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7th Gear Mod

roger123

roger123

Member
Member
Had an interesting day today. Paul King (who owns my old Connie) had put the 7th gear mod on a few weeks ago. Well come to find out he really isn't happy with the bike (too big) so he's going to sell it. Another local rider (Tom Hoffiss) bought the 7th gear from him. So today we pulled Toms bevel drive and put Pauls 7th gear in it, then rode over to Pauls and put Tom's "factory" bevel gear in Pauls bike (Paul had pulled his dive yesterday). Started at 0900 and finished up the first bike at 1330, rode over to Pauls and got his done as well by about 1700. That drive is really nice, I highly recommend it, the bike is much smoother. It's a small chore to swap but anyone who's pretty competant with a wrench can pull it off. No special tools are required. Roger COG 5903 Virginia Beach, VA
 
Roger is to modest, I think you really need to know the difference between a phillips and flat head to do this, way beyond my talents, it's not rocket science, but you need to have some wrench time under your belt. As always Roger, a big thanks, I don't know what I would do without COG, well I guess I would be spending a lot of money at the dealers..............
 
+1 on the 7th gear mod, I love mine. But I also love the light weight ZX10B rods and ZRX11 pistons too ;p Colin Prior Cogmos Committee Chairman Lake Forest Park WA COG#7767
2606714340100596652OGFlOW
 
If you do this mod make sure you put some lock-tight on the bevel drive bolts. You might get an oil leak if you don't :mad: Roger COG 5903 Virginia Beach, VA
 
Roger means the bolts that bolt the bevel drive unit onto the engine case, not anything in the drive assy. The reason is that some of the threaded holes go into the crankcase, and oil can work it's way up the threads and out on your shiny new bevel drive housing. Personally, I use black rtv instead of locktite all over my bike - it will prevent loosening, prevent seapage, prevent electrolysis from locking the bolt, and makes the bolt easy to remove. Steve Shleper of the 7th gear unit and performance exhaust cam sprockets. My bike - "SHOODABEN" - 1109cc's of what an 04 concours "shoodaben"!
 
Steve's got it right (of course). I knew better than to not put any sealer on those bolts, I guess it was just one of those things. Absolutely my fault. I did it the other two times I've done this, not sure why I brainfarted on this one!! Anyway, all is well, great job on this upgrade!! Roger COG 5903 Virginia Beach, VA
 
I'm just trying to understand this mod, so forgive me if I sound like a dummy. A "7th gear" tells me that this modification lives in the transmission, yet as I understand it, the mod involves a rear diff swap. Correct? So what exactly is this? A two speed rear end? Or just taller gears? A two speed rear end would make it a 12 gear mod and taller gears would still be only 6 gears. What am I missing? Thanks for not laughing at me.
 
It's not really an additional gear. I'll give you a quick synopsis, Many Connie riders report trying to shift one more time after they are in 6th gear hoping to find "the elusive 7th gear". They (including me) are trying to get lower RPMS for cruising. Along comes ace mechanic "Steve from Sunny Florida" who developed a method to change the gearing in the bevel drive. It lowers the RPMS and provides the psychological "7th gear" sound people were looking for. There, and I'm not laughing at you either...My dog was, but I assure you, I wasn't! Enjoy!
 
Steve's got it right (of course). I knew better than to not put any sealer on those bolts, I guess it was just one of those things. Absolutely my fault. I did it the other two times I've done this, not sure why I brainfarted on this one!! Anyway, all is well, great job on this upgrade!! Roger COG 5903 Virginia Beach, VA Tom got an oil leak and I had to go over and fix it :p don't feel bad about the brain fart thing I rode my ( yours ) connie for 2k miles and forgot to put the inside baffles in at the faring man was that bike hot :gasp:
 
Some of us consider him "Steve from Sunny FL" others consider him "Bubba the Motorcycle Mechnix" ;) Kurt & Sue Nordstrom Spotsylvania, VA COG 6049 & 6049A VA & WV Assistant Area Directors
 
Meknic, meknic! AKA "2linby" That's 2-lin-by folks! Northwest Area Director COG #5539 AMA #927779 IBA #15034 Team Oregon MC Instructor http://community.webshots.com/user/2linby http://tinyurl.com/njas8 (IBA BunBurner Gold Trip) http://tinyurl.com/lwelx (Alaska trip)
 
No it's actually "bubba the lonmowr mekanik" There'a few around who may even remember how I got that moniker. I expect Bob is one! Steve Shleper of the 7th gear unit and performance exhaust cam sprockets. My bike - "SHOODABEN" - 1109cc's of what an 04 concours "shoodaben"!
 
Jerry: The "7th gear mod" is a change to the bevel drive gear assembly that comes off the transmission on the left side of the case, it's that big bulge that your left ankle rubs on. (This housing assembly contains the oil sight gage, and the shifter shaft goes through it.) There are no changes to the rear end. It does not actually add another gear, just changes the ratios so that it's like having that elusive "7th gear" that we all seem to look for. Steve takes the old units and changes out the drive gear for one that is slightly larger and the driven gear for one that is slightly smaller, which changes the final drive ratio so the engine turns approximatley 12% slower in relation to the rear wheel. This drops the engine RPM at 65 MPH from about 4000 RPM to about 3520. Makes the bike a whole new thing. Reduces noise, vibration, rider fatigue, etc. Also gives you better usability in the middle gears when pounding the backroads, in my opinion. IT IS THE BEST THING YOU WILL EVER ADD TO YOUR CONNIE! It is a fairly simple remove and replace procedure. You remove the rear wheel, shock, swing arm, drive shaft, water pump (you neeed to change your coolant anyway, right?), clutch slave cylinder, (don't disconnect the fluid hose), remove the bevel gear housing (you should have a good service manual for torques, etc), then install the new unit and re-install all the above. Steve will sell you an exchange unit or he will rework yours if you send it to him. All work is top-notch and it looks like a new unit when you get it, he even supplies the new-style metal gasket for the housing. And before you ask, no, you can't just get some gears and drop them in yourself. There is machining work to the housing and gears involved and a big lot of thought and study went into this mod. Steve is a genius for figuring this out. He also has a kit for changing the exhaust and intake cam timing and you might want to do that too. It gives more torque in the lower RPM's and is the final icing on the cake with the new gearing. If you have average mechanical skills and stay relatively sober you can do this in a weekend no problem. :)
 
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