How I ride without having a left leg.

[Viseney]

I lost my left leg to infection a year following a prang riding a DT250.
Following this I joined a UK charity that helps get handicapped riders (back) into the saddle called the NABD (National Association of Bikers with a Disability), which is the largest motorcyclists charity on the planet.
I even went on to become their rep for the South East of England for a few years.
To help me ride without a left leg they partnered with a small company called Kliktronic which donated me a special unit that operates the gear shifter using a 12v electromagnetic actuator.
This first went on to my Honda CB750F2, and knowing this worked I bought a Marauder for a daily ride and fitted it to that.

I bought another Kliktronic unit myself as I wanted a touring bike and fitted it to a Yam Venture.
However the Venture was a bit of a stretch as to how big a bike I could ride with one leg, so I did a bit of research and decided on a FJ1200 with detachable luggage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_VbEbgDqdg Shows the Kliktronic in action (I don't show the buttons on the left bar that select the gears)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlMLti0g9UY Shows how I operate the side/kick stand when I don't have a leg to kick it.

This kind of adaptation, of course, helps with any left leg/foot mobility problem.
However the Kliktronic can also be combined with an ignition interrupter to act as a sport shifter if you just want to give your bike more wellie.

Anybody with questions about how I ride, I'll be happy to help.
I'm also experience with helping people with other handicaps. So if there is some other physical problem restricting your riding, give me a shout and I'm happy to give any advice I can.

Here's a link to the Kliktronic site: https://www.kliktronic.co.uk.
Here's one to the NABD site: http://www.nabd.org.uk

[giantkiller]

There was a rider on the forum who gave away his fj. He had converted it to right side shift. I traded some of the stock parts for the modified parts.(from the lucky guy that got the bike. Who was nice enough to swap out the parts and ship them. Actually All he asked for was the side case cover. He replaced all the other parts himself)  And gave them to my brother. Who had lost his left leg. When a girl turned into him on his CB350.

So I gave him the parts and he got an fj1200 and put them on it to ride.

He had a  Kawasaki tripple (insanely hoped up 2 stroke. I saw him ride a wheelie after he pulled out to pass a car at about 65mph) that has the shift shaft that goes all the way through the cases. And put a shift lever on the shaft that sticks out of the right side of the engine. A lot of the older bikes had shift shafts that stuck out of both sides of the cases. He also has a hopped up sporty that he made right side shift with the forward controls.

[Urban_Legend]

I know that if there is a will there is a way.
There was a racer in Melbouorne (who unfortunaly recently passed away) who had lost his right arm and right leg when he was hit my a drunk driver. He converted all of the controls to the left side of his bikes and taught himself to ride again. Unfortunatly he wasnt allowed to hold a road licence for the bike, but he could have a racing licence. He was/is a true inspiration.
I have a friend that lost his lower left leg due to diabeties complication, that i have been trying to convince can still ride.

Well done to you for not letting a little thing ( like a missing leg is little...lol) stop you from enjoying bike riding.

Mark

[Pat Conlon]

Yea Doc, if you can do it, others can too. Great inspiration for sure.

Years ago I saw an electric actuator like the Kliktronic, except it had a cable that allowed the actuator to reside remotely in the tail cowl. Very stealthy. The only thing visible was the black cable coming down to the shift linkage.
Coupled with a Dyna ignition with shift interrupt, that would be cool.
I think I saw it on Dale Walkers site, it's been many years ago.

[Motofun]

I have a friend who is also left legless.  He used a Pingle air actuator to shift his CBX.  He eventually went for a 3 wheeler due to stability when stopped issues.  A can am spyder .

[Viseney]

He had a  Kawasaki tripple (insanely hoped up 2 stroke.

The KH was one of the last jap bikes to retain the right shaft across the case (though the spline didn't protrude out the right casing). I had a mate who had bored the three pots to 300cc. That thing was mental 
I did look in to going that route, but at the time I was looking at these bikes they were of an age where they were either basket cases or treasured classics.
Older Brit pre-units looked promising, but none of them had an electric boot, and from previously owning such bikes I know how much of a sweat one can work up trying to get the buggers to kick over with two good legs.

[Viseney]

Unfortunatly he wasnt allowed to hold a road licence for the bike, but he could have a racing licence.

That was a buggr. NABD have helped many a rider get their licence back from the DVLC. Must be tougher rules in OZ.

[Viseney]

Years ago I saw an electric actuator like the Kliktronic, except it had a cable that allowed the actuator to reside remotely in the tail cowl. Very stealthy. The only thing visible was the black cable coming down to the shift linkage.
Coupled with a Dyna ignition with shift interrupt, that would be cool.

That actuator in the cowl must have been a swine to set up right without missing shifts due to the slack in the cable.
I'm actually working up a design to put a high speed linear actuator onto my own bike to run the kick stand with a PTO cable.
A marine actuator, like they use on submersible drones would be great, but cost a mint.

[giantkiller]

He had a  Kawasaki tripple (insanely hoped up 2 stroke.

The KH was one of the last jap bikes to retain the right shaft across the case (though the spline didn't protrude out the right casing). I had a mate who had bored the three pots to 300cc. That thing was mental 
I did look in to going that route, but at the time I was looking at these bikes they were of an age where they were either basket cases or treasured classics.
Older Brit pre-units looked promising, but none of them had an electric boot, and from previously owning such bikes I know how much of a sweat one can work up trying to get the buggers to kick over with two good legs.

My brother bored his also. Although he said it was an 850 or 870. I can't remember. 8 something. Had expansion chambes and flat slides individual filters. It was insane.

[Pat Conlon]

Years ago I saw an electric actuator like the Kliktronic, except it had a cable that allowed the actuator to reside remotely in the tail cowl. Very stealthy. The only thing visible was the black cable coming down to the shift linkage.

That actuator in the cowl must have been a swine to set up right without missing shifts due to the slack in the cable.

Yep, it was Dale Walker: http://www.holeshot.com/shifters/ps3
No idea how good it works. That actuator looks rather puny compared to the big mama Kliktronic.

[Viseney]

Yep, it was Dale Walker: http://www.holeshot.com/shifters/ps3
No idea how good it works. That actuator looks rather puny compared to the big mama Kliktronic.

Thanks for the link Pat. Probably works OK. Looks like it's a simple one way shifter. By the looks of it it is simply an electromagnetic coil. Magnet on; pulls the cable to shift with an ignition interruptor for clutchless upshift for max acceleration out of the bends.
Still needs a foot to shift coming down through the box.

[JPaganel]

There was a racer in Melbouorne (who unfortunaly recently passed away) who had lost his right arm and right leg when he was hit my a drunk driver. He converted all of the controls to the left side of his bikes and taught himself to ride again. Unfortunatly he wasnt allowed to hold a road licence for the bike, but he could have a racing licence. He was/is a true inspiration.

Alan Kempster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNKuesBVmYs