Changes for the better

Positive-stop gear change

Most early pioneer motorcycles usually had a direct drive transmission whereby a belt – or, less commonly, a chain or shaft – transmitted drive from the engine directly to the back or (occasionally) front wheel.

Any form of clutch to give a free engine facility was rare and if a free engine facility was available, this may be by means of non-clutch type devices, such as a moveable jockey pulley to slacken or tighten the belt with the drive belt acting almost like a friction material, as the jockey wheel was moved to take up drive.

While direct drive transmission is simple (and in my opinion the purist form of motorcycling) it has the disadvantage that every time one slows below about 5-7mph or needs to stop at a junction, for example, the engine has to stop running too, and pedal starting a 500cc veteran motorcycle isn’t the easiest