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I like the look of the betterlever, so I ordered one this morning, then this afternoon, I used my dremel tool and cut the old lever off, now just waiting on the new lever. The splines on the shaft look good, the aluminum lever was worn out.
I can't believe that the original lever only lasted 18 years, and 82,500 miles.....
I had to pull my inner primary to fix a transmission leak and decided that I'd change the shifter shaft seal while I was in there. I had no play in the lever but found the splines were shot on the shaft. I considered using the betterlever but they were waiting for a new batch to be machined. I ended up putting in the Baker shifter pawl and their lever......good stuff!
I looked at the Baker arm, it tightens in the same manner as the OEM piece, from what I can see, so how is it an improvement?
When I bought my '91 the front shift lever was way loose. After trying to repair it (ie.. tightening it) I removed it to find both the splines on shaft and lever wearing out. Original I am sure. I went to Ronnies site and ordered everything I needed to replace the whole kit n kaboodle. Just under $100 I think. Kind of spendy but good peace of mind. Mine was rather easy I didn't have to remove anything but the inside shift lever to get shaft out of the primary. So before I even did that repair I changed my shifting habits to using the heel shifter when upshifting and the toe shifter for downshifting. That splits up the usage to 50% for each lever, and the whole load isn't on just one of them all the time. I also make an attempt to shift them easy and not slam em in either direction. I have noticed when downshifting from 5th gear to 4th gear if I force it at higher rpms it grinds a bit. If I slow it down and let the rpms fall enough it drops right in. Not sure what's going on there. Just under 40K miles on a '91 machine. So who really knows I guess. I'm just thinking out loud here, didn't mean to hijack or anything.
All in all, it cost but you made the right decision. If you cost out your time etc, it's not actually that expensive.
Better to wait until you do something else inside the primary before stripping all it off as you're probably going to need or make up special tools to do so which, unless you are a garage, you'll never use again, e.g. big socket, t-bar adapters, chain/sprocket locker to loosen it, clutch basket locker to tighten it, and perhaps seals and gaskets though generally you'll get away with re-using most.
I suspect all that is on what the "Better" man prices his item.
Originally Posted by RLH3175
I can't believe that the original lever only lasted 18 years, and 82,500 miles.....
Jeez ... and it wasn't still under warranty?
Yah, you can change that arm the other way by removing the gearset etc to give you enough room to put a new one on.
I guess that what you were going to suggest, Spanners39.
You can also 'sin' by drilling a little hole on the top of a worn out spline/lever and them spot welding them. It'd probably get you through the next 80,000 miles.
Been there, done that ... was honest about it to the next person who bought the bike and they never changed it either.
Last edited by Dun Roamin; Oct 31, 2014 at 12:00 AM.
I looked at the Baker arm, it tightens in the same manner as the OEM piece, from what I can see, so how is it an improvement?
How it tightens is not the problem, the problem is the stock lever is cast which wears easy. Ours is made of stainless steel and the splines are broached so it won't strip out.
How it tightens is not the problem, the problem is the stock lever is cast which wears easy. Ours is made of stainless steel and the splines are broached so it won't strip out.
I only have one problem with your lever its to strong. on my shovel head I was hitting the shifter a little hard at the track. instead of the lever failing like it should. it broke the weld on your shifter shaft inside the transmission.
I know it was my fault but it still sucked I had to pull the transmission apart to fix it instead of just replacing a stripped lever.
I received the Better Lever today, and 10 minutes later it was installed, feels solid, will just have to see how well it holds up.....
The first one I ever fitted has been there for 40K miles with no issues and the splines on the shaft were not too flash when we did the job....so I guess you are good to go.
Ironheads didn't use splines, the lever just gripped the shaft...at least the better lever has something to grip onto.
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