My bike's clutch lever has a set of 2 wires connected to it besides the cable. What is it for?
Did you ever try cranking you bike's engine when gear ~= Neutral & Clutch is locked ? If you try this you will notice that engine will never get cranked. Here lies the answer for your question.Those two cables in clutch lever assembly of your bike are connected to a switch. This switch is a contact based switched & outputs 1 if clutch pedal/ lever pressing >= 65% (this is including play & % pressing value is calibratable. It means Switch tells whether clutch is in open or locked position). Moreover, in the gearbox of your bike there is a switch,which is also contact based switch, & gives information about whether Gear is Neutral or not. So when gear is in neutral position lever closes a contact & switch outputs 1.The contact switch for cranking motor uses the information from these 2 switches & lets user crank the engine seamlessly. Let's define 2 variables, gear_box_Neutral_SW & Clutch_SW for gearbox & clutch contact switch. Logic is as follows:Case1: gear_box_Neutral_SW = 1 & Clutch_SW = 1 or 0 ---> Allow E-motor cranking. (actually these are two cases) Case2: gear_box_Neutral_SW = 0 & Clutch_SW = 0 ----> Do not allow E-motor cranking. (for obvious reason that E-motor & 12 V system's power would be drained out immediately without engine getting started. In short cranking motor can not be used for producing a driving torque)Case3: gear_box_Neutral_SW = 0 & Clutch_SW = 1 ----> Allow E-motor cranking of the engine.
Honda Shadow or Yamaha Virago?
in a couple of years the most, i would like to buy a motorcycle to cruise around the country. now i was told an ENDURO type is better fo this than a chopper, because it's much more comfortable on long roads but i still like to stick to a chopper. now, what would you suggest for me, as somebody who has never owned a motorcycle before? for about 2,000 euros i found the Honda Shadow and the Yamaha Virago. which one is better? i am thinking about 250 cc versions as a beginner...