Have a "new to me" 80 Lowrider and am in the process of tweaking it. This bike has forward controls (didn't these originally come with mid controls?) that have a load of slop, I have to raise my foot a couple inches off the peg to shift up through the gears.

So to state the obvious the shifter is connected to the long shift rod that terms on the end of the shift linkage, the other end of the shift linkage is bolted to the transmission top cover where it pivots back and forth on a shaft. Closer to the pivot point on the linkage is a rod that a heim joint attaches to, the other end of the heim joint attaches to the shift lever that is mated to the transmission shaft. (the foot bone connected to the, leg bone...)

A little slop from each component adds up to a lot in the end.

Something that doesn't make sense to me...the "aluminum" shift linkage that pivots on the transmission cover uses a "steel" bushing to pivot on, not brass, bronze or some sort of plastic. Now I would think that the bushing would be made of something softer than steel that would hold up over time but eventually wear out so you can replace it and regain a snug fit without replacing any other parts. Stranger yet is the way this is designed the inside of the aluminum linkage moves over the surface of the steel bushing (guess which "metal" survives over time?)

If I were an engineer (BTW...doesn't he get to ride in the front of the train?) I would press a bronze/brass/plastic bushing into the linkage where the pivoting action would be contained on the inside of the bushing and the steel shaft it rides on. Bushing wears out you push out the old and push in the new.

Ok, so now I have options...

1. Buy a new shift linkage, bushing, Heim joint...$$
2. Try and find a suitable soft-metal bushing I can press into the linkage and buy a heim joint...time and $.
3. Buy a longer shift rod, take it directly from the foot shifter to the shift lever on the transmission.

I like option three the best and I believe it would work better that the original setup...do you see and problems with this???

Thanks

Alex