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[Updated] Poor man's GP shift
Update: This mod seemed like a good idea & worked great... for a while. After two track days and three days of racing, the shift rod snapped on the foot-lever side. Apparently, the torsion created by the bend is too much stress for the diameter of the rod (the threaded part) - or I overheated it when bending, Anyway - I don't recommend this approach & I'm going to look into modifying the shift arm so I can run a straight shift rod...
Original post:
I know there have been a lot of threads about how to rig GP shift, but I thought I would share this setup since I haven't seen anyone else do it exactly this way. This is a modified version of the simple method of reversing the shift arm and running the shift rod outside the frame. I couldn't tolerate the shift rod connected to the outside of the foot peg, so I bent the shift rod so that it would run behind the heel guard. (see pics.) I used a propane torch, a bench vise, and an oven mitt (!), and it took about a half hour to 45 minutes total. I was afraid the rod would be too short, but it still has enough adjustment range to put the lever where I want it. One down side to this setup is that you have to remove the shift rod to adjust the length, but it's not that big of a deal, imho. (Shifts perfectly, btw)
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Update: This mod seemed like a good idea & worked great... for a while. After two track days and three days of racing, the shift rod snapped on the foot-lever side. Apparently, the torsion created by the bend is too much stress for the diameter of the rod (the threaded part) - or I overheated it when bending, Anyway - I don't recommend this approach & I'm going to look into modifying the shift arm so I can run a straight shift rod...
Original post:
I know there have been a lot of threads about how to rig GP shift, but I thought I would share this setup since I haven't seen anyone else do it exactly this way. This is a modified version of the simple method of reversing the shift arm and running the shift rod outside the frame. I couldn't tolerate the shift rod connected to the outside of the foot peg, so I bent the shift rod so that it would run behind the heel guard. (see pics.) I used a propane torch, a bench vise, and an oven mitt (!), and it took about a half hour to 45 minutes total. I was afraid the rod would be too short, but it still has enough adjustment range to put the lever where I want it. One down side to this setup is that you have to remove the shift rod to adjust the length, but it's not that big of a deal, imho. (Shifts perfectly, btw)
(Now that I know it works, I'm going to make a second one that will look better and use this one as a spare. But first I need to make a clamp and mandrel that won't mar the hot aluminum.)
