Ratchet top to jockey top

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Sidecar
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Ratchet top to jockey top

#1

Post by Sidecar »

Description: I`m going to have a shop change my ratchet top to jockey top so I can hand shift my bike.

Trying to make a lousy situation better, I`m going to have a shop change my ratchet top to jockey top so I can hand shift my bike. VTwins lousy garbage ratchet top tranny/tank shift kit is one of the worst things that I`ve ever tried in my life. I get a lot of negative comments from Vtwin distributors that have tried to fix it also.
I came close to getting my attorney after Vtwin when they started playing games with me and my 48 Pan kit. I should have when all of the problems started to come to a head. I now wish that I never heard of VTwin. The tranny is not the only problem I had with them and they flat out lied to the dealer I got the bike from. As a matter of fact, I had to get parts from other suppliers to finish the bike after 3 months of waiting for stuff to come in that they told us was stock on their shelves.
I would suggest that you think twice before dealing with Tedd/Vtwin. I will never buy another thing from them.
I am a manufacturers rep. by profession and represent 20 to 30 companies at any given time and would never expect one of my customers to be treated this way.
There is NO CUSTOMER SERVICE when you are dealing with Vtwin.

Sorry for the rant, but I couldn`t help myself.

Randy
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#2

Post by Cotten »

Gosh, I've been dealing with V-Twin for 15 years or more.
Some of their stuff is genuine crap,...but they have always accepted my returns for credit without a whimper.
Perhaps the shop you are using has no skills at dealing with suppliers. If they are rude and crude, and clueless to boot, then guess who suffers!
Sidecar
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#3

Post by Sidecar »

Now that I`ve calmed down a little ........................

I heard some of the conversations that the dealer had with vtwin. I heard them lie.
I tried to get a bike builder to help me with the tranny problem. As soon as I told him where the tranny came from he told me that he wouldn`t touch it. He`s been in the H-D business for 30+ years and will not touch any vtwin stuff.
I am now at the 3rd shop and they are also trying to get the situation rectified with vtwin. I told them that I would wait and see what happens. I already told them to take that junk off the bike and replace it.
Anyway, I guess that it`s only money and you can`t take it with you.
In retrospect, I should have stayed with my original plan to build a new old Indian.
There is always next year !!!!!!
kell
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#4

Post by kell »

I'm also looking to change my ratchet top to a jockey. Sounds like I might want to avoid vtwin. Is there a good vendor out there with quality jockey tops?
kell
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#5

Post by kell »

I have located a 1946 hand shift transmission top for a hundred bucks, which I would like to get but before I buy: Would it work on a 1952 panhead?
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#6

Post by VintageTwin »

Sure will. You will need the '52-up shifter arm that has a 5/16" threaded hole at the bottom instead of the '46 un-threaded hole. I bought one from V-Twin for mine. It looked n.o.s. OEM, cad plated. I also bought their jockey lever and Saturn-ball knob. Order the right lever because some levers are threaded 3/8" at the top and the stock saturn-ball is a 5/16" thread. The jockey levers fit over the shift lever boss poifectly and bolt real nice to the shifter lever. You can even fit a '73 shifter cam in the lid instead of the shifter drum that came with yours. If you use the AM shifter cam from the FX, your shift pattern will be: Up for first, back for neutral, back for second, third, fourth as your pulling onto the freeway on-ramp at 55 plus miles an hour...Ar-Ar-Ar (Tim the tool man outburst).
kell
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#7

Post by kell »

Well I bought the hand top (from fatdog). Had no shifter shaft. Fabbed one... from a valve guide with an O.D. just a few thou fatter than the bushing I.D. Wore it down enough to fit, squared the end to go in the gear, put a 3/8 bolt through it and have a 3/8 box end wrench imprisoned on a nut between two washers for a handle (will have to make that handle longer). Small hole through bolt head (also squared) for cotter. Fun fun fun!
57Kicker
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#8

Post by 57Kicker »

Maybe you can help me. I just picked up a 57FLH with a suicide shift. The lever is down below my left leg. I don't know if it is refered to being a ratchet type or jocky shifter...whats the difference?

Also...what would the shifting sequence be? Any guesses?
kell
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#9

Post by kell »

On top of the transmission is a cast unit. That's the shifter. If it has a big assembly like a metal hockey puck on it it's a ratchet. To shift a tranny with a ratchet you just bump it a little forward or backward, and it will move you one gear. Which way you bump depends on whether the lever is pointing up or down.
The hand shift top is just a cast unit with a lever, and the lever moves about 90 degrees from first to fourth, unlike the ratchet, which stays in the same place except for the small movement when you bump it.
The internal difference between the two kinds is the way the shifter cam, which is actually drum-shaped, lodges into place for each gear. The ratchet shifter came has lobes and a pointy spriing-loaded "cam follower" I think it's called that slips into cusps between the the lobes. Prevents it from lounging between gears. The hand top has a spring loaded ball that falls into detents, and in between gears the balls rides on the surface of the drum. You can find a "false" neutral between gears with it.
More later, if you have more questions.
Sidecar
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#10

Post by Sidecar »

I have a jockey top for a four speed transmission if anyone is interested.

hd74
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#11

Post by VintageTwin »

The shift pattern for ALL jockey shifts using a drum (any drum, any year, except 3-speed-reverse) is: back for first, up for neutral, up for second,third,fourth. The shift pattern for ALL rachet tops with drums is the same. The shift pattern for cast (not drum) shifter cams (FX's) 34019-73 in rachet tops, (what you can buy AM. You can't buy drums AM, cause they don't make them) is: up for first, back for neutral, back for second, third, fouth.
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#12

Post by Frankster »

Incorrect. The fx shifting for mid-way controls is one down, which pulls the ratchet counter clock wise. FL Shifting is one down, which from the lower shifter pulls the ratchet clockwise. 2 different drums and 2 different shift gears
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Re: Ratchet top to jockey top

#13

Post by Frankster »

Sorry I'm a little late to the party...I forgot my password...lol
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