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Heeled Mutators: Love Them or Hate Them?
Heeled Mutators: Love Them or Hate Them?
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Heeled Mutators: Love Them or Hate Them?
Has an astute observer ever identified you as a motorcyclist by the scratch on the top of your left boot?
Probably. Or maybe not if you have a heel-shifter. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, your bike probably has a toe shifter. But on some bikes, almost always bikes with footpegs, there's sometimes a second lever that comes into play. A heel shifter looks like an inverted toe shifter, extending behind where your foot would rest. To upshift, you can simply press on the heel of the shifter to upshift and press on the toe to downshift. This is possible because each lever rotates the shift shaft in different directions.
In 1952, Harley-Davidson introduced the left-foot shifter on its Big Twin series, which explains the heel-shifter part number: 34692-52. As we've explored elsewhere , Harley may have taken some notes from the aftermarket to launch this new way of beating gears. Most imports to America didn't use a heel-shifter, and the original Indian Motocycle never offered foot-shifted machines.
How come? So the motorcyclists did not scratch their boots. Are you a heel change guy? I feel like I've run the gamut with reactions to these. Some had no idea they existed. Some understand it immediately, others need it explained. Some riders can't imagine a touring bike without them, others immediately remove the heel lever.
On a personal note, I haven't used them much personally for a few reasons. First, many of my motorcycles are not pedal powered, which makes the part moot. Secondly, I prefer to leave the bead in place and rotate it so much that it dictates the design of foot controls when building motorcycles. Lastly, footshifters always seem to get in my way. I like to change my position on the footpegs, especially on long rides, and a heel change can be significantly constraining… you can't move your heel backwards on the 'pegs.
The most important reason, however, is that I dress like a flood victim and don't actually own shoes nice enough to worry about scratches. Maybe someday. #lifegoals
I like them on other people's bikes, though. It makes me happy to see this little Harley touch still rolling along all these years later. Indian doesn't ship their big bikes with a heel-shifter. (One is available, but it's not standard like it is on a Tourer with a bar and shield.) The heel-shifter has, for a long time, been a distinctly H-D part. (I suppose if we wanted to be picky, we could say that maybe Indian shouldn't have foot-shifters at all, but that seems a bit narrow-minded.) I wondered if Indian does it as a nod to the past, or if they've just seen how many Harley riders are doing away with the heel-shifter. (So many, in fact, that Harley offers a little beauty cap for riders who do so.) Maybe it's a cost-saving measure.
I'm curious to peruse the comments section of this article, though, because feelings on these are really high and there's a good chance there's a reason for the heel shift that I haven't thought of. I'm also hoping to see a photo of the footpegs and heel; I feel like I've never seen that combo.
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