Has anyone changed the gear lever to race pattern on the 999 series ( eg 1 up 5 down). I've just bought a new track bike and would like to practice on my road bike to avoid confusing myself.... Any useful tips appreciated.
Dont go the wrong way! Seriously, just go out for a bimble and think about it, it will soon become second nature.
Ah I have seen the longer levers without linkage etc.... Is it not possible to mod the existing stuff?
cheap as chips and will give you a direct and positive action. far better than just swinging the linkage 180' CNC Replacement Race Reverse Shifter For Ducati 748 749 996 998 916 999 S Black | eBay
It may be possible by turning the selector on the shaft. Have done it on most of my road bikes however the best way is as per Andyb's description. You will make a mistake a some point and its will probably be when you are going really fast and thinking of everything but the gear change direction! Few ideas / tips Don't use full revs for the first few session so that when you do get it wrong you don't lock the bike up. Put a sticker on the rev counter with GEARS on it. Do as many road miles as poss with reversed pattern before you hit the track. When you get use to it, it is, IMHO, much better.
You can just 'flip' the piece on the shaft and it will work but a direct lever is IMHO better as it feels (and is) more direct. I've always preferred 1 up 5 down (probably because my first bike was so) and converted my 916 years ago although I find no problem if I ride a bike with 'conventional' shift pattern. I tried the direct lever on my Monster but as the footpeg is closer to the gearshift shaft the lever was too long and although I found a shorter lever it doesn't work very well as there's not enough leverage meaning it's hard to get the gear and even harder finding neutral so I went with the flipped linkage, should be OK on a 999 though.
I have done it ,and used it for the past 6yrs , I use it on my race bike and to be honest even after all those years I can still go down/up in a panic , And if your riding on your limit you do have moments where the instinctive thing to do is what you've done for years on your road bike. But I still wouldn't go back to road . Totally agree with Gregory and Andyb with sticking a purpose made gear lever straight on the gear selector spline.
I bought my 749r with a race pattern shift already on it (direct DP lever) - you get used to it very quickly and now I prefer it. Only made a couple of accidental shifts to start off with in error, but that's what slipper clutches are for :biggrin: Trouble is now, I've bought another bike with a standard shift so are having to change that over as well !
Thanks all, think I'll splash a few quid on a cheap e bay jobbie and do some practice. Since I've sped up a bit on track I can see why race pattern is preferable at times. Plus new track bike has some nice bazzaz kit on it in race pattern
Whilst the straight lever works fine on 916 models, I believe that on 999 it may foul the fairing when pushing down? If so there you might want to get an offset lever that is a better fit for 999, something like this;
Fouled the fairing on 848 too, so either move the lever slightly higher or take a nick out of the fairing
