I've mentioned and queried before if anyone had tried a shift shaft brace that supports the somewhat long splined shaft to which the shift lever linkage rotates while at the same time applying a lateral force.

Not the shaft is THAT long that the shift action creates a significant torque moment arm effect but I can't see the brace doing any harm.

The brace shaft hole has a close tolerance needle bearing inside that I lubed, and the gold cone washer I happened adds some bling that matches the forks. 

I'll report back but I doubt I'll be able to discern a difference. 

You like my shift lever peg rubber? Do I have it upside down?

 

What are unnecessary things KTM owners buy for $800 Alex.

6 hours ago, kilo3 said:

What are unnecessary things KTM owners buy for $800 Alex.

Is that a Jeaprody question?

For $20 shipped it appears to be of PDG quality; I could of got in red.

I was surprised it was delivered in a bit over a week.

Wish I could test it but the weather here will suck for another week!

Those are VERY popular in the track bike world. People reporting they can tell the difference in smooth and accurate shifting.  Of course that's a whole different riding style.

 

Where did you get that from? 

I don't think that there is much sloppy movement there, the stubby shaft shouldn't move much if at all. For 20 tho it cant hurt I guess to add a little more shiny to the bike. I know there are bikes where the shift shaft was long and yes then the free play is multiplied by the length and gets sloppy.

Id also like to see the play between the ball joints and also the shift lever its self (where your foot goes) and see if that can be eliminated also.

My old v-strom sloppy shifting was from the foot lever, not from the shift shaft. Once I cleaned that up it was a little more smoother shifting, but didn't feel sloppy on the foot (which I felt was just as important)

12 hours ago, DT675 said:

Those are VERY popular in the track bike world. People reporting they can tell the difference in smooth and accurate shifting.  Of course that's a whole different riding style.

 

Where did you get that from? 

AliExpress It was $27 + tax 😬 

 

Huh. I have to admit I've never even thought of this. Can't hurt, I guess.

I can say that there is always a definite benefit to eliminating slop and friction from shifter linkage; the heim joints and especially the shift lever pivot are common spots for wear, corrosion, and slop to creep in over time.

Sometimes replacing these parts if they're showing any slop is the best answer, or sleeving the shift lever, or at least cleaning and lubing the pivot.