I installed the H-D heel shifter on my wife’s 2022 Heritage Classic 114 yesterday. Installation was pretty straightforward other than having to loosen the mounting bolts for the pivot shaft to get enough clearance to remove the shaft and install the new one.

After installation and attempting to adjust it to her liking I discovered two things. First, the shift rod ends are right hand threads on both ends, which makes adjustment a little more tedious. I’m used to seeing right hand thread on one end and left hand thread on the other, allowing you to shorten or lengthen the rod by loosening the jam nuts and just turning the rod without disconnecting the rod from the shift lever. is this typical for all H-D’s or is it unique to the Heritage? Do most aftermarket shift rods for H-D have right and left hand threads?

The second issue was that my wife has a hard time raising her heel high enough to get it over the new heel shifter. At first I thought she just wasn’t used to it because the heel peg is slightly higher compared to her previous bike. However, when I tried it I realized that, because of the seat position relative to the floorboard position &/or angle, my ankle is already fully extended forward when it’s resting on the floorboard. That doesn’t leave any ankle rotation left to raise my heel to catch the heel shift peg without lifting my foot completely off of the floorboard. (Hope that makes sense) If I slide as far forward in the seat as I can I have enough rotation left in my ankle to get to the heel shifter. BTW, my wife can flatfoot the Heritage and my Ultra-Limited so it’s not a short legs issue.

If you’ve encountered this, what solutions have you found work best? I’m assuming we’ll either need different floorboard mounts to change the angle of the floorboards or a reduced reach seat that moves her closer to the floorboards (or both). Bringing the floorboards closer to her would probably help too but I’m afraid that would open a can of worms to relocate the foot controls.

Suggestions?

 

When I added it to my wifes Heritage I just moved the lever to a different spot on the splines, adjusting the rear so it just misses the floorboard when shifting. No complaints.

 

I did this: Heritage Heel Shifter Setup

 

Understood, and I adjusted the height of her heel shifter exactly the same way, but our issue is a little bit different. Imagine sitting in a chair with your foot flat on the floor and then stretching your leg out as far as it will go with your foot still flat on the floor. From that position try to lift only your heel off of the floor while keeping the ball of your foot on the floor like you’d do using a heel shifter. It won’t be physically possible to lift your heel by more than a quarter inch or so. (If at all)

The Heritage floorboards are so far forward we’re both stretched out so far we can’t lift our heel high enough to get it on the heel shifter while keeping the ball of the foot on the floorboard. I’ve ridden multiple bikes from multiple makes with forward controls, floorboards, and heel toe shifters and I’ve never encountered this before.

 

Hmmm, I’ll have to experiment with that solution, thanks! The H-D heel shift lever is a little short, the extended lever from Softbrake might let her slide her foot back far enough to allow her to raise her heel just enough to clear the rear peg.

 

How tall are you and your wife?

 

I’m 6’ with a 32” inseam and my wife is 5’4” with about a 31.5” inseam. We can both flatfoot just about every touring motorcycle and cruiser we’ve sat on, including my Ultra Limited.

 

I’m having a hard time picturing your legs stretched out so far that you can’t lift your heels. I ride with the back of my boot up against the heel shifter. All I do is lift my heel and tap down on the shifter. I’m 5’11” with a 32” inseam.

 

This is just odd to me. You and I are about the same size, my wife is taller than yours - yet neither of us have this problem. I hope you figure out what works for you.

 

Made no sense to me either when my wife said she couldn’t get her heel up high enough until I tried it myself and had the same problem. (I can raise my heel a little, just not enough to catch the shift peg) Must be just the right combination of seat position, floorboard position, shift lever length, etc. I’ve done exactly what you described on every other bike I’ve ridden with a heel shifter and had no problem. (Same for her on her last bike)

I have the heel shifter as low as the splines will let it go without hitting the floorboard. Tomorrow I’ll try adjusting the shift rod length to get it a little lower and see if that helps. If not the next step will be to try the longer shift lever, the distance between the H-D heel and toe pegs is a little cramped for my size 11 anyway. The longer lever should allow her to have her foot a little farther back on the floorboard and also allow me to adjust the heel peg even lower since it’ll be behind the floorboard.

Thanks for the input so far.