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[JCZ]

How bout both?? Would someone please add it to the poll?

I think that's kind of a given since you can't down shift with the heel.  Am I missing something or was that a joke?

[Sean M Cary]

I think that's kind of a given since you can't down shift with the heel.  Am I missing something or was that a joke?

I had a SSgt in Oki without extended controls on his Sportser that would heel shift with a toe shifter...he was too cheap to buy the extended controls for it...

[FLSTFI Dave]

My 03 Fatboy was my first bike with a heal/toe shifter.  I was going to take the heal shifter off.  A good friend convinced me to ride our entire three day trip using it.  If after that I did not like it to take it off.

Well after using it for three days, its still on the bike.

I do all my up shifting with the heal and down shift with my two.  Seems to me I can up shift quicker with the heal.

[JasonDeezy]

I started riding Jap sportbikes in 1988, so toe shifting was the only option. I never used "proper" riding gear like riding boots so my tennis/basketball/running shoes were always getting the dirty smudge mark on the top from shifting. I HATED IT!!! I would wrap a cloth around the shifter to help prevent this but then people would always ask me what the rag was on there for (and it looked ugly to boot!). When I got the SERG I was excited to try the heel shifting. Boy did it take me a few days to get used to it! Now I wouldn't ride without it! My Fat Boy has floorboards and a toe shifter only and I HATE it! Wouldn't go back now...

[Midnight Rider]

I've never been able to develop the "feel" on the heel shifter for some reason, so I'm toe only.  Left it on the SEUC, mostly for looks, but removed it on my current ride as they offered a better looking toe only shifter.  It may have something to do with the size of one's feets...a larger boot size might make it a bit easier to use the heel shifter, but I always found myself having to move my foot back to use it, and the movement of raising my heel seemed unnatural to me.

[kb]

Has anyone tried to downshift w/ a heel shifter?

[red ben59]

Just depends on line of thought. Sometimes its just old riding habits, toe,toe,toe. then other times I CLICK my heel. Dorathy we are not in Kanas anymore.

[NETacoma03Fatboy]

1st thing to go is the heel shifter...

I ride with a buddy that put on forward controls and left his shify as it.  He uses the heel to shift up or down.  Alway laughs and says no one will ever steal his bike for this reason and I concur...

Funny side note.  He has a wreck and replaced his forks with inverted one.  I was checking out his bike with him and said to him,  "wow, nice forks.  But it's not like you can ride it hard enough for fancy forks!".        LOL!   Instant ballistic reponse..   

[NVTHIS]

Toe shift only on my Fatboy but I'm going to try the heel when my Ultra comes in.

[Black Diamond]

Has anyone tried to downshift w/ a heel shifter?

Just thinking the same thing. Not sure what / how this means / is done?   

JW

[TIF2]

This has been discussed before in this thread - Do You Heel Or Toe Shift? it will be interesting to see how the polls differ.

Thanks d00d - I appreciate you calling me out!
I try and search ... missed this one entirely.  

To your point I wonder if things have changed since the previous poll? I would doubt it though - what I am seeing is very few folks that "convert". My hat is off to those that have - for me it's not that I CAN'T kick-shift, it's more that I don't want to.

Only comment I'll make is regarding the post(s) that heel shifting is faster ... My comment to wit:

It may be easier .. it may be better (for you) ... it may even be "cooler" ...
But run with me and you'll see that the last thing a heel shift is .... is FASTER!

The original Poll was targeted for "UP-SHIFTS" ... I added a "both" scenario by request...

[cahdbiker]

I took the heel shift off of my 1995 Heritage, and I had the heel shift removed from my 09SEUC before I pickeds it up. I have two reasons;First, when I am cranking it up an onramp I feel I can shift faster with just the toe shift because that is what all my bikes before Harleys had and after all the riding I am too used to it to change. The second reason is that two times when I was wearing chaps and idling in neutral the chaps got  caught on the rear shifter and kicked it into first before I was ready. CAHDBIKER

[JCZ]

Toe shift only on my Fatboy but I'm going to try the heel when my Ultra comes in.

It seems it's awkward for everybody at first but if you perservere I think you'll end up like the rest of us.........wouldn't have it any other way, now that we're used to it.  So much easier to shift and don't miss a gear, either. 

You might make a commitment to yourself......ride for at least a week or ten days then if you can't get the hang of it, you can decide then but for that committed time you'll use the heel shifter every time.  You'll see.

[TIF2]

It seems it's awkward for everybody at first but if you perservere I think you'll end up like the rest of us.........wouldn't have it any other way, now that we're used to it.  So much easier to shift and don't miss a gear, either. 

I might give that a try ...

For those that have converted, does it make it awkward to ride a bike that doesn't have a kick-shift?
That would be my concern.

[JCZ]

I might give that a try ...

For those that have converted, does it make it awkward to ride a bike that doesn't have a kick-shift?
That would be my concern.

No, it's kind of like learning to drive an automatic after learning on a stick shift........now you'll know both ways but will prefer the easier of the two, especially the more you ride.