byrdo444
Been Around the Block
Thanks for the pics man...good news they're working.
My buddy works at jiffy lube so I knew he knew something (at least more than me) about mechanics. Then the icing on the cake was I saw him on a motorcycle the other day and I didn't even know he rode! I asked him if he'd be down to come over and wrench on it a bit and he was down. So we fixed and worked on a ton today and really I owe it all to him for figuring out my issues!
I had a multitude of problems I will list below for anyone else having troubles shifting with rearsets on a cb200 or really any bike really.
1 The shifter arm I purchased from DCC was a little to thick for the rods that I had from Viets Rearsets. I was stretching the rods to fit around the shifter creating unnecessary friction. If the rods were connected to just the shift arm you should be able to hold the shift arm in your hand and swing the rod back and forth on its pivot point. I definitely couldn't do this. I switched back to the stock shift arm that I had drilled holes in for the rods previously, mounted it upside down and it worked! I think it worked better too because the rod had been stretched a bit from the DCC shift arm so on the stock arm it moves very freely.
2. The two arms (the one on the shifter and the one on the rearsets) have to be parallel, if they aren't and one is leaning in and the other out it will make it really hard to shift. I pointed mine both down because the extending mounts I'm using right now get in the way if the arms are pointing up. This will probably change because honestly, I don't trust these mounts too well yet.
Ok the first two are no brainers but it was this last one that really got me (there could be a deeper issue here so please diagnose if what I'm saying sounds bad or not right)
3. The shifter rod, (please excuse my poor knowledge of the right terms), the toothed rod that goes into the bike that the shift arm clamps onto. This rod has to be all the way out, when my shift arm is off, this rod wiggles back and forth a bit (is this bad?). When I was trying to put the shift arm back on it would just push it in a bit allowing me to not get the shift arm fully on, and also preventing the gears (this is totally a guess) to align up correctly. Therefore when trying to shift they would grind and click like something wasn't right. To fix this we took the chain guard thingy off so we could see the rod inside the bike. Then I held that rod with pliers pulling it so it would stay all the way out, and my buddy who had stretched the shift arm a bit to allow for easy installation slipped it on there being careful not to push the rod back in. Once that arm was clamped down it held the rod in place so everything inside aligned up correctly. YAY shifting fixed.
So lesson learned. SHIFT HAPPENS, when in doubt keep playing with it and call someone who knows more than you do. Now pictures:
My buddy works at jiffy lube so I knew he knew something (at least more than me) about mechanics. Then the icing on the cake was I saw him on a motorcycle the other day and I didn't even know he rode! I asked him if he'd be down to come over and wrench on it a bit and he was down. So we fixed and worked on a ton today and really I owe it all to him for figuring out my issues!
I had a multitude of problems I will list below for anyone else having troubles shifting with rearsets on a cb200 or really any bike really.
1 The shifter arm I purchased from DCC was a little to thick for the rods that I had from Viets Rearsets. I was stretching the rods to fit around the shifter creating unnecessary friction. If the rods were connected to just the shift arm you should be able to hold the shift arm in your hand and swing the rod back and forth on its pivot point. I definitely couldn't do this. I switched back to the stock shift arm that I had drilled holes in for the rods previously, mounted it upside down and it worked! I think it worked better too because the rod had been stretched a bit from the DCC shift arm so on the stock arm it moves very freely.
2. The two arms (the one on the shifter and the one on the rearsets) have to be parallel, if they aren't and one is leaning in and the other out it will make it really hard to shift. I pointed mine both down because the extending mounts I'm using right now get in the way if the arms are pointing up. This will probably change because honestly, I don't trust these mounts too well yet.
Ok the first two are no brainers but it was this last one that really got me (there could be a deeper issue here so please diagnose if what I'm saying sounds bad or not right)
3. The shifter rod, (please excuse my poor knowledge of the right terms), the toothed rod that goes into the bike that the shift arm clamps onto. This rod has to be all the way out, when my shift arm is off, this rod wiggles back and forth a bit (is this bad?). When I was trying to put the shift arm back on it would just push it in a bit allowing me to not get the shift arm fully on, and also preventing the gears (this is totally a guess) to align up correctly. Therefore when trying to shift they would grind and click like something wasn't right. To fix this we took the chain guard thingy off so we could see the rod inside the bike. Then I held that rod with pliers pulling it so it would stay all the way out, and my buddy who had stretched the shift arm a bit to allow for easy installation slipped it on there being careful not to push the rod back in. Once that arm was clamped down it held the rod in place so everything inside aligned up correctly. YAY shifting fixed.
So lesson learned. SHIFT HAPPENS, when in doubt keep playing with it and call someone who knows more than you do. Now pictures: