excess gear lever movement

[Richard Woolnough]

I have mentioned this on another thread, the gear lever of my W/ng seems to me to have excessive movement when selecting upwards, and downwards for this matter but this is not the problem,I have to take my foot off the peg to lift the gear lever which results in a seized hip joint and bloody agony for a day or two, or maybe more!. The lever cannot be lowered on the splines because it then fouls the footrest. I have cut and shut shortened and lowered another a tad and it is a little better but has not cured the problem completely. My chum has a similar, if later box, and has suggested that the two selector springs are possibly weak, I think he called them 'bull springs' would this be correct?
I need to sort this out as it detracts from the pleasure of riding this old gal which in most other respects is enjoyable, views, comments and advice will be welcome. kind regards

[dave.owen]

Until you fix it, change up using your heel,

Dave

[simon.holyfield]

Can you measure the movement on the end of the lever, so we can compare?

[Richard Woolnough]

Makes no difference Dave, still effects my hip,
Simon will do when my hip lets me get down. kind regards

[simon.holyfield]

I'm away from home, I won't be back in the workshop for a few days.

[johnwalsh]

Why don't you remove the lever and reattach it lower down on the splines. I know it means you will need to press down further, but perhaps a little less painful.

[johnnelson]

What about a shorter gear lever ?

[Richard Woolnough]

If I lower the lever on the splines it is fouled by the foot rest , the W/ng peg mounting appears to different to the later frames, I have made this lever a tad shorter but yes I am thinking of reducing it more. kind regards

[will_curry]

Some measurements from my bikes:

The gear lever stands about 9" above the ground with the bike on the stand.
Fully down it is 7" off the ground and fully up 12". The lever is 8" long centre to centre.

I found a shorter alloy lever to replace the 8" one and then had some difficulty with the change.
The gearbox seemed to need the extra leverage.

On a GB box with a five and a half inch long gear lever the lever moves down one and a half
and up two inches from rest.

Hope this helps.

[roger.fellows]

The geometry looks difficult, but could you improvise an arrangement pivoting on the footrest or a frame lug to provide a downwards heel movement from rear of the footrest and bearing upwards on the gear lever?