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Transition to "race shift" pattern ?

8K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  Expatbrit 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Am about to convert my bikes over to race shift pattern. I don't ride road and race shift just makes sense.

I'm looking to hear from the guys who run race shift and how you found the transition from road pattern to race pattern?

I'm guessing it will take some getting used to. Have been running road shift for so many years.


Are there any horror stories? false downshifts at redline etc because you forgot about raceshift?

Cheers.
 
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#2 ·
There isn't any difference it's only alternate linkage leverage. First gear to N to second doses not change the way the transmission engages. It only changes the shift pattern that YOU use. I can use either but do prefer GP due to coming out of a turn at lean and tacking out and need to shift to a higher gear. It's easier to have the ball of your foot "dancing on the peg" and pushing your toe down to higher gear, than having your foot in a standard shift pattern. It's about you personal preference.
You do need to have the linkages lined up correctly for optimal performance.
 
#3 ·
It's funny, I know more racers that run a standard shift pattern than a race pattern, and that includes plenty of guys who are faster than me. I made the switch mentally a few months before I did physically, primarily due to long right-handers where I was wishing I could upshift easier while leant over and hanging off.

I love it and it didn't take any getting used to at all. When I hop on my track bike, I'm so familiar with its feel that I'm instantly in "reverse shift" mode. Likewise, when I hop on my street bike, I'm instantly in "road shift" mode. I've swapped multiple bikes at the track in the same day and never had an issue; I think you'll find it easier than you think. Put a sticker somewhere easily visible that says RACE SHIFT and you'll adapt in no time. If not, you can always go back.

I've heard the horror stories too but I have yet to see or experience one firsthand. I'm more likely to mistakenly upshift than vice versa.
 
#5 ·
It's funny, I know more racers that run a standard shift pattern than a race pattern, and that includes plenty of guys who are faster than me. I made the switch mentally a few months before I did physically, primarily due to long right-handers where I was wishing I could upshift easier while leant over and hanging off.

I love it and it didn't take any getting used to at all. When I hop on my track bike, I'm so familiar with its feel that I'm instantly in "reverse shift" mode. Likewise, when I hop on my street bike, I'm instantly in "road shift" mode. I've swapped multiple bikes at the track in the same day and never had an issue; I think you'll find it easier than you think. Put a sticker somewhere easily visible that says RACE SHIFT and you'll adapt in no time. If not, you can always go back.

I've heard the horror stories too but I have yet to see or experience one firsthand. I'm more likely to mistakenly upshift than vice versa.
Good to know mate. Im running AP rearsets so is super easy to switch across to race shift pattern. Just need to get my head around it and put it into practice on track. My local track has a couple of turns that have always given me trouble grabbing another gear on corner exit.
 
#7 ·
I love race shift. I learned about it when I had my CBR600RR. I got a set of Vortex rearsets and it was super easy to make the change. My buddy told me I should give it a shot. He wanted to do it bad with his ZX6R but couldn't with the stock rearsets. I said it sounded kind of stupid since I had already been shifting standard for so long. One day, I finally tried it, and I never looked back. I had a derp moment once or twice where I meant to upshift and accidentally downshifted, but luckily I was on the street and not going fast so it wasn't a big deal. A week later, I never wanted to use standard shift again, and my friend was laughing at me for being an ignorant dumbass.

The first mod I bought for my Daytona was rearsets, just so I could run GP shift. It makes a lot of sense for supersports. I find it easier to hit a good upshift when pressing the shifter down under hard acceleration, as it's easier for my foot to exert force in that direction. It just feels more natural to me. I have ridden other bikes with standard shift, including supermotos, and been able to switch back between the two with no issue. If you're on track, just focus on it for the first few laps, and then it will just become part of your rhythm.

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#8 ·
I have AP and I tried GP shift but for the life of me I cannot get it to be smooth. Something is off. With the bike on the stands I can almost lift the bike and take slack out of the suspension before it will bang up (downshift) a gear in GP shift. I spent almost all winter messing with incremental settings and gave up. I am personally worried I would over rev the engine due to a bad shift.
 
#9 ·
I'm a little unclear, do you mean you can't get it to engage a gear while downshifting on your pit stands? Is the engine running while you're trying to do this?

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#11 ·
One thing I have noticed while mucking about trying to modify my rearsets to allow a push sensor to be used with road shift (and no it didn't work!!) is that the forces need to be parallel ie the shifter needs to move in parallel to the gear actuator. If you have rearsets where the mechanism can be flipped I would assume this would still ring true in that the angles need to remain the same.

I'm no engineer or mathematician so don't know how to correctly articulate this... but I hope you get it.

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#12 · (Edited)
Transition to "race shift" pattern ?



Angles may be important with some cheap/poorly designed rearsets.

Not so much with the AP rears.

Tried multiple angles as the AP rearsets allow for a lot of adjustment and all angles work. Some angles work slightly better than others.

Just need to ensure that the spacers are used for the GP shift linkage @Razgreeze
 
#15 ·
@Razgreeze pm me your Facebook messenger details if you have any and I'll msg you a video of my rearset setup

Unfortunately I do not have facebook, social media distracts me too much. I really appreciate the gesture of help though.

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When I had trouble shifting on my other bike after installing a quick shifter it was because the eye to eye length of the shift rod had been shortened in the process. The shortened version wasn't long enough for the full sweep of the shift lever to engage the next gear up or down. A quick adjustment to lengthen the rod by a few MM did the job. Might want to check that.
I shall give this a shot. I thought I had tried this but it is worth revisiting. Thanks!
 
#17 ·
I'm a huge fan of GP shift ever since I "tried" it for the first time (bought a bike used, prior owner didn't tell me it was reversed, went to 'downshift' and the bike up-shifted. Took me about 2 blocks at the time to adjust, but it also caught me off guard.

While I can swap back and forth without too many issues, on any of my personal bikes I swap them to GP shift - partially because I prefer it, partially so that, in an emergency (on track or on street) my reactions will be correct regardless of where I'm riding.
 
#18 ·
I do have a horror story to share unfortunately. about 10 years ago a club-level racer who lives in my hometown, during an endurance race highsided his team's R6 due to a mis-shift. The bike had normal shift pattern - he was used to race pattern. Bike was totalled and he got so banged-up that he never raced again.

I still remember the heap of metal the bike had turned into and the swollen and bruised head of the guy in question.
 
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