CL350 shortened gear shifter question

[jackditch]

So I removed the shift linkage on my CL350 to replace it with a shortened shifter commonly found on later models and lost 5th gear. Shifts real hard too and sometimes not at all. anybody have any guesses as to why this might happen or how to solve? Had to go back to the original in the meantime.

 

[Sonreir]

The throw in the 350 is already pretty short in my opinion. An even shorter lever is going to reduce your machanical advantage and will make shifting more difficult (no way around that, it's just physics). As for losing 5th gear, I have no explanation for that. Maybe just too difficult to shift into it?

 

[DrJ]

Try positioning the lever so the toe peg is below the heel rest. You'll have more room to rotate the gear shift spindle upwards. Another thing, the CL has swept back foot peg mounts while the CB has straight up mounts. Perhaps you used a shorter shift lever for reach? If you used a proper length lever for a CB, you won't be able to reach it with your toe.

 

[jackditch]

Sonreir, by eliminating the play in that linkage, wouldn't that effectively lead to a more smooth transition or is there a small amount of play required to allow shift changes? Assuming that when the bike was produced, fine tuned with no wear, components were tight and firm.

DrJ, I used a CL200 shifter, angled on the splines just slightly below the peg. Can a small placement/adjustment on those splines affect shift transitions? Btw - length was fine.