I too used to ride a Jockey shift back in the 70's and early 80's.
I had it on a Flathead 80, 47 Knuckle, and a 80 80" On the 80 I traded for an older Tranny with a jockey top....
The old Jockey tops where great because you had a neutral between every gear, no searching for a neutral, if ya got in trouble ya just tapped your shifter forwards or back and you where safe....
As mentioned abouve, a jockey without a front brake sucked....Ran a lot of stop signs on hills....
The clean handelbars really looked good without a clutch or break lever....
And shifting quick was not a problem....I could keep up with the group....Even got 3rd gear rubber a few times....
Wheelies where easier, two hands on the bars, rev it up and pop the foot clutch....
Ahhhh...the good old days.

 

Personally, I like suicide shifts. So, I say go for it. You may want to check out ball-bearing lock up clutch kits though. I've heard it'll allow you to essentially ignore the clutch. Once you back off the throttle, you can shift, then you get back on the throttle. You can find them in Drag Specialties books and such.

 

Nothing to riding suicide clutch and jockey shift, in fact its easy.

 

Just checking here - my understanding is that the shifter is a jockey and the clutch is suicide. So there is not really a suicide shifter. Suicide clutch started with the old rocker clutch pedal, when you would saw off the heel pad and remove the spring, so they would operate like a car clutch - push down and spring return to engage. The suicide part comes in because on a hill, you cant have a foot on the rear brake and clutch at the same time (no foot on the ground). Especially a problem running a chopper spool hub w/no front brake. Does anyone have different info on that?
I think that Wikipedia definition on the first page is wrong. I have a 1946, with a tank shift/foot clutch, and as far as I know, that isn't a suicide - stock HD set-ups were not.

 

The two that I have had, the clutch was on the throttle grip side. No front brake. one was fabricated by a buddy and had a pineapple grenade on top. Looked killer. The other was a torque wrench. I think they got a bad name early on, like anything else if you take the time to get used to it a "suicide shifter" or " jockey shift can be a sweet thing!

 

Just got my Forward Controls in!!!! Saaaaawwwwweeeeeeeeeeeet!!!
Going to put them on and Fabricate up a foot clutch. So Freaking excited!!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver

...Your hand comes off the throttle when you shift...No big deal there unless your running the1/4 mile...

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeavisRules

... You let up on the throttle when you shift anyway so why not use it to shift the bike?..

You guys don't match your engine rpm to your gears when you downshift?
You LIKE the feeling of taking your hand off the bars to shift through a corner or a turn? Damn, you guys are goooood!

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterman7474

i believe in the back of Backstreet Chopper i saw a new product thing on a new shift dog for jockey's and suicides. it puts neutral at the bottom, so that in a "quick" situation, you just bang it all the way down to the bottom and don't have to hunt back up for neutral.

In a real world "quick" situation you don't give a crap about where neutral is, you want to know where FIRST gear is!

Quote:

Originally Posted by eviljason

i rode a suicide shovel for about 4 years... i have never had another suicide set up and will never run one again....everyone i knew that ran this set up in the 90's,all ride dynas now-pretty much stock,or they are dead.

Sorry for preaching guys, I just don't get why you would want to screw up a perfectly efficient system (footshift/handclutch) just for the look or the fun of it.
Flame away…

 

Baker makes a "N1" setup. Nuetral at the bottom. i have it in my Ultra and love it. Takes a little adjusting to it. Used to taking off all the way down...

 

This is right on the money. With the rocker clutch you could take your foot off and the clutch stayed either engaged or disengaged, the suicide clutch is spring loaded and only stayed disengaged while your foot was pressing on the pedal. The rocker was much easier to ride, but the suicide looked much better in a custom application.

Nothing like riding down a potholed, dirt road on a rigid frame, springer front end with a suicide clutch. Every time you rolled over a hole your foot would lift off the clutch and you would goose the throttle slightly. It was real stop and go driving. ;-)