Shift Pedal
 

My bike has another problem. This is number 32. They all have been small, but annoying. Especially for a bike that is supposed to be bullet proof. The problem this time is my shift pedal. I was riding home a few days ago and I looked down to see my shift pedal way way below where it should be. I thought I would have to go home and use a hammer to bang it back up to the normal position. But, all it needed was a little pull. Isn't that crap??? The metal piece is just a rubber noodle. How are the marines supposed to ride this thing and do special ops??

Ahh, the old shift pedal problem....

It's very common with stock shifters. They are real cheap. I found that out 100 miles from nowhere. For me, the weld at the base of the shifter cracked partially through and the lever kept getting lower and lower through out the day. I didn't even notice the crack until the next morning when I was trying to figure out why 1st gear was so hard to get into. Luckily I was able to find a guy to reweld it. I've since replace the shifter with something better. I believe Dual Star offers something fairly inexpensively.

Kurt

Yea Dual Star and HappyTrails both offer MUCH MUCH aftermarket steel pedels.

You'll find alot of stuff like that on the KLR, but most of the important parts are pretty decent for the overall price.

Attn!: fellow fans of "improved" aftermarket shift levers---

I never thought I'd have to say this, but don't get too excited about "improved" aftermarket shift levers if you don't want to risk what happened to me recently. In a very low speed spill last week on my 2002 KLR 650 I managed to snap the splined gearshift spindle off clean at the engine case thanks to the mismatch in strength between the lever and the spindle. This was a fold-away design if you are wondering. Normally I don't sneeze at having to do semi-major engine work, but at least I want a worthy reason. I feel duped now by the aftermarket industry pushing equipment that seeks to solve minor problems without researching completely the possible downsides to their "product improvements". Maybe they have never seen this. Think of the lever as a fuse guys... don't put a 50amp fuse into a 30amp circuit. After much disgust in the field, limping home(big time) and making semi-major repairs (for something that should have taken a 5 minute field swap)I have gladly reinstalled the STOCK shift lever and tossed the hype in the can. Now I carry a STOCK spare. Compared to the alternative, I will swell with joy when it breaks knowing my spare is minutes away from getting me back on the road and knowing the hell there can be to pay for simply throwing more metal at a problem. This painful lesson will have been well worth it if I can save others the frusteration, cost and time(not to mention a trip)that can be involved when you follow the herd down the slippery slopes of hyped up, poorly researched aftermarket products. Thank you, I feel better now.

Wow! I was planning on replacing the shifter with and IMS steel one, but now I think I'll just get a Kawasaki one and carry it along like you said. Thanks for the tip.