Heel Shift Question

[Kirby]

Yea I felt like cutting it off a time or two!!

[Condor]

ok there have been a lot of pros and cons on this topic so here is my Worth. Right after i got the rsv, i also got a bad case of gout in my left big toe. For those of you that have ever had this you know how painful it can be. Here i was with a new bike and couldn't bear lifting the shift lever with my toe, so i trained myself to use the heel shifter. I had thought about cutting it off before, but now it's there if i ever have another bad bout with mr. Gout!! If i can possibly ride, i'm a gona!!! Speaking of which.., c'ya!

 

masochist!!!!

[Rick Haywood]

I love mine I think. I never gave it any thought about effort or anything. I just enjoy riding and don't worry to much about things. If you like using your toe then by all means do it.

[Jactana]

I don't get them, might be useful if I had gout in my toe.......

[aharbi]

Using the heel/toe shifter depends on what type oil I'm running with what brand of tires set at a specific pressure and if I'm using green or orange antifreeze.

[ashley9187]

Personally I think its the next best thing since sliced bread.......Yeah I like it.

 

Rick A.

[Guest PlaneCrazy]

My RSV was the first bike I had with both floorboards and a H/T shifter. While i don't like the heel shifter at all, I love the floorboards and since my feet are not that big, I don't bump into the heel shifter at all. I really don't even remember it's there half the time.

 

Of course, I haven't been back on my bikes since I busted my ankle last summer so it will interesting to see this spring how my foot feels shifting (I broke my left ankle) I might actually use the heel shifter if my ankle gets sore.

[V7Goose]

Using the heel/toe shifter depends on what type oil I'm running with what brand of tires set at a specific pressure and if I'm using green or orange antifreeze.

Now you see, that's just stoopid, everybody knows that both orange and green antifreeze function just peachy with a heal/toe shifter. On the other hand, the use of YELLOW antifreeze absolutely requires a heel-only shifter!

[coy55boy]

I've never had a bike with heel/toe shift, but I'm looking forward to the time when I get one. Mostly I drive with my toe under the shifter unless I'm down-shifting. The problem comes when I take a left turn too sharply. I've had several close calls when the tip of my boot dragged pavement...that's an unpleasant feeling!

[Panjandrum]

Wow! I expected some response, but you guys have really provided lots of opinions.

 

What I have learned is, it's ok to keep with the toe, but on no account remove the heel shifter... just in case I break a toe or get gout.

 

Thanks, All!!!

[Nighthawk II]

Living on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau means that everywhere I ride is either up or down a hill or around lots of curves.That's a lot of shifting. I found that with that much shifting if I only use the toe my toe and joint get's sore. Using the heel keeps that from being a problem while I'm enjoying the hills and twisties.

[SilvrT]

Another way to look at it... regardless if you're up-shifting or down-shifting, if you use the heel-toe shifter, you're stepping DOWN in BOTH CASES.... a much easier thing to do.

[Aussie Annie]

Removed it

 

Would get in the way now, as I start off in the pillion seat then slide forward, and need to put my boot on edge of floorboard

[Rick Butler]

Well Chris,

 

I'm certainly in the minority on this subject where this is the first item I changed out when I got my 1st 2nd gen. First off, I ended up loving the boards on the RSV much better than I did the pegs on my 5-1st gen Ventures. This was because I found that I had alot of room to move my feet up and down the boards.....that is until my left heel inadvertenly clipped the heel shifter while starting off and shifted into nuetral. Then later I found myself in the same situation and upshifting when I didn't want to.

 

So when I discovered that Yamaha offered a billet toe shifter, I had to have it. And since then, I shift like I always did (1 down and 4 up) and didn't have to re-train myself on how to shift. And for me it didn't feel natural to slide my foot back on the board to shift up?

 

The big plus to the toe shifter is that when I'm riding the curves is a more aggressive manner, I can slide my feet all the way back until just my toes are on the boards and my heels on the exhaust heat shield. This allows me to get my feet under me more like I'm on a set of pegs, where I can load one foot or the other depending on the severity of the curve and the corner speed I want to carry.

 

But at this point in time, Yamaha has sold all of these billet toe shifters so they are no longer available. So the only option is to cut the heel shifter off or find a billet toe shifter on the open used market.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Rick

[midnight maddog]

I vote FOR the heal/toe shifter. All my bikes since dirtbike days have had them. I try to adjust the heal part down so that when I raise my boot heal slightly from the flooboard, slide it back and click downward, it grabs the next gear as my boot gets level on the floorboard again. No overkill on the shifter. Just works better for me.

[Condor]

But at this point in time, Yamaha has sold all of these billet toe shifters so they are no longer available. So the only option is to cut the heel shifter off or find a billet toe shifter on the open used market.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Rick

 

You have a friend in the toe/toe camp Rick... for the same reasons. With my big clodhoppers I hit that dang heel peg, and shift into neutral all the time, or end up in a higher gear and start lugging. A real PITA. I found a billet toe shifter on Ebay.... Without the heel peg I can move my foot around to different positions while on longer rides.