Dirty Pete

[OB_RCOREA]

Could you explain a little bit more about the following...
reverse shift pattern. Takes only 5 minutes to flip your linkage. You'll never miss another upshift again.
I copied this off another thread about shifting.

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

RCorea: The reverse pattern gives you a 1 up, 5 down shift sequence. This way, you push DOWN with the sole of your boot to shift up. It's a much more natural and positive movement that uses a larger muscle group for better control.

To try it, you just rotate the pinch-bolted clamp on the splined shaft in front of the shift pedal. You rotate it exactly 180 degrees. Adjust the pedal and linkage to suit your riding position and you're done.

You'll have to also grind the rearward sidestand bolt head a bit for clearance. But don't grind so much material off that you can't get a socket on the sidestand bolt anymore. Or, if you've got one, you can simply replace that sidestand hex bolt with a dome-head Allen bolt of the same size.

Once you've made the change, it'll take many hours of riding to make the reverse pattern second nature. But lots of draggers and especially road racers use this trick.

I have literally not missed one upshift since I made this change 8,000 miles ago.

 

[OB_byhalia]

I second that DP testimony.

 

[OB_RCOREA]

Thanks for all the info, I am going to try it.

 

[OB_Don Vernay]

As one of the other posters has said; it takes a while to get used to the change and you can get in trouble. I have been riding a reverse pattern for a couple of years and when I picked up my new R1 last year before I could change the pattern I almost dumped it due to a minor lapse in concentration. I am having the dealer reverse the patter on my Busa before i pick it up next week.

Almost like marriage.... once you are in you are committed and changing back and forth can get you into trouble ;-)

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Don't be too discouraged about the difficulty and danger of making the mental shift to reverse pattern.

Some pro racers can easily transition from regular pattern to reverse pattern from race to race in the same day if they're riding two different classes. Many of these guys have no preference either way and no difficulty whatsoever in switching back and forth.

It was fairly easy for me to make the transition to reverse pattern because I rode English bikes...Nortons, Hornets and Bonnevilles...in the 60s and 70s. They're right foot shift, 1 up 4 down bikes, so switching to reverse pattern on the Busa was like going home for me. I still made a few goofy shifts for the first while though because stupidly, I never reversed the pattern on the V-Max I rode for 10 years prior to the Busa. I don't even remember whether it was possible on that bike or not.

The trick I think is to make a decision whether the reverse pattern is right for you without being influenced by the discombobulation it causes you at first.

If you like the feeling of the reverse pattern on your first few runs through the gears, then you should make the decision to go through the agony and (frequently) the embarrassment of re-wiring your brain.

 

[OB_RCOREA]

I am definitely going to try it. I have another question about the shift lever! Do you know if the rod with the 2 locknuts, to adjust height of shift pedal, is reverse threaded on one end?

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

RCorea, this is not meant to be patronizing at all, but I'm going to challenge you to figure that one yourself. Crack the lock nuts and spin the rod.

There's only one way to learn, and that's to dig in and make mistakes.

Do the conversion yourself and you'll be proud yu done it.

Bigger things await! Do this little fix, then you'll feel cool about changing a chain, then you'll replace your own clutch plates, then pretty soon you'll be modifying major components, then...

[This message has been edited by Dirty Pete (edited 06 April 2000).]

 

[OB_SlowHand]

The only downside to the reversed pattern is in the user's brain. Long time shifting habits can pop up at inconvenient times. Dropping a gear when you mean to go up can put you on your butt quicker than you can say,"Oh,S***. If you don't have another bike which will retain the stock pattern, the transition will be easier. You would be much more likely to have a problem on the other bike than on the reversed Busa.

Among others, I remember former editor Nick Ienatsch of Sport Rider almost killing himself on a ZX11 due to this factor. I'm not saying ,"don't do it," I'm just pointing out something to watch out for.

 

[OB_RCOREA]

Ok Pete, I am up for the challenge. Thanks again to you and everyone else for the assistance on the reverse shift pattern.

 

[OB_Oger]

I did this yesterday, I must say that it is differant but I like it. Shifting is much smoother when you are shifting to higher gears. The only thing is that you have to take a lot off of the sidestand bolt, what size replacement did you use DP?

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

I just dug through my bolt bin and found the same bolt but with Allen dome head. It's perfect. Rustled one up for Byhalia, too. Any good fastener store will have one. It's a very neat solution.