Right side shift

[AndrewDoesHair]

I learned on a left side shift, and have only been riding about a year. I just finished building a 1973 T140V and am curious to see how well I'll take to shifting and braking with opposite feet.

One guy I know has been riding both ways for several years, and is equally comfortable on them. He says I'll learn it in an afternoon. Another guy I know has been riding about 10 years, and he said his only bad crash was the first time he rode a right side shift. He stepped on the shifter as a natural reaction before going into a turn, wanting to brake, the bike downshifted, and he went down. And a third guy I know learned on a righty shift, then switched later, he also says it'll take me only an afternoon.

What I wonder is if I'll have to consciously make myself ride like I did when I first started, like maybe I'll get on it and ride it with all the confidence I have on a left side shift, or if I'm going to be cautious enough to hold back until I reprogram my muscle memory... I'll know for sure as soon as I get my DMV stuff sorted and start riding... I'm really not too worried about it, but I thought it'd be fun to hear other people's stories on the matter. How long have you been riding? How many years on either side shifting? What was the transition like for you?

 

[Rockers CT]

Very easy and straightforward... although the very first time I went form left to right shift I almost down shifted into my compost bin.. but after that its not even a thought.. and I go back and forth between shifts almost daily..

Cheers
Seth

Don't worry the worst that can happen is you down shift.. most of the old bikes wont even shift for ya as you will not have the clutch in...

 

[buckeyebike]

You'll pick it up no problem . . . the problem is going back and forth between two bikes with opposite side shift, easy to tense up and make a mistake.

 

[Scruffy]

Riding since 87. Lots of saddle time with left shift, right shift, jockey shit and factory tank shift bikes. Worst is going from tank shift foot clutch to hand clutch foot shift, side is irrelevant. Tank shift HD is like a right hand drive car. Indian tank shift is like a left hand drive car, shifter is to the right.

It's all muscle memory. Start out slow, in a couple hours you'll wonder what you were worried about.

 

[WeberKid]

easier to switch than reverse pattern. So many times you can tell people "push down for second!" and they still don't get it.

 

[Crusader]

Both of my bikes have GP shifting (1 up 4 down) but my vintage bonnie is a right hand. When I bought it it took about 2 10 minute rides to figure it out. Now its like second nature. You'll get on that bike and being that every bike is very different in the way it feels over all that your brain won't have to think twice about shifting. Don't worry about it at all.