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06 EX 500 Gear Shift Lever Too Short

1602 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  canyon ed
Does anybody know which part to use for a longer arm shifter. When I wear my boots the shifter arm is to short. I compared it to my 79 rd 400 and the kawi shifter is 2 inchs shorter. Anybody got any ideas. By the way I have a size 12 boot. thanks Canyon ED
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I wear a size 13 , and don't have any problems shifting ???
try to get boots that are not designed for choppers ;)

it's something I had problems too, I recently went and bought boots, but I had to try them on on sports bikes at the shop.. Because as soon as the boot sole is too thick, you have a hard time sticking it under the shifter.. I wear size 10.
Just going by the seat of my pants (I don't have my bike nearby), I'm pretty sure you can remove the bolt through the shifter arm, rotate it in a manner that you'll get more clearance between the peg and the shift actuator, and replace the bolt. Looking at the parts diagram:



, it looks like there might be a rod that you can adjust. It runs from the shifter to the actuator (I was thinking of my KZ in the strike-through above, it's a direct attachment IIRC). just loosen the nuts and turn the rod. If both ends have the same style threads (both left hand or both right hand) then you'll have to take things apart to actually lengthen it. This should gain you some clearance using the stock arm. I'm sure someone will speak up if this won't work and/or won't help.

For the record, I wear size 13 work boots when I ride and can't say I've ever had trouble. I'm not saying you're doing something wrong, just that I'm riding a stock bike and have clearance as it sits. Your shifter may be in a different place from the factory, I don't know.
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i wear a size 9 boot and i dont have any problems, where are you putting ur foot vs footpeg?
Nick D said:
it looks like there might be a rod that you can adjust.
Yep, loosen the nuts and turn the rod. It just sounds like bad foot position/bad footwear to me though.
unworthy said:
Nick D said:
it looks like there might be a rod that you can adjust.
Yep, loosen the nuts and turn the rod. It just sounds like bad foot position/bad footwear to me though.
It gots ta be ! I wear ICON MotorHead Boots (massive) in a size 13(big) and I have absolutely no problems with the shifter .
I am modifing a rd shift lever and its going to work fine. I tried different boots and that helped also. anyway thanks ED
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