My Alternative shifter setup

[ZuluSafari]

Well, as much as I love my Tiger, I had issues with the stock shifter and linkage.  A previous owner had attempted to firm up the loose fulcrum by drilling out the original axle bolt, and replacing with a standard M8-1.25 hex headed capscrew.  The original bell cranks were dry and worn loose as well, and the rubber shift peg had been replaced with a slit section of rubber fuel line.  When executing upshifts, the shifter arm and toe peg would twist over to the right, rather than just rotate up.  This would bind, missing the shift.  I had to rotate my foot inwards toward the engine, then lift on the end of the shifter.  Very uncomfortable, and sometimes I would catch on the side-stand switch guard (I think.)



Mustang's thread is very good on how to tinker with the stock setup, and I LOVE his folding shifter tip!!   But I wanted something crisper, and that wouldn't be so close to the foot peg.  Although, I really fancy his folding brake lever mod, too!!

After looking through the entirety of this wonderful forum, I thought I might have found the ticket using an Emgo forged aluminum shifter for a Yamaha YZ400(F?).  Alas, 'twas not to be so.  The Emgo YZ400 shifter is too long, with an upswept curve leading to the folding tip.  At it's lowest operational orientation on the shift shaft splines, the end was about 2" too far forward, and about 1 - 2 inches too high.  I couldn't flick my foot upwards to upshift, and it wasn't intuitive nor comfortable to raise my whole leg upwards.  I was bummed.


Looking at the sideview, I realized I needed a shift arm that was bent in a mirror image to the YZ400 lever - it needed to curve downwards toward the tip, ideally arcing over the side stand mounting portion of the foot peg bracket.  The offending piece of the equation wasn't just the replacement lever - the foot peg/side-stand mount is in the way.

I wasn't comfortable with either grinding material away for clearance in the side-stand mount or in the YZ400 shifter arm, so I kept my eyes open for alternatives.  I could just picture my trusty steed lying on her side because the material I removed to fit an aftermarket lever allowed the side stand mount to twist under load.   I just went on and replaced the bushing in the stock shifter, and tried adjusting the shifter angle to be more comfortable for my size 13 gunboats to get by, but it was just not good enough!  The balking shifter had to be sorted out in order to achieve true bliss on my Steamer.

So!  Looking at the issue from several angles, I theorized that I could move the shifter upwards and outward, around the foot peg / side-stand bracket, if I could figure a way to secure an aftermarket shifter arm to the stock shifter lever.  I checked the clearances, and decided I could drill out the bell crank rivet and use some sort of bolted configuration to clamp some kind of short dirt bike-style shifter arm to.  Here is the culmination of that journey!


I ultimately decided I did not want to damage/experiment on the stock parts, so I put the whole shifter assembly up for safe keeping.  I went to a motorcycle salvage yard here in Houston, to find a replacement short shift lever.  I stumbled across two steel units - one had a more pronounced offset like the stock aluminum shift lever, and the other was slightly longer with more angular offset to the clamping bolt.  I drilled out the bell crank clevis ends, and decided the non-chrome, longer armed one worked better in the space available.

Next, I tapped the end for an M8-1.25 thread.  I didn't like the small amount of margin left if I increased to M10, though I was worried about the strength of M8 bolts.  This turned out to be a non issue as you will see.

The splined Shifter lever end was a challenge for me - I wanted to keep something splined or keyed to prevent the shift arm rotating around the shaft under load, but I do not have equipment to cut or machine splines.  I found an SAE 5/16" Course Threaded rod coupling nut that slid in the YZ400 arm nicely, engaging the shift lever internal splines in 6 places.  I toyed with drilling/tapping to M8-1.25, and possibly cross-drilling for a roll pin once I had the shifter arm in the correct position.   I really wanted something that would work with a "stock" replacement shifter arm in case of breakage.  Having to custom modify every future shift arm would be a hassle.

Reading about someone else's unrelated motorcycle project through the twisted branches of a Youtube research diversion (Squirrel!), I discovered I might be better off finding a used shift shaft and modifying it to my purpose.   A quick check on eBay found several different used shift shafts, priced from dirt-cheap to HOLY SMOKES - Is it made of PLATINUM!?  

Not willing to wait for an auction and subsequent shipping, I decided to explore a motorcycle salvage operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma!  (I happened to be seeing a client in the area.)  I found one that could be from an XS1100 for $20.  A bit steep for what it was, but it was the only shift shaft I could get my hands on - they don't split engine cases unless the lower section is broken, and shafts in the box of cruiser forward control splines were all WAY too big.  The $20.00 is still pretty good since I didn't have to pay shipping, or offer up my children in exchange for a piece forged from Excalibur's steel alloyed with the finest Atlantis Virgin pubic hair!

On a frivolous trip to Cycle Gear, I bought a new MSR YZ Shift lever (PN# 342146) - not sure which YZ it fits, but it is slightly shorter and doesn't have the pronounced upswing to the folding tip as the Emgo YZ400 lever - I found it fit the used shift shaft splines snugly.



So, I set to work!  First, I used a hacksaw to cut the splined end off of the salvaged shift lever. 


Second, I drilled and tapped the 1.5" splined piece for an M8-1.25 thread.


Third, I assembled a 35mm M8 Socket Headed Capscrew with lock washer into my steel shifter arm.


Fourth, using Red Loctite, I assembled the short splined section onto the shifter arm assembly, hoping this will be strong enough.


Fifth, Test fitting the new shifter arm on the bike showed where it should be positioned to clear the Sprocket cover and foot peg mounting bracket.


Sixth, I temporarily mounted the new MSR YZ shifter arm to test foot position.  Much better!!  The folding foot peg hits me just about 1 inch further forward than the stock lever.  This means shifting is with the base of my big toe instead of my instep.


Seventh - reassembled and torqued the foot peg bracket, side-stand switch, and sump guard bolts; then waited 24 hours for the Loctite to cure.

Eighth - Cuss like mad and regroup following failure of the loctite to keep the short splined shaft tight on downshifting.

Ninth - Remove foot peg bracket and new shifter arm assembly once again.

10th - MIG weld a bead around the short shift shaft piece and the steel shifter arm to keep everything in place. (no picture of this - my welding skills are best described as functional, not pretty.  )

11th - Repeat steps 5 through 7. Sigh.  (I am getting very good at replacing the locknut by the rear shock by feel!)


12th - TEST DRIVE!!!!  The new shifter setup is very crisp!  No more twisting flex, and the engagement to each gear is much sharper and defined.  I can easily shift all the way up and down now, with no awkward rotation of my foot.  I also do not get a sore spot on my instep anymore, as the shifter peg is in a more ergonomic location for me!!  The folding tip is approx. 1" further forward than the stock lever was.


I had in my head initially that the dirt bike shift arms would be a very frugal replacement option, if I could make it work; but with all the little bits and pieces I procured during the R&D phase of this project, I could have bought a brand new, complete stock shifter setup to replace my tired, worn out shifter.  I am more than happy with the results though, and do not regret anything in the journey!  If I had one critique to make, it is the bright aluminum MSR shifter lever color.  I will be on the lookout for a suitable replacement either in black or perhaps blue, instead!

If you decide to do this change to your own Steamer, the job can be done for about US$50.00-$75.00 depending on the source for your parts.  I paid $27.00 for the MSR lever, $8.00 for the steel shifter arm, $20.00 for the used shifter shaft, and ~$2.00 for fasteners.  If you can get one of the $10-14.00 shift shafts off eBay, it will save some money.  By welding the shaft to the shifter arm, the strength of the bolt isn't as important anymore - you can use a class 8 metric fastener, or even grade 2 SAE 5/16ths hardware (I would probably still go overboard with Grade 5 for piece of mind.)  I used a 10.9 M8 socket headed capscrew, expecting to have full load only on the bolt.

[nickjtc]

Looking forward to pics.

[ZuluSafari]

Pics are uploaded to smugmug, and I have done the embedding.  The smugmug editor isn't working for me tonight, so I apologize for some of the pictures being rather huge!

I will try some again tomorrow.

[BruKen]

Bodging at it's best  Well done that man 

[JoeDirt]

Bodging at it's best  Well done that man 

Yea, nice write up.

[nickjtc]

Bodging at it's best  Well done that man 

+1

[Sin_Tiger]

Above what is class as a bodge 

[ZuluSafari]

Thank you very much! 

Some comments had been made on other shifter threads about the "ridiculous linkage", etc.  I must say, though, that Triumph is way ahead of some other bikes I saw while trying to find my bits and pieces!   One sport bike had a transfer crank, two different linkages, and then a "see-saw" lever to actually turn the shift shaft!!  I can't imagine getting a good, clean shift with so many moving parts in the action!

The current Tigers also have a long linkage - does the 800XC shift near the top of the motor??

I am curious how stout the shifter mechanism is in our Steamers - did Triumph do the linkage arrangement to isolate the shifter shaft in event of a get-off?  We routinely dumped our endure bikes as teenagers, bending shifters, but never breaking the transmissions - even in the rocky bush of KwaZulu, so I am not too worried about it.  I am glad to have the folding tip, though!!

Joshua

[Sin_Tiger]

More likely that's a by product of making the linkage to suit the riding positron of a modular engine.

[Beernard]

Nice work!  Entertaining write-up as well. Thanks.