[Wooly]

I had a problem today solved by a small motorcycle mechanic (Dirt bikes and ATV's).
I was riding and shifting from 5th to 6th when the gear shifter felt as thopugh it wasn't connected to anything.
A quick inspection found that at 100k's I had lost the shaft connecting the gear lever and the little shifter on the splined shaft.
Stayed in n5th for next 10 k's aor so, got to a town and pulled in to a service station...still limping along in 5th.
Noticed a small Motorcycle service centre and went and spoke to the guy about my problem.
No rod available and the best he had was a dirt bike shifter.
Took my lever and shifter off..put the dirt bike lever back to front on the splined shaft.
MotoGP style shifter on the TLS
Rode another 200k's with it in this style (Black :deviousSpur both ways plus some more suburban riding for those Melb people)
Felt really good.
Having the lever attached sirectly seemed to make the shifts a lot smoother and easier and neutral was dead easy to find compared to the normal set up.
I am tyhinking about setting it up like this all the time.
Does anyone see a problem withy the lever attached directly on to the shaft?

 

[Rifleman]

Other then the reversed shifting, can't think of anything. I know some of the old Kawasaki's used a direct lever on the shift shaft. GPZ1100 comes to mind. I just would have thought the throw would have been to long when shifting up or down. If you were happy with it... go with it.

 

[ryan.alger]

any pics?

 

[TLR-Billbo]

I swapped the arm that goes on the shift shaft on my R for GP style shifting. I loved it :hail

took some gettin used to though, occasionally upshifting when I should be downshifting or vice-versa :doh

kept people from askin to ride my bike though :laugh

 

[Schiben]

Yeah, I'd like to see some pics too. The two joints that hold the shaft in place on my bike are all loose and make shifting feel sloppy. I'd be curious to try this set up. Do you know what bike the new shift lever came off of?

 

[Wooly]

I will get some pics tomorrow with the quick repair lever.
It is about an inch to long and therefore to high on the foot.
Makes it hard to get the foot under.
Would look at fitting a shorter version.
That would then shorten the throw as well.
Looks clean and neat and with a nice lever might look good and work well
I was a little concerned about the directness of the force on the shaft and because of the additional leverage by a lever that is 6-7 inches long rather than 1 1/2" long.
As far as getting use to it....I don't think it will take to long.

 

[Wooly]

New Pic Added

any pics?

Here is the lever as fitted by my new best friend at
Healesville Motorcycle Centre
281 Maroondah Hwy,
Healesville, VIC 3777.
p: (03) 5962 1566.
(Free Plug!!:devious)
It's a little too close to the footpeg and with the TLS coarse splined shaft the adjustment is not very fine.
Will try to find a better more suitable lever and see how it goes

 

[oldtlsdoug]

Nice fix :thumbup

 

[BikePilot]

Nice work:thumbup I never understood why the TL has all the trouble-prone linkage anyway (all dirt bikes directly connect), but figured there must be a reason (something with throw or shifter angle). I'm glad to hear it works for you, I may just try this to get rid of the pesky shifter-pivot.

 

[TLR-Billbo]

nice and simple :thumbup

 

[Wooly]

I think that it feels much more positive to shift and much less pressure needed.
Hopefully I can find a good lever to use.
The one in the pic is a Suzuki TS 185 dirt bike lever if anyone is interested.
I will add photos if I can find a good lever to fit.

 

[ryan.alger]

looks freakin' sweet. i want that! of f-yeah!

 

[Wooly]

Just got back from the Suzuki dealer to find that the GS500F 08/09 Model has the same setup as my pic but in the traditional shift pattern.
A little shorter than my quick fix but that is a good thing.
Have ordered one A$50.
Be in tomorrow or so.
Will bolt straight on and all should be good for an elegant GP shift solution.
Comes stock in matt silver so not pretty but will most likely powdercoat to black.
Will provide pics when fitted!!

 

[Schiben]

Nice! Post some pics of when you get that one on too. This could be a new frequent mod!

 

[Kusib]

I rode My friends 07 CBR1000 around the block and i believe that was direct connect too. but with the standard shift pattern. Felt really smooth on the shifts.. But the bike has no character like my TLR..:devious

 

[Wooly]

Latest version of GP Shift on my TLS

Here is the GSX500 lever nickel plated with some heat shrink and a rubber outer for the toe piece
Looks pretty good on

 

[BikePilot]

That does look like a nice fit. Might just be the pic, but it seems angled really low:O

 

[Wooly]

It is lower than the OEM one I had fitted, but tried a few positions and this works best.
The upside down seems to influence where it is more than I thought.
Got an idea for a different design that I am going to mock up. Pics in a few weeks

 

[BikePilot]

:thumbup I've never ridden GP shift and didn't think about how that might affect positioning.

If you had a lever with a hing in the middle and a turnbuckle type thing attached at each end you'd be able to make very fine adjustments without repositioning the lever on the splines. Probably more hassle than its worth though.

 

[Wooly]

Gear Shift Idea...Ye Olde design revisited

After mucking around with the gear position for OEm and GP I noticed that the neutral position is neither in the up or down change position.
My idea is a revamp of an old idea.
Make a Y shape and allow the boot to fit in the neutral position in between two rubber shafts.
Therefore you don't need to change foot position to change gear.
Simply push down or lift up from the neutral position
I am going to mock one up from an old steel one I have.
Here's a rough pic of what I mean.
:devious