Shorter shift shaft?

mike96

Member
Jun 28, 2012
59
10
44
Phoenix, Az
Does anyone know if there is a shorter shift shaft available from another bike (YZ, TTR, WR, or whatever) that fits and works in the blaster trans? I have Frankenstein together and running but I have small problem... The relationship between foot peg and shift lever end is quite a stretch, so much so that I have to move my foot to where the heal in on the foot peg to shift. There are plenty of shift levers available out there that are shorter but most of the ones I have seen have such a exaggerated bend to them that when fitted to my bike the shift lever sticks out to the side too far... I did find one on e-bay that looks like it might fit but I don't want to aimlessly spend $25 here and there for parts only to find out that it isn't going to work. A shorter shaft will give me the room to use some of the shift levers that are more readily available from newer bikes and if I am not mistaken should be less likely to bend in the unfortunate event of a down (which knowing my riding skills is inevitable and some point).

FYI, if you haven't figured this out this is for a dirt bike that has a blaster motor in it...

Thanks
Mike.
 
I Highly doubt any other shift shaft would match up
a DT 175/200 shifter may be what you need, those are very similar engines to our blaster, but in bikes, so the shifter may match your needs
the other option would be to modify the blaster shifter, it is steel ...... bend, cut, reweld.
 
The DT200 or possibly WR200 were my first thought. I looked at a couple of shift shafts for the DT200 on E-bay and they looked to be about the same length judging length of shaft vs length of arm. I also thought of modifying a blaster shift shaft. Ideally it wouldn't bee too hard to grind the weld off the arm, chuck the shaft in a lathe to cut a new grove for the "E" clip, cut the shaft to length then weld the arm back on... That would be the cleanest/most OEM looking solution. Easiest would be to cut 1 - 1.5 inches out from behind the spline for the shift lever and weld it back together under the sprocket and grind it down so it slides thru the cases correctly. I would just be worried that welding the shaft anywhere other than inside of the case halves would make it easier to bend.
 
Are you talking the shift shaft in the engine or the shift lever that attaches to the shaft?

Well technically I need to shorten both, but..... At the moment I am currently talking about the shift shaft in the engine. My intention it to use a shift lever with bends in it more like this one. Theory is with a shorter shaft sticking out of the engine and a shift lever with a couple of bends in it, I will be less likely to bend the shaft in the engine when I lay the bike on its left side. Much easier to replace the lever than the shaft...

Folding-Shifter_0_1.png
 
Thing is that the shaft doesn’t stick out much further than the sprocket. I guess the easiest/best way would be to cut it at the end inside the clutch cover. Remove the pawl, cut, weld. Try to find a motorcycle junk yard near you.