OK guys, I was hoping to wait for everything to be here to update at one time, but I just can't stand waiting any longer...I'm too excited about it. Over the past 6 months or more I've been focusing all of my attention on identifying the rear handle/lever of the smartgun. It has been an
ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE, BUT I'VE DONE IT!
First off, let me show the photo I've been using to help figure this out:
It's amazing how many details one can pull from this photo...the ONLY photo of the assembly I've ever seen anywhere. Now, I first will say that finding photos of the smartgun that the Propstore had a few years ago would do you no good - they replaced the rear handle and lever, and now it is a totally different assembly. You may wonder how I know this...well, trust me, I've done my homework - it's definitely not the original rear handle anymore.
So over these past 6 months I've been looking at thousands...and I mean THOUSANDS of motorcycle parts. In fact, I know I've looked through
at least 25,000 different photographs (I'm not kidding). Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha...you name it, I've seen every single one of them from 1975-1985 models. Despite hours and hours of exhaustion and blurry vision, I couldn't identify the rear handle. I was very discouraged and frustrated. I had been using the mounting screws of the 'perch' exclusively at first to narrow my results, and this got me nowhere. Ironically, someone posted their perch on the "massive found parts list" thread and claimed they had ID'd this...they were doing what I was doing, and overlooking so many other more-useful details. Allow me to elaborate...
That photo is labeled by me the best I could do during my searching...as I learned more, I labeled more 'landmarks' as I call them. You can see the part labeled the 'clutch perch'...well, I'll get to that in a bit, but you can see the screws on each side of it (the mounting screws as I refer to them as). Only a fraction of motorcycle/ATV perches have the mounting screws in this configuration. Unfortunately, as I said, the mounting screws were not enough to help.
I then realized that what was going to help me more than anything were 'screw #1' and 'screw #2' as labeled in that photo. Well, these were the clincher. There is not a single Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, or Yamaha perch with both of these screws in the correct locations. Still, with this now helping me,
I COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHAT THE REAR HANDLE WAS. I started talking to Chef and we vowed to work together to figure this out...a few weeks went by and neither one of us could figure it out. I was so honed in on Kawasaki parts because we know they were used for the rest of the gun, but deep down I was realizing that it definitely wasn't going to be from a Kawasaki.
One night last week (after a long day at work), I came home, went on Ebay, typed in "clutch lever" and went for it. Anyone with any sense realizes that this is such a general search criteria...there were tens of thousands of auctions. Well, I sat there and looked and looked and looked...and looked and looked and looked. After hours of hopelessness,
I HAD WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A MATCH...
SCREW #1, SCREW #2 and the mounting screws all matched! OH MY GOD...I then really looked even closer and knew I had it. I made a few diagrams for a friend of mine who is just as OCD as I am when it comes to detail (he will argue against anything if there is even the most miniscule of a doubt), and he could not refute the match...he agreed, I HAD FOUND IT. Take a look...
Everything matched up!!!!! YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh...you're still wondering what it is?!?!?!
1976 HUSQVARNA ('HUSKY') MAGURA 360 !!!!!How about the lever that matches the make & model of the perch? Well, take a look...
And, as far as the comparison...
Through my efforts, I can confirm that you need the BRAKE lever...NOT the clutch lever...again, they look exactly the same, but the hole for the wire attachment as shown in the photos confirm that it was the brake lever...BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE, NOT CLUTCH, lever. Obviously mine will be painted black.
I SURE HOPE YOU ARE ALL CONVINCED. I also hope you maybe can get a feel for how much work it was...this was ridiculous. This is, in my mind, a solid match, and I am STOKED to be using it on my hero M56 build.
I am sorry to type it as a story and lead you on...I wanted it to be a fun read. I sure as hell had fun writing it!
Again, it's from a
1976 HUSQVARNA ('HUSKY') MAGURA 360.
Some of the other year Husky perches are very similar too, but they do not all use the correct-looking levers. The parts are quite a bitch to find too, but I may have a source. If I confirm this, I will let you all know where you can go to fill your needs!
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