I think some of the coolest chopper pics and video are of choppers doing what they do best... flyin' in th' wind.
This means riding along side and in front of said machines and using a camera. Without a passenger doing the job it means me riding with one hand. Even if one has a set throttle, the camera bike can never keep even, so for many years I used just me left hand... then had the brilliant idea to knock up a foot throttle so I could use either hand... much more flexibility with the types of shots one can get.
As it turned out my decision to go ahead with the idea came about when I checked out options and realised how simple it could be.
Having built the foot throttle, I find it is great for every day riding. Sitting down IN my chopper as I do, means I don't have to hang on to the bars to be comfortable, so yes, I frequently relax back and cruise, letting the chopper have her head so as to speak. So actually really love the addition.
So here are some pics. Stock shovel and Evo carbies are operated by two cables a push and a pull. For simplicity, I always get rid of the return cable... have you ever had a carby return spring break? I've never heard of it. So that makes hooking up a second cable to the throttle already half done... just make it pull the other way so it now opens the throttle instead of closing it. My shovel runs a CV carb, so the cables attach at the front. Stock shovel carb cables attach at the rear, but no big deal. Then just a simple bracket off the accelerator pump to retain the outer cable...
I cheated a bit with the foot lever; welding the footpeg and lever bracket direct to the exhaust pipe, but doing a new pipe soon so will run it off the frame. Main trick here was to 1. get the lever at a comfortable angle for the natural position of the foot and 2. getting the leverage right so the foot neither moves excessively or too little. The former would make the throttle too touchy...
Cable is attached to lever with pin off a bicycle brake...
Then cut down a standard throttle cable and you have a nice curve to the carb...
Works a treat and really nice especially on longer trips. Oh! And great for photography too, especially those long shots to the left across the left arm and bars.