![]() These standard clutches are called a "rocker clutch". Early foot-clutch motorcycles, such as those from Harley-Davidson and Indian, allowed the rider to lock the clutch foot pedal due to its over-center geometry plus a helper spring (aka "sissy spring"), so they could place both feet on the ground when stopped. More technically, "suicide clutch" can refer to clutch controls lacking a detent on the foot clutch, which would otherwise allow the rider to lock the clutch in the disengaged position. Harley-Davidson introduced the hand clutch on the 1952 Panhead. Suicide clutches were common on mid-20th century Harley-Davidson motorcycles and many custom bikes today still employ this system. Sometimes the shifter is referred to as a "jockey shifter" while the foot clutch is called a "suicide clutch". In contrast, the fanciful slang "suicide" was applied to designs where the rider removes one hand to change gears, or cannot put both feet on the ground while using a foot clutch to disengage the transmission. Modern motorcycles do not require removing a hand from the handlebars to shift gears, using only the fingers for the clutch and the toes of one foot to select gears. Foot clutches (rocker-clutches) and hand shifters (tank-shifts) were found on early motorcycle designs from around the turn of the 20th century to the 1940s or 50s, and reappearing on modern retro styled custom motorcycles and choppers. The terms suicide clutch, and suicide shifter or jockey shifter, refer to some motorcycles' foot-operated clutch and hand shifter to change gears. A Harley motorcycle with an aftermarket "jockey shifter".
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