Half twist or thumb throttle ? both

[dogman dan]

I keep breaking the lever off thumb throttles, so I learned to make em into half twist ones. Now when I get a new thumb throtte, I just convert em to start with, and find I really like having both for longer rides, reducing hand fatigue.

Here's how. Cut a piece of 1" pvc pipe, thick wall, and scavenge the little sleeve from inside a dead twist shifter. If that isn't avaliable, some kind of sheet plastic like a notebook cover should work fine.

Carefully put some pvc cement on the end of the piece of pipe, and glue it to the throttle. I like to do it on the handlebar, so I don't screw up the alignment. Go easy on the glue since you could glue the throttle on the inside if you use too much. The sleeve fits perfect inside the pipe, and keeps it shimmed and slidy.

After the glue sets, just a few minuites, various methods can put a grip on it. Some I've used were sports tape, a foam grip from a tree lopper, and a stretched out old bike handgrip. Just use anything that lets you get a grip on the pipe.

A full twist throttle could be made the same way. I posted about this before, but this time I took pix when I put one together.

 

[StudEbiker]

Thanks for posting that Dogman. I had read you talking about that and wondered about doing it. The pictures help.

 

[Subfightr]

I love it Dogman! Brilliant! Thanks for sharing

 

[dogman dan]

I kept breaking that tab off the thumb throttles from riding full on all the time. Having it both ways is great till I break off the tab, but this way I don't have to limp home when it breaks.

 

[Rassy]

I've posted several places in the past concerning throttle preferences, etc. On my first build I used a full twist and found there was a tendency to roll the throttle on while braking. So I have used thumb throttles ever since.

On my new tadpole the underseat handlebar ends point up. There is only one (half grip) shifter for the internal hub, so I put that on the left side and a full twist on the right side. Then it finally hit me. When you pull on the brake lever your palm tries to roll the grip away from the brake lever. Otherwise you would end up with your palm way around the brake lever, instead of just your fingers. So with a standard full twist on my point to the sky grips, braking action automatically rolls the throttle in the off direction.

So my conclusion is, on a standard handlebar, try putting the throttle (full or half?, I have no experience with half), on the left side and there should be no tendency to apply the throttle while braking. If a clockwise turning throttle is available, that should work best on the right side.

Then I found I missed the thumb throttle. Having read about some conversions, such as what Dogman posted above, I found a large soft plastic accessory bracket, just a single ring with a recess on one tab for a screw head and a recess on the other tab for a hex nut. With this on the thumb end of the twist throttle, I now have a combination full twist/thumb throttle. Plus, the thumb tab can be set whereever you want it.

 

[dogman dan]

Great idea, pics please... 8)

 

[Rassy]

Here are a couple of pics. Some of these accessory mounts are made out of a nice soft material, which is best for the thumb. On my trike, first picture, the handlebars point to the sky, so the "thumb" band is on the end of the grip.

By selecting (or making) the screw just the right length the end of the screw won't protude, but you can still loosen it enough to turn the band to the best place for your thumb.

 

[dogman dan]

Ohhhh, now I get it. The reflector holder on the seatpost, or the frame clamp for a pump. I just had a hard time picturing just what you meant for some reason.

Brilliant I'll be digging into my box of parts right away to find one. Love the way you can position the tab for the max comfort.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Great stuff!! 8) 8) 8)

Good to see you all found ways to make these throttles work for ya!