Has anyone tried a foot shift with a 45 WL?
I've ridden bikes for 50+ years and I just can't handle the foot clutch and tank shift.
It leaves one hand on the handlebars and I have enough trouble with TWO hands!

Did i mention I'm an old fool? 76 and counting

 

‘WELL Indian is left throttle - right side is the distributor - right side shifter no gate and the clutch is heal to go and early machines the kicker is on the left
‘
we ride them all after they are fixed young feller

 

Practice, practice, practice then some more practice. Big open parking lot on flat ground, circles, figure eights etc.

It definitely takes a minute to get it all figured out, but soon enough it becomes muscle memory. The biggest issue I had when i first got my bike running was that I didn't realize how poorly she was running. From bad carb to jenky everything. As they get sorted out they become easier to ride, more predictable. I find it a lot of fun and rewarding every time we get a nice clean shift.

And it is always a wondrous miracle when she starts with the kicker, always. Good luck.

 

FWIW: (nothing) Had a UL motor in a VL frame converted to foot shift.

What the 45 really needs is a 4 speed box, the gap between 2nd & 3rd is just too wide
JMO

 

New (reproduction) 4 speeds were available until covid and then war in Ukraine.
Now, the 4 speed seems to be out of stock and you can only get a kit to convert 3 to 4. Not sure why just a kit and nothing not a new one?

 

4 speed probably is a good thing, 2nd to 3rd is way TOOOOO far apart. 30-40 MPH is basically no man's land with a 31 tooth motor sprocket, too much for second and not enough for 3rd. But one of the old guys told me when a I asked his opinion on a four speed, "...sounds like a lot of shifting."

 

And its less HP then your lawnmower so exactly who do you think your going to scare with another gear it cant pull other then down hill

 

I get that, not saying any taller overall, just another gear to bridge the gap between 2 & 3
Let`s call it 2.5

 

I get it - have ridden a pile of them and some are better then others — but its a 1920s dirt farm road machine for local transpertashion as in the first design was at the end of using a bicycle frame with a gas engine — it was a major improvement at the time - cheap to build - easy to own and repair - and it did the job

fast forward - the interstate system was only being built in the 60s with paved roads that were to small anyway but today you take your life in your hands going up an a RT 80 kind of thing with a classic

if you use it for its original intended use its a great piece to own — if your hell bent on making a air balloon a F16 jet fighter — you need very deep pocket for the tools to fix it along the way // forget the money that’s like a leaking sink in a motel

 

I`m just trying to go up N.E. Ohio hills at 35 mph
I remember talking to J.W. Boon at Wauseon, claimed a 45 had great touring abilities.
But Holland is flatter than a billiard table