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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Heel'n Toe Shifter
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Message started by kuri77 on 11/22/11 at 16:59:20

Title: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by kuri77 on 11/22/11 at 16:59:20

Started off going to Ryca's extra parts sale and bought a rear brake pedal set up. Cut the arm with the hole and rewelded it in more vertical position. Took two pieces of 1/2 inch solid bar stock and used die grinder to make into U shape, then tapped so I could attach levers with a connecting piece of threaded rod. Drilled 14mm hole in forward control aluminum mount and used a 2 inch 14mm bolt. Yeh, I know the welding's not pretty. If it's not a safety issue I do it myself but for something important my best friend is a welder by trade so he helps out. Tried it out today and works great. Will weld an extra piece on the front shifter so don't need to move boot so far to the right for a downshift.

http://i43.tinypic.com/w6qex3.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/1zqfpsz.jpg

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by arteacher on 11/23/11 at 03:51:00

Great isea. I would use cotter pins instead of quick clips though.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/23/11 at 06:03:07

If you had it do over, would you do anything differently?
I saw the bow pin & thot cotter pin would maybe be cleaner, but thot a bit more & decided I liked the look,, If its too funny looking or hangs a pant leg, I guess you could point the cross bolt around & put the bowpin on the inside.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by kuri77 on 11/23/11 at 09:15:09

Never had a problem with quick clips and like the reusability factor and that I can remove them with no tools.
Can't put the pin on the inside because of clearance problems with the big aluminum backing plate. Could have moved the part I welded out a bit but like the look this way.
If I had to do it over I would learn to weld better and would have sleeved the brake pedal so I could have used the same size bolts as all the others and then had uniformity of acorn nuts. Can't do it now because I drilled a 14mm hole in the backing plate.
Don't know if there is a reverse-thread tap and die easily available but if there is I would have done that for more adjustability in the linkage even though the linkage appears to be adjustable enough for my needs so far.
Not even close to snagging a pant leg yet. Don't think that will be a factor. Sure is an easy set-up to use.
After I'm sure it's gonna stay the way it is and I have a few months use on it will chrome or powder coat the used parts.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/23/11 at 09:56:49

Its not a screen door, you wont be making adjustments often.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by Serowbot on 11/23/11 at 10:00:37

No more scuffs on yer' left boot toe...
Now, how are going to recognize you as a biker, when you're not on the bike?... :-?...

;D...

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by verslagen1 on 11/23/11 at 11:30:15

Need to replace that all thread and use as straight a rod as possible.
the stock shift rod has problems if it has a kink in it and is known to break.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/23/11 at 12:02:11

495A4D4C535E585A510E3F0 wrote:

Need to replace that all thread and use as straight a rod as possible.
the stock shift rod has problems if it has a kink in it and is known to break.

Where I was going with my "What you do differently" question was to make that point. I just didnt want to bust his bubble. It is a cool mod, it needs some tweaking. I would put a rod on the trans arm & see where it oints & weld a tab on the shifter arm to get to it, or bend said arm to reach it, unless that makes it need to mount in an impossible place. Maybe the welding could be done on the bottom end so the visible chrome doesnt get messed up.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by kuri77 on 11/23/11 at 16:42:53

First, sorry about the big pics, just found out how to make them smaller.
Second, I must be missing something since I don't understand the shift-rod-kink problem relative to my setup. See last pic. The rod is perfectly parallel to frame and I hand shifted to watch its motion and it didn't move out of its normal plane. Don't see any problem there. The same pic also shows that the bent all-thread doesn't seem to be out of alignment enough to be a problem. Second thoughts after seeing the last pic?
The other pics are just to show both levers relative to foot on pedal.

normal foot position
http://i40.tinypic.com/vxci7d.jpg
upshift position
http://i42.tinypic.com/hv30c3.jpg
downshift position
http://i43.tinypic.com/2r7an9s.jpg
linkage alignment
http://i40.tinypic.com/2u9j29f.jpg

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/23/11 at 17:48:38

Man, if it do what you want it to do,, you won!

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by verslagen1 on 11/23/11 at 19:26:07

http://www.savageriders.com/verslagen/images/Shiftrodwoes.jpg

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by kuri77 on 11/23/11 at 20:30:25

So are the bends going to break because of it being threaded stock or because it's bent or both? With the set up I have what could I do to rework it without major design changes? Thanks to the heads up I'll make another one for now and keep it with me as an emergency spare. Worse case scenario I guess I have to disconnect the heel shifter and ride home with the normal set up. Just have to remember to always have tools available, which reminds me, I'll have to make up a tool holder for the bike since it has no storage in the battery compartment any more. The ex-smog box looks like a good possibility.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/23/11 at 21:07:35

Run it a while, watch it, look closely once in a while, check for cracks,, Its not gonna break in a week, Read my post about How to solve the problem, gonna need to weld a tab on the shift arm. Or,not,, might be able to mount an arm on it, instead of weld.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by verslagen1 on 11/23/11 at 22:19:01

Threads are a natural crack starter.

but, in this case, failure just means you have to shift with your toe only.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by kuri77 on 11/24/11 at 09:39:47

Ok guys thanks for the info. Will monitor and see how long it lasts.

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by Ed L. on 11/24/11 at 15:54:26

Just make that rod out of heavier stock and step down the threaded ends to the right size for the threads. Hack saw, fatter rod, grinder and a die will take care of the job. :)

Title: Re: Heel'n Toe Shifter
Post by kuri77 on 11/24/11 at 20:30:15

Good suggestion Ed. Thanks.