Shifter Ideas needed please

Status
Not open for further replies.

sexyvicta

New member
Messages
806
Reaction score
2
i have a book which tells you how to build motorcycle engined cars. Will find relevent pictures and scan up once i find the book

but basicaly i think most often just a cable conected to the old foot lever/linkages up to a hand paddle behind the wheel or a simple forwards and backwards lever
 

sexyvicta

New member
Messages
806
Reaction score
2
i found the book. Its this one:



its dosn't realy have any pictures showing how to do it. Just says to make a lever and conect it to the gearbox with a rod or cable.

yeh
 

redsox985

Active member
Messages
4,092
Reaction score
11
Location
PA
Those look a lot like Formula SAE cars colleges build for competitions.
 

sexyvicta

New member
Messages
806
Reaction score
2
yeh they usualy use bike engines.

i may be able to find some pics i took a while back of the setup used on formula suzuki cars. (single seater circuit cars which use the suzuki hyabusa engine) Was thinking of puting a bike engine in one of my cars a while back
 

redsox985

Active member
Messages
4,092
Reaction score
11
Location
PA
Hence why I'm going to college for engineering and ensuring that Formula SAE is a part of their engineering program.

But anyways, for a shifter, with a dirtbike/quad style engine at least, rotate the splined shifter vertical, but make sure it's about 3-4" tall. Then, drill a hole in the shifter and in a connecting rod and bolt them together so that the rod can rotate on the shifter arm. Bring this rod into the cockpit and attach it below the cockpit shift lever's pivot point so that forward is upshift and backward is downshift.

For info on FSAE... I know that the Univ. of Pittsburgh vehicle could go 0-60 in 3.9 seconds! And they didn't come close to winning the competition.
 

sexyvicta

New member
Messages
806
Reaction score
2
I had a look at one of those cars once...used an r6 engine i think

imo use a cable. Less work involved in making it
 

rabies

punching kittens
Messages
107
Reaction score
0
Location
iowa
i seen that link . we could use some more ideas though.
who about a shifter set up like a sequential transmission.
normal spot. but a rod with springs to keep it center.
almost like a dirt bike gear shifter but inverted to use with the hand

i would like to see some more pics. ima look for some. il need to do this myself soon
 

anderkart

Moderator
Messages
6,426
Reaction score
359
Location
Surprise Arizona USA
I think using a shift rod is a simpler method, but a heavy-duty shift cable would work just fine too.

Here's some pics of a DIY shifter kart I had awhile back.

Like redsox said, the engines foot-shift lever was simply loosened/removed, and then reinstalled pointing straight up.

Then on my kart the shift-linkage rod was attached like this pic:



This kart then had the shift rod running through a pivot-point in the karts frame. (just so the shift-rod would line up with the shift-lever) But simply bending a longer 1-piece shift-rod to fit the kart and line everything up would have been a much simpler solution and would have worked just fine instead.



And then the linkage rod was attached to a shift lever, that simply moved forward and back to shift the transmission. The shift pattern was just the same as before, but now you could just use your hand instead of your foot to shift:

(as you can see, the motorcycles original clutch lever was simply clamped onto the shift lever)

 

redsox985

Active member
Messages
4,092
Reaction score
11
Location
PA
I had a look at one of those cars once...used an r6 engine i think

I believe they now use 600cc Honda engines.

who about a shifter set up like a sequential transmission.
normal spot. but a rod with springs to keep it center.
almost like a dirt bike gear shifter but inverted to use with the hand

This is exactly what I described above. It's quite simple. As Anderkart said, his system works, but is overly complicated.
 

sexyvicta

New member
Messages
806
Reaction score
2
what about a paddle behind steering wheel?

then you dont have ta take your hand off the wheel to change gear:D

thats the setup they use on formula challenge cars over here which run the old gs1100 bandit engines i think

you could always email them. Or look online at what they do in the UK. So many bike engined kit car constructors over there
 

rabies

punching kittens
Messages
107
Reaction score
0
Location
iowa
ahhhhhh. thank you for those pics. i had sumthing of the sort in mind.
those pics open the realm of other ideas. :)
 

Doc Sprocket

*********
Messages
15,677
Reaction score
142
Location
Ontario, Canada
who about a shifter set up like a sequential transmission.
normal spot. but a rod with springs to keep it center.

Bike trannies are sequential. Therefore, no matter how you arrange the mechanism- even a column shift- will be sequential... Like it or not!
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top