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Toe vs. Heel Shifting

5K views 48 replies 40 participants last post by  sparky88 
#1 ·
New Road King arriving soon and have only ridden toe shift bikes in the past. Now have toe & heel shift pegs. Probably a stupid question but curious how many of you use both toe & heel pegs or just toe peg. Is the switch hard to get used to?
 
#2 ·
I've always ridden dirt bikes and 4-wheelers and then a sportster. When I bought my first touring bike I immediately started using the heel shifter. It felt natural to me. As an added bonus you won't scuff the tops of your nice boots.(LOL)
 
#3 ·
Up till I bought my Heritage.. I had only ridden a Dual sport bike..with only the toe shift... a few weeks into riding my Heritage I tried the heel shift.. AND I LOVE IT.. !! Thats all I use now... much easier..!! and not hard to get use to at all !!!
 
#4 ·
I removed my heel shift arm. I now have more room for my foot (boot) and can shift like I have been doing for years. I tried the heel shift, but didn't like it. Do whatever is comfortable to you.
 
#5 ·
When I shift from first threw 5th gear, I push down on the heal shifter rod with the front of my boot, I never use my heal ;) I also don't want to scuff the boots either :p
 
#7 ·
NYCrash,
I removed mine here recently, I found the only time I used it was to grab neutral. I don't like to lift my foot off the board when shifting especially in corners. Like everyone else says...It's what YOU like. I like the extra room on the board as well. Kuryakyn makes a little chrome spline cap if you should want to remove the rear shifter.

.02 from Fastlane
 
#13 ·
My bike is parked (in-gear) on the slight incline of my driveway. I find that the heel shifter is convenient when I need to kick it out of first.

I also have size 13 EEE feet, never had a problem shifting.

wyo
 
#17 ·
I find the heel shifter is positioned too high, you have to lift your foot too much to step on it. Removing it gives me more space to place my foot, although I'm also removing the protection it offers in preventing my shoe from touching the primary cover and leaving burnt rubber.

I guess you could try to rotate it clockwise one tooth and see if it sits lower but still have enough clearance from the floorboard when you step on it.

What someone should do is make a longer heel shifter that extends beyond the floorboard, anybody listening out there? :D
 
#20 ·
Hey Booner, they have a power-shifter out, that is electronic and uses buttons to shift... Anyway I heel-toe it too.
 
#22 ·
I like the froward controls on my deuce, it's what I'm use to. When I had a heritage I had to buy extended shift pegs to have room for my boot on the floorboard. If I had a bike with floorboards again I would probably just use a toe shifter...or maybe install forward controls.
 
#24 ·
SIDEKICK said:
if you get a spur, you can just use the heel shift. pretty cool.
Years ago when I was young & dumb I used to wear a spur on my left boot. Would drag it at night to watch the sparks fly !! Really thought it was cool until the damn thing caught on somethin in the road ...ripped my boot off doing a buck and change! Needless to say I don't do that anymore !!:D
 
#25 ·
You choose for yourself. However, I will give one bit of warning.

If you ever plan to ride a different bike in the future you might want to skip the heel shifter. If you master toe shifting you can ride almost anything. If you go toe and heel shifter, you will have trouble with other bikes.

Though my ride is a FLHTCI, I love ALL bikes and will ride anything I have a chance to ride. I dumped the heel shifter.

Philip
 
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