Gear shifting on the f800gs with MX boots

Make sure you add some thread lock and the safety wire! It's no fun when you go to shift and you can't find the lever ... nor is it much fun searching for bike bits along the road on a hot day.

Yes, blue loctite but only on the 2 small alen screws. I did not attach the safety wire

Saved my cash and adjusted the gear lever up a notch. Works fine now. Any further and I think I would have needed a 3rd party lever as it was hitting the engine casing on up shifts.

Also helped that I went down a boot size

Wunderlich shifter and Pivot Pegz , night and day differants

The stock shifter rotated upwards and the stock pegs with my Tech 3 boots work great for me. When I am commuting in my work shoes I sometimes life up my foot to shift but it is fun for short rides.

I would like to try those Pivot pegs though... heard good things about them and my feet do get tired if I stand for extended periods.

Removing those rubber pieces from the pegs and adjusting the shifter up a notch made a world of difference for me..

I might add this story:

We had just come in from a ride and the bike was hot (think exhaust pipe). I go inside and for some reason my wife decides to turn around the bike. It falls on her and she gets pinned under the hot pipe. She screams and no one hears. Finally the gardener helps her get out. If it wasn't for her Alpinestar MX boots, she would have had a horrible burn. That could happen to any of us out in the wild, so the boot change was a good one. -Migs

It really depends on the size of your boots. The f8 just doesn't accommodate a larger foot in an MX boot without some aftermarket help. I'm real happy with Pivot Pegz and Wunderlich adjustable except I'm on my second gear shifter ... Twice the actual shift part of the Wunderlich got loose and fell off. The last time it got bent beyond repair. Thread lock is a must but that safety wire is just as important. My new one loosened after some aggressive off road riding a few weeks ago. I came one bolt away from losing it the end bit again. It's a good product but it requires some attention and that safety wire.

Great combo - just added the Pegz this afternoon and took 'er for a ride to get used to it. Methinks I'll have to add some length to the Wunderlich lever. I don't have the safety wire attached, but maybe I'll do it soon given the story in this thread. :huh

My Wunderlich adjustable gear lever managed to snap on the weekend while on road up shifting.
Its been a while since I have been off road where it would get a knock unless its just been weaken for a while.
Anyway it bent up on the slide shaft one half snapped one still hanging on. Straightening snapped it obviously managed to rig it to continue the ride & get home. MacGyver eat your heart out.
Thinking of a replacement & maybe an Alloy lever that snaps isn't ideal. Any one found anything new recently to hit the market? Need it longer than std my size 12 Sidi Adv won't fit under/between the std lever.

Interesting -- I just put on the Wunderlich as the stock adjuster moved up a notch (and the rubber removed) was OK but not perfect with boots. I do wonder about the alloy casting -- it seems like the cheap BMW shifter would bend but not break and could be bent back. Anyone else with out there with Wunderlich problems? Also did yours slide on easily? -- Mine was so hard to get on I had the dealer do it as it was due for service and going in the shop anyway. Touratech makes a cheaper adjustable model that I believe is steel.

I tried the touratech lever. When you slide the touratech (or stock shifter) on, the cross bolt that holds it on is made so it lines up with the relief in the shifter shaft. This way if the bolt comes loose, the shifter will not fall off (unless the bolt comes all the way out).
With the touratech the hole for the cross bolt was drilled to close to the shaft. When you slide the bolt through it binds on the shifter shaft and it cross threaded the bolt. When I went to loosen the bolt it broke off. I ended up having to drill the bolt out to get the shifter off. They exchanged it for me saying that the powder coating must have gotten into the hole. Got the new one and and it was exactly the same way.
I noticed with the shifter off the bike the bolt threads in perfectly, on the bike the bolt binds against the shaft. I called them about this and they said "BMW sources the shift shafts from different vendors, and yours must be machined wrong"
Sure. No way the touratech shifter could be drilled in the wrong spot, it has to be the BMW shifter shaft :huh
It went back to touratech for a refund.

I bought the GS boots and had the same problem with mine. Ordered the touratech adjustable one and also raised it up a notch. It was hitting the case, so I bent it slightly and now it works great. Breaking in the boots helps too as you get a better feel.

Hello from the UK, what I did on mine was; I had a touratech lever off a R1200GS laying in the garage, I unbolted it and mated the front part with the folding tip with the standard part by cutting off the tip of the stock one.





Works fine

kewl idea

They should be as comfortable as a hiking boot. All of the alpinestars boots I've had took a while to break in, afterwards they shifted easier. Walk around in them and the flex will loosen up.

Moved mine up a notch and bent it out slightly to fit over engine case. Works great now.

I have a size 14 boot and all I did is move the shifter up a couple of teeth. Gives more clearance for rocks and such as well. No need for adjustable levers unless you just want to support the aftermarket suppliers

Doesn't that make it harder to get your foot up to downshift? My MX boots aren't that flexible. I still like Wunderlich's longer shifter.

Same issue with mine! Same worries about the alloy casting -- but the fit is good.