Shift Rods

I've found with this bike, either due to my own desires for design, or the simple lack of readily available parts, nothing is ever a "bolt on" when it comes to performance parts.  I really thought my quickshifter would be, however.

After deciding to get "the best" in buying a translogic quickshifter specifically for my ex650/er6, I was surprised when it arrived... whereas all the hardware associated with this area of the bike tended to be 6mm bolts and etc... the quickshifter was threaded for 8mm... not a big deal, until you realize that the accessory rod needs to be threaded for 8mm, and the rose joints also need to be 8mm.  While they are around, once they arrived I had to figure out how to make a 6mm bolt work with an 8mm hole.  Luckily I found some brass bushings I had leftover from "something else"... I was able to easily press them into the bore, and now my 8mm hole is reduced to 6mm... perfect for the hardware associated with the shift pedal.

Next was the rod itself.  I needed to find something that was sturdy but light, was threaded 8mmx1.25 (ideally left and right hand thread), and came in a variety of lengths.  Some ebay searching found a variety of kart tie rods... and even better, they came in red (or blue, or black...).  So as you can see, the rod end threads into one side, the quick shifter body into the other...

And hey presto... you have a working shift rod with quickshifter spliced in.  As expected, I got a few of varying lengths to figure out the proper size.  The grey piece is the "stock" shift rod I had in place to work with the woodcraft rearsets... acts as a guide for the proper length from eyelet to eyelet.  When we get out of the deep freeze, I can install it on the bike with the associated wiring as well.  Each rod was only 7 bucks, and the rod ends were 6 each.  Cheaper than getting something machined locally.  Considering they are originally kart tie rods, they are plenty strong for my application!