Ok, just bought my 1969 sportster , it has right hand side shift. does anyone know of any linkage setups to move the shifter to the left side and brake to the right.? might be far fetched, but I heard they might have done this at some time. just cant seem to get use to this .. thanks for any input.. Rick

 

The swap was never done in 1969. It happened in 1975 and 1976 when the Feds passed a regulation that all motorcycles must shift on the same side. The left side was chosen because all Hondas were left hand shift.
The factory scrambled to come up with a temporary fix and so for those 2 years (1975 was a partial left side shift) they had this God-Awful collection of hardware the switched the shift to left and the rear brake to the right.
It was awful at best. In my opinion, to try to hang such garbage on a nice 1969 Sporty would be a crime!
It is obvious you are not an old time rider, or if you are, it has been on Honda or other Brand X machinery. I'd urge you to just learn to make the adjustment, just as I had to make the opposite adjustment when I got a late model Dyna with a left side shift. I got accustomed to the change, and you you can too. I wish I had a 1969 ironhead!
Good luck.......pg

 

PG is exactly right! That crossover shift linkage was a pure POS! It could be sort-of fixed by replacing the joint-ends with quality Heim joints, but it still had 4 direction changes in just the linkage to replace the direct linkage of the right-side shifter. Each of those direction changes add a little slop to the mix, resulting in a crappy "feel".

Unless you're constantly changing bikes, you will eventually learn it. If you are frequently changing bikes there are two things -

1. You're eventually gonna screw up bad enough to break something, or

2. Take the bike to a dirt oval and make a couple hundred laps

#2 will ingrain the right side mentality into your soul, and you'll know why right side shifts exist - can't drag the left foot and shift when it's a left-side bike!


Practice, practice, practice, ...

 

thanks and no Im not a long time rider just a long time love of HD. My last bike which was a 1983 sporty with haritage fenders and a fat tank was fun to drive, a 1200 bar hopper. I guess I will have to leave well enough alone and learn the right side shift.

 

Rick,
I recently purchased a 74 ironhead with custom designed forward controls that achieve the actuation swap you're looking for . They're a pretty nice piece of engineering. Here's a pic but it's hard to pick up much detail because of the black powdercoat.
They mount off the front motor mount point. I can sketch up the basic design if you're interested.
Ken

 

Yeah, the mid-seventies cross-over hardware is awful. They used the brake crossover shaft to move the shifter over resulting in a shift lever that is as long as the 69 brake pedal and not a thing of beauty.

Depending on how close to stock your bike is, you can do a much nicer job of swapping the controls yourself, as I did on my 61 chopper, by running a tube up by the motor mounts.

If your bike's anything near stock, though, stick with the original set-up. You'll get used to it soon enough.

 

I switch off between a 2001 Ultra Classic and a 1974 XLH Sportster. The change from left to right foot shift is tough at first, but take your time and be patient. There's just something really cool about those old right foot Sporty's. Practice and enjoy!

 

I had a 75 XLH and I have to agree the linkage was a POC. The brake setup with the cable gave me the most trouble.

Just ride it, your mind will make the switch pretty quick. I ride 3 bikes and all shift different. The 75 FXE is normal left shift 1 down 3 up, the 72 is 1 up and 3 down and my 68 is a handshift foot clutch. The foot clutch took the longest to get used too but after a couple of days it was effortless.