Cut the heel toe and made just a toe shifter

[Neshobanakni]

I love my heel shifter (learned on an old Honda ct90), but that's a cool mod for someone with big feet, or who just want a little more room.

[Howard B]

On my 1996 Vulcan 800, I always wanted a heel toe shifter and could not find one anywhere. Now with my yvr i dont see the need for one. I would definitely like to look at some foot boards though.

[Beau-Kat]

I rarely use my heel shifter because I have to move my foot back and raise my heel too high (for my taste) to use it. I guess I have been riding for so many years without a heel/toe that it is hard for me to get used to it. I think that I would like to use it and have tried several times, but the practice just never took for me.

 

Our Ventures' heel/toe shifters might be nicer if they were a two piece design (but didn't come apart and fall off) like a Harley's, so you could adjust the front and rear heights independently.

 

I had to cut the rear section off of my wife's Vstar 650 Classic's heel/toe shifter. I hated to cut it, but she kept complaining of inadvertantly knocking it out of gear in slow speed, i.e., parking lot maneuvers.

 

And we all know that we don't need to be hitting neutral when doing slow speed maneuvers.

[OwenB]

With my clod hoppers the heel was always getting stepped on. I installed one of the Venture Lines toe/toe and now I have room to move my feet all over the place on a long ride. I can ride with my toes on the back of the floor board all the way up to putting the heel on the front of the board and my toe on the highway pegs. It sure makes it more comfortable when spending hours in the saddle. BTW nice job on the mod...

 

Whats a toe/toe shifter look like? and where do ya get em?

[Condor]

Whats a toe/toe shifter look like? and where do ya get em?

 

 

They've been discontinued and are harder to find than chicken lips..... I searched a long time and finally found one on eBay.....

[GolfVenture]

My 89 VR came with a markland heal/toe. Took a while to get used to it, infact about 4000 miles later in about 2 years, I still get mixed up once in a while. Guess its that short term memory thing. But wearing only a mens 8 boot I prefer the heal/toe. If I had sasquatch feetI'd probably cut the heal off also.

 

So for those who have sasquatch feet, do you cut the pasenger seat hump off also.

 

Say, hows the weather there?

[ACE50]

I never got use to the heel toe and then decided, why do you want to lift your whole leg up to up shift when all you have to do is pivot your ankle? Too much work! Now my RSTD has just a toe shift and have much more useable space on floorboard.

[OwenB]

I upgraded my hacksaw for 24 bucks;)

[Condor]

I upgraded my hacksaw for 24 bucks;)

 

Heck, can I borrow it??? I have the VentureLine Toe/Toe, and am now thinking about cutting the toe peg in half. Makes it easier to get the toe under or over. 'Bout the same length as one on a first gen. It'll even give more room to move around....

[OwenB]

Wow, what a difference. I can pull both feet straight up on the boards, much more room for riding and turning the bike around without shin beating. Im happy I saw this thread or I would still be searching for a different shifter. People will tell you " Once you get used to the heel/toe you will love it". I disagree, if your in the same boat I was, cut it and enjoy the space:)

[Phoneman1981]

I jsut purchased a used heel toe shifter. The heel shifter is slightly bent or twisted. Looks good otherwise. I plan to modify it and then replace my stock heel toe shifter. I would like to have equal room on my floor boards. I usually only use my heel shifter on a shift from 1st to 2nd all toe from then on. Hopefully I will like the modification.

[Kirby]

Just so you all will know, there's an adjuster on the shifter linkage for raising and lowering the height of the shifter if you need more room to get those #13 boats in there.

[Old Man Biker]

My RSV is new to me and I have only been out a few times so far.

I have tried using the heel shifter and I thought I would keep it stock as I did find it handy.

However my size 14's and it keep having arguments.

As I was making a l?H turn onto a busy highway i knocked it into neutral by catching the heel shifter when i put my foot back on the board.

That got a little more exciting than I needed so I think the heel portion is going to go.

[Condor]

My RSV is new to me and I have only been out a few times so far.

I have tried using the heel shifter and I thought I would keep it stock as I did find it handy.

However my size 14's and it keep having arguments.

As I was making a l?H turn onto a busy highway i knocked it into neutral by catching the heel shifter when i put my foot back on the board.

That got a little more exciting than I needed so I think the heel portion is going to go.

 

Yep, same problem here, and that's what I did to mine.... A lot of members genuflect when they talk about their heel/toe shifters, but I'm not one of them. One more thing I've been thinking about is cutting the length of the peg so I don't have to swing my foot as far out to clear. I really don't need a peg that goes completely across the top of my boot. The 1stGen's are much shorter and IMHO very comfortable when shifting. I read a 'how to' article about shortening the peg somewhere??... The hunt starts...

Edited April 28, 2013 by Condor

[Phoneman1981]

I have small feet but suffer from heal pain. Being able to place my the toe of my shoe on the RH floor board and stretch my arch feels good. But the heal shifter on the LH side does not allow for that. I have weened my self from using the heal shifter. I purchased a used heal toe shifter off of ebay. It was damaged in a wreck. Front part is straight, rear part is twisted. I plan on cutting the heal shifter off and using it. Keeping my original shifter in case I do not like it.