A heel/toe shifter on an FJR? Hmm. I don't think so.What I would really like to see is a rocker shifter like my wife's cruiser. It is really easy to use the heel to upshift versus the toe. What advantage is it to racers to push up to downshift ?
You get a more positive feel to push down rather than pull up. Plus you can shift while leaned over without catching your toe and pulling your foot under and off the peg (I've done it. Not fun!). No rocker in my future though, Sorry! It's just a personal preference for me. Feels natural for me and both bikes will be alike then.What I would really like to see is a rocker shifter like my wife's cruiser. It is really easy to use the heel to upshift versus the toe. What advantage is it to racers to push up to downshift ?
That's exactly why you should do it. I don't know what benefit there would be for the average rider/owner, other than to say, "Lookee here at what I've got!" Many years ago I rode a Triumph Tiger Cub and a Parilla 250 Scrambler. The Triumph was a right hand shift: 1-down, 3 up. The Parilla was a left hand shift: 1-up, 3-down. Let's just say a rider had to think about what they were doing when switching back and forth between bikes. Coming from the Parilla and quick-shifting the Triumph was, uhmmmm....interesting!
Ok Rad, I've got it in work! First, a new motor mount will be fabbed with a boss for a belcrank that's in red. The stock Hiem joint linkage will be shorten and a new hiem joint linkage made to go between the shift lever and belcrank. Shifter cover will have to be trimmed. Belcrank will be fitted with a bearing for smoothness and shoulder bolt. My machinist wants to do it NOW, but I'm going to put it off till after my vac. when I come back in July. He said he'd be willing to make a few more once the prototype is built and working. Here's a little sketch to get an idea!
Also, I was thinking more along the lines of just turning the shaft lever 180 on the splines, and clearancing the stuff in the way. Simpler and less linkage to muddle the feel. Get it worked out though, you may find more interest.
Can't just flip the lever. Not enough room. If you get a shorter lever. not enough throw to it and hard shifting then. It's really not that bad. It's simular in design to my old R6's "Attack" reverser, only that involved a whole new cover. Now they do it thru the Rearsets. I got nothing but time here. An exercise in design! lolLooks to be more trouble than it would be worth to me. I don't do track days, it just seemed interesting to me, so I wouldn't count on me for a subsidy. The SO has also put the kabosh on any more farkling this year if I'm gonna make WFO.
What if you were able to find a longer shift shaft (the one with the splines that comes out of the motor) off of another bike? I thought they were pretty universal other than the length. Would that give you enough clearance?
I've ridden R1's with a bent Shift rod and they felt like rubber and I have seen them break. All you needed to do to achive right angles is space out the rearset .5" and run the rod on the outside of the frame with a '98-'99 shift lever and 1 in. spacer or this. I use the Valter Moto Set back plates now. Did many of them, R1 & R6 this way, plus you can still adj. without taking all a part. I like right angles. IMO it just looks better! I know this reverser won't be but for a very few, if any, but it's not costing me very much! Plus, I'll have the pleasure of trying to explain what it is! lolWhat if you were able to find a longer shift shaft (the one with the splines that comes out of the motor) off of another bike? I thought they were pretty universal other than the length. Would that give you enough clearance?
Also, don't limit your thinking by assuming the shift rod (the one that goes from the lever up to the shift shaft coming out of the motor) has to be straight. When the R1 first came out, we were scratching our heads on how we could reverse the linkage with the 'rod through the frame' curveball that mamayamaha threw at us. We ran 2 full WERA endurance seasons with a non-straight shift rod that we fabricated and it was never a problem.
Yeah, me too. But, they were aluminum and they needed adjusted on the splines. The steel ones we built had a solid feel and never broke (many many hours at race pace including a 24-hr at Willow Springs). Many ways to skin a cat.
