Wilsons Sandbox

With the recent topics on shifting and shift levers, I thought I would share what I have learned with my recent shift lever changes. My '91 KLR came with an IMS shiftlever. It was kind of beat up (both the shiftlever and the rest of the bike) and would bend easily in a left side crash. It was also a little on the long side and was difficult to keep from scraping the engine case, especially after crashing. On the plus side it was easily bent back into shape with a pair of vise grips. Last night I installed a new Moose brand shift lever. This lever is a little shorter and fits nicely into the recess in the engine case, so positioning is not so critical to keep it from scraping. The Moose lever also is made from thicker steel so it shouldn't bend as easy (the downside is if it does bend, it will be harder to bend back). The Moose shifter also has a nice gray rubber shift pad over a steel shaft which seems more comfortable on the top of the foot when street riding.The shift pad is foldable and spring loaded. My shifting action seems much smoother now and neutral is actually easier to find. So you guys with notchy shifting may find a change in shift levers to help if you can't improve it by changing oil brands. My vote goes for the Moose lever, the best $25 I've spent on the bike so far. Barry '91 KLR 650

If you'll engage first gear and rock the bike back and forth before even starting the motor, it will cause the clutch to let go (NOT the technical term, I know) so that you won't have that slam when you engage a gear after the bike is running. Lamar A14