Inverted gear shift

[Hedgetrimmer]

There's a couple of guys on the U.S. FZ1 owners site saying this makes for much smoother changes. Can it be? Anyone tried it? My Denco Kwak H2 was like this, and it's gear shift was a bugger.

[jackojet]

Hi Nick
If you mean race pattern type shift IE 1 up 5 down, can't see the point on a road bike. The idea is its easier to change up when cranked right over as you press down on lever to change up.
There id a mod though to reduce the lever throw, by swapping the gear shaft lever pivot bracket from a 5JJ R1 for the fazer one, this does remove a lot of play in between shifts, I have one on mine and it is an improvement I noticed, the only thing is you need a slight bend putting in the shift rod to clear the tunnel in the frame.
Hope this helps

[Hedgetrimmer]

Can you supply a photo of that mod Jacko? Sounds interesting, and I think it was mentioned on the U.S. site.
As to 1 up 5 down, I think one argument ran that as your calf muscle is so much larger than the muscle on the front of your lower leg, it made more sense to make more use of the larger muscle, reducing fatigue (I guess he meant on longer trips). Not really something I'm thinking of doing, just curious.
There were the usual arguments about proper clutch adjustment, chain adjustment, changing the oil, better shifting technique &c. I do find sometimes the shift on mine a bit notchy, at other times I find it's fine, probably depends on how well I'm "in the zone" on any particular day. Not as bad as I remember mid 80s Suz***s being tho'. Especially RG500s!

[AdieR]

Never tried 1 up / 5 down gears, but don't see how it'd makes shifting smoother in itself, that said it may be different if it's used in conjunction with a quickshifter / clutchless upshifts.

I've heard the bike-banked-over point as well, never heard of the leg muscle argument though.

Might be worthwhile on a track bike, can't see the point on a road bike.