on the road. Cars, trucks.buses, you name it, whatever you drive, the right foot works the brakes. To do that the foot gear change had to move across to the left.
So the old British style of controls was just one of the many steps in the development of the modern motorcycle and thats all there is to it. It met the needs of its day but then things moved on.
Cheers,

Offline Rex

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2011, 03:14:46 PM »
. It met the needs of its day but then things moved on.

Thankfully no-one has told my bikes that......because they're still meeting those needs now.. ;)

yebbut

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2011, 09:22:36 PM »
ditto

wetdog

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2011, 09:39:19 PM »
"It met the needs of its day but then things moved on".................what a pitty i like g/change on the right
where  vellocette the first to fit foot change ? some say yes some no , what do you think   PS i have a bolt on foot change made by Velose? French i think . on a burman box @ 1930

Offline 33d6

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2011, 10:55:04 AM »
I don't know why the fixation with right foot gear change, left foot brake. I have a number of British bikes and only one has this control layout. The different control layout on my other bikes makes no difference to my riding pleasure.
As far as the origins of the foot change go, you first of all have to define what you mean by a foot gear change. Riders bent hand levers to a convenient shape and changed gear with their boot long before Velocette fitted a positive stop foot change to their racers. Up until then foot change could be a hit and miss affair although factories had crafty ways of making it easier on their racers.
The positive stop mechanism had been used in industrial machinery before Velocette had the brilliant idea of adapting it to their gearboxes. They are acknowledged as the first to do so. This mechanism not only ensured all gears could be easily selected but the gear lever always returned to a central position and didn't move up and down according to what gear they were in. It made life much easier for the rider.
It took a few years before foot change was built in to gearboxes. For a few years in the late 20's and early 30's you could buy the change mechanism as a bolt on extra but gearbox makers quickly realised it was much better to build it in as a permanent feature. I don't know the Velose foot change you mention but hand change hung on for much longer than you think so there could possibly have been a steady little market for an add on foot change conversion.
Cheers,

yebbut

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2011, 04:30:14 PM »
So,  apart from the little LE Velo what else hung onto handchange after 1945?

Offline Rex

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2011, 04:59:08 PM »
Indian Chiefs, Harley Ds of various types, certain Gileras, Lambrettas, Vespas, Norman Nippys, Quicklys, Puchs etc ;)

yebbut

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2011, 05:35:32 PM »

a varied list,
 I should have said excluding scooters twisty style

A reply to your monet goyon post just gone on here rex

Offline 33d6

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2011, 10:38:35 PM »
For British bikes, as well as the LE, the other obvious one with hand change in the postwar years is the James Comet plus every other British lightweight that was powered by the same 1F Villiers it used. What with postwar petrol rationing and everyone trying to get their lives organised after wartime restrictions small economy bikes were in big demand.
Cheers,
 

Offline Alex_James

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Re: What do these terms mean - British bikes?
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2011, 08:15:14 PM »
I have only been riding british bikes for 55years and 33d6 has been reading a lot of books, can he please tell me why the side stands are on the left. is it because we drive on the left. What side should I position the hand gear leaver on my 1953 Bown. I know I can put i where i like !!!! but the correct position would be better. Brits still made hand change gears in 1953  ::)