'Eureka' moment - Heel / Toe shifter
August/25/2009 05:48 PM Filed in: Bike Stuff
Got me some new boots and suddenly my (toe) shift lever was too low. Went up a notch and it was too high. Found a solution that worked for me - No idea if this will work for everyone - but in my case, not all shifters are created equal...
I typically wear “hiking” shoes - Much more than just a shoe, not quite a boot. Recently went out and bought a pair of Red Wing safety-toed boots (in a rather “hiking shoe” style) and noticed right off the bat that they might be a little too “thick” to fit comfortably under my shift lever.
As soon as I got home, I noticed two things:
1) The toe shifter was most definitely not high enough.
2) The shoes were “hefty” enough to make the heel shifter a hinderance.
Off went the heel shifter and I put the toe lever back on, one notch higher than before.
Wow - What a difference that made. Upshifting was wonderful. But DOWN-shifting was absolutely terrible. Hurt my shins after less than a mile having to stretch up that high. Pulled back into the garage and started thinking of possible solutions: A longer lever? A smaller toe shaft perhaps? I’d give anything to just “split the difference” between the old position and the new position...
Then for some stupid reason, I took the now-unused heel shift lever and held it up to the toe lever. I have to assume they share a part number, because they’re identical in design and angle - except for one small but important thing, at least in my case... The knurled portion (that goes over the shaft) on the inside of the heel shifter was several degrees off compared to the toe shifter. Otherwise completely identical, I decided to put the heel shifter in place of the toe shifter.
Perfect fit - It split the difference wonderfully. Just enough clearance for the shoe - and I don’t have to do ballet exercises to downshift.
DISCLAIMER OF SORTS: I’m not necessarily saying that this is a good idea. I’m not saying that it would work for everyone. It actually shocked me that those two otherwise identical parts weren’t completely identical (I could be wrong, but on my old Road King I thought the levers were very different). That said, maybe they do have different part numbers. Maybe that’s the difference. Maybe HD does that by design so you can “tailor” the shifter a little better. I have no idea. The service guy at the dealership had no idea. But without question, in this case (on my 2008 FLHX Street Glide), it was just the ticket.
As soon as I got home, I noticed two things:
1) The toe shifter was most definitely not high enough.
2) The shoes were “hefty” enough to make the heel shifter a hinderance.
Off went the heel shifter and I put the toe lever back on, one notch higher than before.
Wow - What a difference that made. Upshifting was wonderful. But DOWN-shifting was absolutely terrible. Hurt my shins after less than a mile having to stretch up that high. Pulled back into the garage and started thinking of possible solutions: A longer lever? A smaller toe shaft perhaps? I’d give anything to just “split the difference” between the old position and the new position...
Then for some stupid reason, I took the now-unused heel shift lever and held it up to the toe lever. I have to assume they share a part number, because they’re identical in design and angle - except for one small but important thing, at least in my case... The knurled portion (that goes over the shaft) on the inside of the heel shifter was several degrees off compared to the toe shifter. Otherwise completely identical, I decided to put the heel shifter in place of the toe shifter.
Perfect fit - It split the difference wonderfully. Just enough clearance for the shoe - and I don’t have to do ballet exercises to downshift.
DISCLAIMER OF SORTS: I’m not necessarily saying that this is a good idea. I’m not saying that it would work for everyone. It actually shocked me that those two otherwise identical parts weren’t completely identical (I could be wrong, but on my old Road King I thought the levers were very different). That said, maybe they do have different part numbers. Maybe that’s the difference. Maybe HD does that by design so you can “tailor” the shifter a little better. I have no idea. The service guy at the dealership had no idea. But without question, in this case (on my 2008 FLHX Street Glide), it was just the ticket.