shift lever adjustment

[SteveS RT]

Good morning!

Riding last night I decided i need to raise my shift lever more.

upon inspection I have run out of adjustment... the adjuster bolt is screwed all the way in.

My next step is to cut 4-5 threads off each end unless someone else has a better idea.

Steve

 

[dirtrider]

6 minutes ago, SteveS RT said:

Good morning!

Riding last night I decided i need to raise my shift lever more.

upon inspection I have run out of adjustment... the adjuster bolt is screwed all the way in.

My next step is to cut 4-5 threads off each end unless someone else has a better idea.

Steve

 

 

Afternoon Steve

 

I haven't ever seen one that needed the link cut, if you have to raise the shifter THAT far then you need to look into why.

 

Have you tried shifting using the side of your boot (the top of the lower sole), that is usually how I shift.

 

If you raise the shift lever then down shifting becomes real pain as you have to lift your foot off the peg to make a down shift.

 

You know what you need & what you are dealing with,  just make sure that you can go back to where it is now as that will probably eventually happen.

 

 

[Paul De]

If your contemplating tearing the shift mechanism down to get at the linkage rod, why not explore rotating the motor side shift lever (#1).  One spline notch would likely be plenty.  Not sure how easy it is to get to that shift lever or if other components will block you from actually being and to pull it to rotate the lever.

 

[SteveS RT]

2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

 

Afternoon Steve

 

I haven't ever seen one that needed the link cut, if you have to raise the shifter THAT far then you need to look into why.

 

Have you tried shifting using the side of your boot (the top of the lower sole), that is usually how I shift.

 

If you raise the shift lever then down shifting becomes real pain as you have to lift your foot off the peg to make a down shift.

 

You know what you need & what you are dealing with,  just make sure that you can go back to where it is now as that will probably eventually happen.

 

 

Thanks, i think it is just different from what I have been used to on the last bike (FJR).

When I shift now it feels like my foot is "trapped" after I shift up.

I do put my whole toe under the shifter though.

There is a lot of adjustment in that linkage, so if I just move the center by shortening the bolt I should be able to easily move back to where it is now.

[SteveS RT]

53 minutes ago, Paul De said:

If your contemplating tearing the shift mechanism down to get at the linkage rod, why not explore rotating the motor side shift lever (#1).  One spline notch would likely be plenty.  Not sure how easy it is to get to that shift lever or if other components will block you from actually being and to pull it to rotate the lever.

 

That was my first thought!

I took part #1 above off last night and it is keyed. 1 spline in the 9 o'clock position is 3x wider.

getting part #4 out is as simple as loosening the lock nuts and unscrewing it.

I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully will get to this tomorrow.

[Cap]

3 hours ago, SteveS RT said:

 

My next step is to cut 4-5 threads off each end unless someone else has a better idea.

Steve

 

 

Check to see that you still have full authority when you have it all the way screwed in.  That is, in that position, will the bike still shift up and down from every gear, and can you find neutral from first?  Going in the other direction, I have discovered that the linkage comes with more adjustment than there is shifting authority, so that if I run it down all the way, then I lose the ability to shift.  

[SteveS RT]

1 minute ago, Cap said:

 

Check to see that you still have full authority when you have it all the way screwed in.  That is, in that position, will the bike still shift up and down from every gear, and can you find neutral from first?  Going in the other direction, I have discovered that the linkage comes with more adjustment than there is shifting authority, so that if I run it down all the way, then I lose the ability to shift.  

Thanks, I've been riding with it in the fully adjusted position already, with the threads bottomed out.

[Paul De]

1 hour ago, SteveS RT said:

I took part #1 above off last night and it is keyed. 1 spline in the 9 o'clock position is 3x wider.

Dang. Seems silly to force that lever to be installed in a single position.  Maybe it is required to get the Shift Assist Pro module to work right.

 

[dirtrider]

21 minutes ago, Paul De said:

Dang. Seems silly to force that lever to be installed in a single position.  Maybe it is required to get the Shift Assist Pro module to work right.

 

 

 

Afternoon Paul

 

If it doesn't  have a fine (multi-rib) spline then moving the lever on the spline stub would grossly change the working angle of the adjustable rod to the lever (you want to keep the working angle  somewhat close to 90° or the shift lever to arm ratio changes in each direction  as the lever goes to full travel).  A notch movement on a fine spline stub shaft probably wouldn't change much but a notch change on a coarse spline would probably noticeably effect the rod to lever working angle.  

 

Or, if the lever to rod working angle  was grossly dissimilar then the shift lever travel would be different in each direction. The rod length is really  the place to make the adjustment as long as it still allows full shift lever function in each direction.

 

The only problem in messing with the rod length  (other than possibly restricting shift lever full stroke function) is that darn adjustment rod  is over $50.00 if he  doesn't like the length change.

 

 

[SteveS RT]

Now I’m thinking “what if I were to lower the pegs? Would this cause a problem?”

In that case I may need that extra length back. 

[dirtrider]

6 minutes ago, SteveS RT said:

Now I’m thinking “what if I were to lower the pegs? Would this cause a problem?”

In that case I may need that extra length back. 

 

 

Morning Steve

 

It might, depends on how much rod you have cut off.

 

Just a thought, sometimes those adjustment rods are not completely centered in the end joints (bottoms out in one end before bottoming in the other end).

Have you tried unclipping one end then pulling the socket off the ball stud then seeing if you gain a little more by screwing the adjustment rod ALL the way into both ball socket ends.   

[SteveS RT]

I decided to get used to it the way it is, just in case I wanted to lower the pegs later. 

[Paul De]

13 hours ago, SteveS RT said:

I decided to get used to it the way it is, just in case I wanted to lower the pegs later. 

Haha.  Reprogramming the organic computer is a solution often used with good success! 

 

 

 

 

[old_farmer]

Boot thickness enters into this as well. Some years ago when I had a 1100, I bought some Aerostich Combat Lights. With those, I couldn't adjust the shifter far enough to shift comfortably. I ultimately bought a peg lowering kit and that solved the problem. On my 1200, first thing I had to do after buying it was adjust my shifter so I could get those boots under it.

[BamaJohn]

12 hours ago, old_farmer said:

Boot thickness enters into this as well. Some years ago when I had a 1100, I bought some Aerostich Combat Lights. With those, I couldn't adjust the shifter far enough to shift comfortably. I ultimately bought a peg lowering kit and that solved the problem. On my 1200, first thing I had to do after buying it was adjust my shifter so I could get those boots under it.

I had my left ankle rebuilt in the 70's with a tiny bit of flex loss, and my fix ('17 RT) is the Suburban Machinery SLT1-Tbuckle screw and DB1 down and back peg lowering kit.  Note:  the side stand foot enlarger (I think mine was Touratech) hit the peg, so I took it off.

JB