Motorcycle Question

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owu1bag5

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I just bought a 2004 Kawasaki Mean Streak last night. Awesome bike. Only 8k miles. Sounds great. Has a custom paint job, not really my style, but for the price, I couldn't pass it up. The only problem with it is the shifter lever(pedal) is extremely high. I have to lift my leg to shift. So I need to adjust it down, but I don't know how. I have tried to look it up online, but there is nothing specific to the Mean Streak or even just the Vulcan. Everything I found was dealing with crotch rockets. I would think that I could pull the shifter off the shaft and rotate it to the desired position and put it back on. However, I came across something in my reading about it that said that you should not do that. Anyone know for sure how to adjust it?
 

swampratt

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Screw reading .. it is a mechanical lever that either will or will not work in the position you put it into.
I have built plates to move shift levers/ brake levers and foot pegs forward to where they feel better to me.

Some that are too high can be adjusted down quite easy.

I have been tweaking bikes for 30+ years without worrying what others say does or does not work.

Here is some interesting info.
Head shake: When you get that high speed handlebar to and fro wobble.

I had it on a V65 and buddy had it on his V-Max.. I had it on other bikes also and chalked it up as too fast for the bike.
Not so.. I wore my rear tire down and had another stuck on and had it computer balanced.. It eliminated the head shake.

Told my buddy with the V-Max and he took his tire off the next day and took it in and balanced it.. No more head shake.
We tried shock rates fork braces and he even lowered the front of his bike nothing worked.. but a balanced rear tire did it.

So if you plan to go really fast remember this.
Our head shakes started anywhere from 120-140.. after fixing mine I could run 167 MPH not a single vibration.

Now go stick that shifter where you need it
 

briarcreekguy

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I have a 2002 Vulcan 800 Classic. I put floor boards on it and had to adjust the shifter lever for clearance. As mentioned above, I just removed the arm from the shift lever and moved it to the position where I had the clearance I needed, no problem. I know it is not the same bike you have, but as mentioned in the post above, it is just a simple mechanical lever. I say move it and give it a try.
 

Buddhaman

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Take lever off and put in position you like. That's all there is. It won't mess anything up but you should be sure you can shift properly afterwards. My bike has a high shifter so I keep my foot off to the side. If I put it lower I can't up shift well and that is more important.
 

swampratt

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I have had many bikes and the seat usually does not fit my booty too well.
I have taken off the seat material.. which is usually stapled to the underside of the seat frame.
After removing the material I will trim the foam just a bit to give me a better saddle to sit in.

So many things you can do to make the bike fit you better that are cheap or free to do.

Another is to adjust the handlebars and grip levers to better suit me.

Son got a rebel 250 and I moved foot pegs and controls 2" forward.. moved/trimmed the seat cushion back 1.5" and pushed the handle bars forward and adjusted grips.

My buddy rode it a few times and liked it so much he went and got one for himself.
He called me after the purchase and said is yours a 250.. because this one I got does not feel the same at all. I feel all scrunched up on it.

He brought it over and we tweaked that one and all was good.
Funny how the 2005 rebel 250 only got 65 mpg on a good day.. My 1979 400 ltd got 76 mpg and 67 if I hot rodded around.

The older 1985 Honda 250 custom with me on it got 105 MPG smaller mother-in-law got 110 MPG all the time with it. and it was way quicker than the 2005 250 Rebel.
Sometimes technology irritates me.
NO WAY should those newer bikes have less power and get less MPG.
I think my buddies crotch rocket 600cc got in the 60MPG area.
 

owu1bag5

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I got it positioned correctly now. Thanks for your input. I knew that it wouldn't hurt anything the way I wanted to do it, but after I read whatever nonsense I read, it made me question myself and wasn't sure if there was something I wasn't thinking about. But it fits me great now. Thanks again.
 

TwoForFlinching

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I used to get on YouTube to learn how to do stuff. Came in real handy when I built my bobber. It was a major kludge of leftover parts, but man it was vandal as hell.
 

owu1bag5

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So, one of the turn signals on my bike was out. Took the cover off to find out which bulb it would take. What I found was a mini headlight inside. I had never seen one like that used for a blinker so I unplugged it and took it to O'reilley's to get a replacement. Guy at O'reilley's said he has never seen anything like that used for automotive stuff. Looked through some of his books and found one similar, but of course they didn't carry them. Only markings on it was "12v 20w". I went back home, googled "12v 20w bulb" and sure enough there is a picture of what I have. Long story short, I found a link on the Google search to Lowes and it was the same bulb. An outside landscape light. Here is a link to it.

http://m.lowes.com/pd/Philips-20-Wa...right-White-Halogen-Accent-Light-Bulb/1206243

Anyone ever seen one of these bulbs used in anything automotive? I bought one and it works perfect.
 

TwoForFlinching

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I ordered some cheap/made in china replacement mini-blinkers out of Drag Specialties a few years ago. That's what came in them. I never installed them though... blinkers weren't cool then.
 

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