2020 Monkey, Vintage Comparison, & Mods

[2017EX_imp]

Those rubber boots over the linkage are kinda cheesy; makes it look like there are greased precision joints underneath vs. a bent rod and cotter pins. It's amazing that they'd spend the money on the mold for the rubber cover vs. just using actual rod end joints with purposeful rubber covers. Personally I'd be completely down with replacing that kludge.

I did something similar with my CBR250R. The shift linkage was riveted to the lever, and the rivet loosened and created annoying play.



For the CBR250R application, McMaster-Carr came through. Pricey but you get the good industrial stuff.

Metric Heavy Duty Ball Joint Linkage
M6 x 1 RH Thread Male Stud with Right-Hand Thread Female Shank
McMaster-Carr SKU [url=https://www.mcmaster.com/6275k53]6275K53



Type 18-8 Stainless Steel Flex-Top Expanding Locknut
Hex, M6x1 Thread Size, 10mm Wide, 8mm High
McMaster-Carr SKU [url=https://www.mcmaster.com/94560a060]94560A060
This type of nut is ideal for high-vibration applications.









The improvement in shifting precision was marked. It's a fantastic gearbox and now I can exploit the precision of the engineering that went into it. It makes no sense to build a bike with precision internals and then operate it with sloppy externals!

Stichill, my thoughts exactly. Like probably everyone else that might look at the stock linkage, the natural assumption would be that there are real rod ends under those rubber boots. I had no clue, until I stumbled across the Youtube video showing the removal and fix on a Grom. The Monkey uses the same linkage, and the extra play was very noticeable to me when I rode it. Several aftermarket companies have come out with gear shift levers that connect directly to the spindle. The pitch is that the direct connect shift lever eliminates the sloppy stock linkage.

Back in the day it was all direct connect, but I imagine the linkage evolved to isolate the shift lever from the spindle and case to eliminate or reduce damage to those components caused by hits to the shift lever in a crash? Consequently I think the rod ends are a better solution than the direct connect shift lever. Somewhat disappointing and annoying that, as you said, Honda would use a bent piece of 7mm steel rod with washers and cotter pins to use for linkage instead of the rod ends that should have been used from the get go. I suppose the upside is that for those that want to, it can be fixed properly, inexpensively, and easily.