You got me! Thanks man, that was good I don't claim to know everything so I'm cautious with any mods.
I have seen where it may be necessary to space or shim the heim joints just off the levers for proper operation. Some guys couldn't shift down to first before finding this out.
I did the same thing to my 09 Ultra except I slid a piece of chrome toilet supply line over the stock rod. Used a dab of silicone to stop rattles. Looks nice and works great.
Did mine this afternoon. Here's my take on the project.
I was hoping to find some stainless or chrome 5/16"-24 x 1" Button Head fasteners and was fortunate enough to find exactly that at the local Ace Hardware. Perfect for the job.
Here's what it all looks like assembled. For me, the button head Allen bolts are a perfect match for the bike. Low profile and look like it came that way.
One thing you will notice is that in my circumstance the center to center measurement of the stock setup was a tick over 12". With the lock nuts in place, threaded all the way on and the Heim pieces also threaded all the way on it was about 3/8" longer than that. With one lock nut removed the Heim end would not thread quite all the way down to the thread base, leaving some unwanted and unneeded exposed threads. So, a few minutes on the bench grinder to remove a little over 1/4" and the Heim threaded down beautifully and looks clean. It also made the overall center to center length where it needed to be with a little room for adjustment on the end that retained the lock nut. And, if I ever need to be longer there is still plenty of thread left to reinstall the lock nut and return it to the normal setup.
The front connection using a 1" length is perfect to use the stock nut and lockwasher. I omitted the flat washer to allow enough threads into the nut and a little blue threadlock will keep things together nicely. Again, a nice clean appearance.
The rear extends through the backside of the bracket about 3/16" which leave me enough there to insert a chrome 5/16"x1/4" thick chrome spacer which will really make the entire alignment much better as you can see in the pic above. More angle than I expected. It's fine as is but I think spacing out the rear connection will be better.
All in all I am very happy with the result. The toughest part for me was actually getting the front and read Heim in proper orientation and not having them move as they were tightened down. Thank you to the OP and everyone else that has added their opinions and experiences to this thread. I hope mine is useful to someone as well.
Well, finally got in a decent ride after doing this. I dunno... I didn't hear the angels sing.
The linkage is tighter, that's for sure. I get a lot of tactile feedback through the shifter that I didn't get before... if I'm a little lazy on the shift it feels a bit notchy. I think part of it is as noted above the rear could stand to be spaced out a bit, there's just a little bit of a bind going on. If that doesn't fix it I could see myself changing back to stock.
It would be one of the cheaper mistakes I've made in life.
I see this topic is split in two places. See also, here. I liked the cleanliness of the joint with no bolt. Loctite it in there and it'll be fine. How about using male Heim joints and a slightly wider diameter tube with an internal thread?
I was asking about the different between the three kinds of joints - the 'tie end' (OEM), the Heim and the 'rod end' that uses a ball joint - and read up on it a bit.
It seems to go like this;
the 'tie end' (OEM) - cheap, prone to sloppiness
the Heim - good at wider angles of action, especially is spaced out
the 'rod end' (ball joint) - strong but limited angular movement, better for more heavy duty uses with more dirt/less maintenance.
Now, I know this is all overkill for the purpose at foot (and cheapness of costs) but I've have had problems with Heims wearing out if they're only cheap nylon ones.
Got the rear of mine spaced out 1/4"... much better alignment. I can feel a little side to side play in the trans lever now.
My heim joints seem to get stiff as I tighten the through bolts. It's like the pressure is expanding the inside part so it binds on the outside part. Maybe I should have spent more than 2.99 each lol.
No ride yet, I'll see tomorrow if the setup stays or I'm back to stock.
One thing that really surprises me is how much higher or lower just one spline on the shifter shaft changes the height.
Got the rear of mine spaced out 1/4"... much better alignment. I can feel a little side to side play in the trans lever now.
My heim joints seem to get stiff as I tighten the through bolts. It's like the pressure is expanding the inside part so it binds on the outside part. Maybe I should have spent more than 2.99 each lol.
No ride yet, I'll see tomorrow if the setup stays or I'm back to stock.
One thing that really surprises me is how much higher or lower just one spline on the shifter shaft changes the height.
One spline does make a big difference in height but you could adjust it anywhere in the middle by turning the heim joint. I've had these on my bike for 5 years and they are great. No maintenance required, solid as a rock and if you feel it's not better than stock its not setup right. I used chrome washers or spacers to have the shift rod straight and not at an angle. Chrome bolts, spacers, nuts or acorn nuts are all available at the hardware store. A nice chrome or black rod off ebay looks great too.
06-28-2015, 12:19 PM
I don't claim to know everything so I'm cautious with any mods. 
