GP Shift?

I used to ride my husband's race bike at track days, and i learned to love GP shift. i switched my Falco, and find it to be more "natural" feeling for me.

has anyone switched their speed 3 to GP? specifically the '05, but older models too, if they're the same. are there any tricks to it? do you need a longer linkage?

thanks!

[vt_2tired]

I tried, but didn't get very far. Flipping around the shift linkage to the underside of the tranny connection will do the trick, but it got caught up in the side stand spring (when the stand is up), and meant I couldn't shift out of 2nd. I haven't really looked into it since, you may be able to get it to fit halfway decent by lengthening the adjustment rod, so it's past the spring...

[aaronb_dsn]

not to sound stupid, but what is "gp shift"?

[TripleThreat]

Instead of the pattern being the traditional one down and five up, it switches the linkage so that the patten becomes one up and five down.

I assume that this is so that your foot is on top of the shifter when working up through the gears since it would be far more likely that you would be shifting up through the gears while leaned over instead of down through the gears.

Again, this is only an assumption... Someone with more race knowledge than I have my have another reason for the switch...

TripleThreat

[Hotmailrules]

Ive been riding so long that I doubt I could ever switch. The current pattern is so second nature to me now.

[ped]

I had a Honda CB-1 that had that shift pattern. It had been a race bike prior to me purchasing it. I sort of liked the shift pattern and left it, but I think the normal one is more practical for the street. You're more secure having your foot hooked under the level during shifts than on top while on the street I'm thinking.

[vt_2tired]

I assume that this is so that your foot is on top of the shifter when working up through the gears since it would be far more likely that you would be shifting up through the gears while leaned over instead of down through the gears.

Again, this is only an assumption... Someone with more race knowledge than I have my have another reason for the switch...

Correct. It makes grabbing a up-shift while accelerating hard out of a corner much easier, especially a right-hand corner, when you're leaned off of the right hand side of the bike. Most down-shifts are done while braking, so having the foot under the lever for down-shifts instead of up-shifts makes it more comfortable for most racers. Mat Mladin (and a few others) still uses standard shift, though.

Once I got used to GP, I liked it more, even for street riding... being able to just bang down on the shift lever for an up-shift is better for acceleration, IMHO.

BTW - I tried adjusting the lever so it still fit below the tranny connection and above the kick-stand spring, and it has to go at such an angle that the up-shift feels like pushing on microwave buttons. There's no play in the lever, but it still shifts. Feels wierd, but it's the only way it fits down there.

[ This message was edited by: vt_2tired on 2005-08-01 00:00 ]