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Heel or toe shift??

softailhog

Active Member
I've owned a lot of bikes before I ever got one with heel shift. So I have always shifted with my toe. What's your preference and why?
 
I have the heel shifter so I've used it and gotten used to it. You'll hear from some who hate it and take it off as soon as they get the bike home. If you have large feet it does tend to get in the way and take up some floorboard space. There also is a fold-away heel shifter you can put on so it's out of the way when you're going to be cruising and not shifting for extended periods.
 
As probably is the case with many of us, I started riding on bikes that did not have floorboards and therefore they did not have a heel/toe shifter. Even though I am now on my third floorboard type bike I have resisted changing my mentality on how I shift. I have tried it and it seems foreign to me. I ride with memory muscle reflex that was first developed 30 years ago and this did not seem like it was incorporating into my muscle memory very easily so I gave up on the heel shifting. Although the heel arm has always remained on all three bikes it does not get used.

+1
Couldn't get used to it. I took mine off, though. I had an old shifter lever so I cut it off at the base and put the remaining piece on the spline to fill in the space. Looks fine.
 
If you have large feet it does tend to get in the way and take up some floorboard space.

If I had small feet, I would tip over from the weight!!:D

Like The Tank, I have it locked in my brain to shift with the toe. When I first got a bike with footboards I was always kicking the bike into neutral when I put my left foot up. I quit doing that years ago but have always felt like it
took more work to raise my leg up to heel shift. Since I am lazy, I just rock
my foot back on my heel to shift.

The heel shift thing came back to me a few days ago when I did a demo ride on a 2010 Heritage and 2010 EG Classic. The Classic had the toe shifter so
close to the footboard that I couldn't get any part of my boot under it so I
heel shifted the entire ride. I was paying more attention to shifting than how
the bike was performing.
 
I think that the heel/toe thing came from the old days when the Police, when chasing all the bad guys, could just slam their foot down and as with all police not have to think about it. therefore it just stayed with the full dressers, I've taken mine off, gets in the way on a long ride, I like to move my foot around.
 
On my 2007 FastBoy i have both the heel and toe shifter and use both of them...
 
I think that the heel/toe thing came from the old days when the Police, when chasing all the bad guys, could just slam their foot down and as with all police not have to think about it. therefore it just stayed with the full dressers, I've taken mine off, gets in the way on a long ride, I like to move my foot around.

That could be part of it but it also is used to keep the top of police/military boots looking shiny and spotless. You never have to use the top surface of your boot to do any shifting!
 
My Heritage has the heel/toe shifter and I like it. Just makes riding more comfortable for me.
 
Even on my old sporty I would shift with my heel.I put one on my heritage,and my classic came with it .My feet are on the highway pegs on long rides so no issues with it being in the way.Plus you dont gouge the toe of your boot up!
 
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