Shift shaft rocking, not rotating. Ideas?

[FluffyDog6]

I have a heel-toe shifter mechanism and floorboards.

Without warning, my shifter shaft has suddenly started rocking, not turning. Can not easily get past neutral now. See video.



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Would one of those stabilizer things solve my problem?

Any other ideas to fix this with limited expense, having limited expertise?

Thanks!

[Rambozo]

Actually it always follows an arc, not rotation. That is an extension shaft, and it looks to me like it might be loose on the real shifter shaft, or maybe something is broken. You need to pull off the covers to get to it. I would advise you take this time to install a shifter brace as that will help a lot. I can't say I'm a fan of heel toe shifters, and they can be tricky to get everything adjusted right. At the same time you can replace the shifter shaft seal. Check out this how to article for all the gory details.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=19760

You can see in this photo why the extension shaft doesn't rotate, but instead describes an arc.

[Swagonmaster]

You can see in the video that the shift shaft isn't staying straight when you shift, you desperately need a shift shaft pivot brace and likely a new shift shaft seal.
https://cyclemax.com/inc/sdetail/gl1500 ... vot/200181

[FluffyDog6]

Since I have both heel-toe shifter and floorboards on this bike (which where there when I bought it),
how likely am I to be able to get the shifter brace to work?

The Cyclemax page offers to "send a longer bolt to give you a fighting chance to make it work."

That doesn't instill a lot of hope in my mind.

Has anyone else made this work with my type of set-up?

[Swagonmaster]

Actually my bike has the same setup; heel/toe shift and boards and the shift shaft support worked just fine. Of course the more stuff that is in the way can make the job more interesting but it's quite doable and helps a lot to make it shift properly and not damage the oil seal due to excessive side to side movement.

[Swagonmaster]

One other thought, on my bike the bolt that holds the heel/toe shifter pivot together and prevents the shifter from moving side to side likes to come loose sometimes and that really screws up the ability to shift gears so you might take a quick look to see if yours is still tight.

[FluffyDog6]

That’s a good thought. Maybe the heel-toe shifter mechanism is loose…

Did you need the longer bolt to mounter the stabilizer to the mounting point, or did the stock one work?

[blupupher]

I did not need a new bolt when I installed my shift pivot, but I did need a new spacer, a 10mm deep socket was the right length, so I did not have to cut the spacer than came with the heel toe/floorboard kit.

[rider1939]

Good video.

All-in-all it looks like it's operating fairly well, although you still should install the "shifter brace thingy". They are excellent.

I have one thing you should check. In the video where it shows the shift rod clevis that attaches to the heel-toe shift shaft lever, under the black boot, could be traveling too far. Maybe the clevis is coming up against shifter lever. That could prevent the gear from fully engaging. Pull the boot down and up shift and see if it is. If it is hitting just shorten the rod. This will bring the forward foot contact lower, so watch out you don't reduce that too much.

Luck