Howdy,
I have a 71 Sportster with the shifter and the rear brake on goofy sides, shifter is on the right and rear brake is on left.. Someone PLEASE tell me if it is possible to make it "regular" because I am too old to relearn how to ride (shift) much thx! Iron Head

 

That's what you get for playing with antiques. I don't think it would be easy to change your bike over. I don't know of any aftermarket company making any such kit due to the age of the bike.

Practice

 

Thanks foe the reply....

 

Hey dude it's not a hard conversion at all,you need parts from a '75 or '76.
The first two years for left side shifters used the same shaft as the brake on yours and some linkage for the shifter and you'll need the brake pedal and bracket /cable etc for the right side.

 

Yeah, use the parts from the first year HD moved them to the wrong side! That way you'll have a sloppy shiftin' bike. Ride the thing; you'll get used to it. The shifter is on the right 'cause the Sporty was developed to race as well as tootle around on the street. When you're doing the dirt track thing, ya gotta put your left leg down through the turns, and keep the right on the peg to shift through the gears as needed.

 

 

Interesting thought, I hadn't heard that one before. Shifters are now on the left and they're still racing 'em.

Explaination I had always heard was, the Sportster was originally developed to compete with the British sport bikes such as Triumph, Norton, Bsa, which was a market that H-D didn't have a bike for. The Brits were using a right side shifter at the time.

 

The Flat Trackers used to **** from the right...they never used it in the turns anyway!

I rode a few that shifted from the right side.

Ride Safe!

 

lol...I said shift and it was **** out

 

You,ve got a unique scoot...dont listen to these rubs...learn to ride it.