shifting problems

I am a 75 year old guy. I have a disease called"inclusion body myositis" Basically it's an imuno disease that slowly destroys muscles.....all of them. It is not fatal, but slowly erodes your ability to walk, speak, eat without choking etc. Anyway; in 2013 I had to give up two wheels and I switched to a 1994 Kawasaki Vulcan with a tow-pac. Worked great and kept me riding. Now I am having trouble shifting gears due to inability to raise my left foot (toe) far enough to up-shift.

My question to all of you is : what wuld it take to have an air or electronic shifter to my current ride, and if it would be worth the expense.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

[QUOTE=jmk865;590850]I am a 75 year old guy. I have a disease called"inclusion body myositis" Basically it's an imuno disease that slowly destroys muscles.....all of them. It is not fatal, but slowly erodes your ability to walk, speak, eat without choking etc. Anyway; in 2013 I had to give up two wheels and I switched to a 1994 Kawasaki Vulcan with a tow-pac. Worked great and kept me riding. Now I am having trouble shifting gears due to inability to raise my left foot (toe) far enough to up-shift.

My question to all of you is : what wuld it take to have an air or electronic shifter to my current ride, and if it would be worth the expense.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Like I said �� in your other post test ride a spyder with the automatic ����

You might wanna check out the Enabled rider forum ... them guys are anything but disabled ... and they have lots of tricks for almost every kind of challenge.

[URL="https://www.triketalk.com/forum/forums/257-Enabled-Trikers"]Enabled Trikers[/URL]

[QUOTE=jmk865;590850]I am a 75 year old guy. I have a disease called"inclusion body myositis" Basically it's an imuno disease that slowly destroys muscles.....all of them. It is not fatal, but slowly erodes your ability to walk, speak, eat without choking etc. Anyway; in 2013 I had to give up two wheels and I switched to a 1994 Kawasaki Vulcan with a tow-pac. Worked great and kept me riding. Now I am having trouble shifting gears due to inability to raise my left foot (toe) far enough to up-shift.

My question to all of you is : what wuld it take to have an air or electronic shifter to my current ride, and if it would be worth the expense.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

There is an item you can have installed called a Klictronic, the problem you might have is the use of your thumb while pulling in the clutch. This device uses an actuator that attaches a rod to your foot shifter. You will have to push a corresponding button positioned at your thumb on the clutch. I have seen this installed on a Valkyrie that was triked for a disabled veteran.

After having lost the use of my left foot for shifting as I mentioned in my original post; I looked into and had a heel/toe shifter fabricated and quickly found out I couldn't use that either. I then looked into an electronic shifter( pingle shiftronic style) Way too expensive considering the age of my trike as well as my age) Also looked into a Spyder automatic which would have been great, but even more expensive considering my age and being on fixed income. Considering all of this plus the fact that Illinois required a driving/riding test for people 75 and older and the fact that I likely won't pass either next July I put the trike up for sale and had it sold in three days. New owner picked up the "Blue Goose" Sunday afternoon and took my baby to her new home.

It's gonna take a while to get used to not riding after 61 years.....not happy about all this; but I guess it is what it is.

[QUOTE=jmk865;598554]After having lost the use of my left foot for shifting as I mentioned in my original post; I looked into and had a heel/toe shifter fabricated and quickly found out I couldn't use that either. I then looked into an electronic shifter( pingle shiftronic style) Way too expensive considering the age of my trike as well as my age) Also looked into a Spyder automatic which would have been great, but even more expensive considering my age and being on fixed income. Considering all of this plus the fact that Illinois required a driving/riding test for people 75 and older and the fact that I likely won't pass either next July I put the trike up for sale and had it sold in three days. New owner picked up the "Blue Goose" Sunday afternoon and took my baby to her new home.

It's gonna take a while to get used to not riding after 61 years.....not happy about all this; but I guess it is what it is.[/QUOTE]

Sorry to hear 'Jim.....Your facing what sooner or latter we will all have to face....:(

Stay in touch....You don't have to have a trike to post here on Trike-Talk...

Jim, your last post saddened me. I guess we are headed in that direction sooner or later though. Stick around on Trike Talk and enjoy the company here. There are a lot of good people on this forum.

[QUOTE=ol' school;598558]Jim, your last post saddened me. I guess we are headed in that direction sooner or later though. Stick around on Trike Talk and enjoy the company here. There are a lot of good people on this forum.[/QUOTE]

I agree you're an very experienced rider and I know everyone would enjoy you hanging with the FAMILY! :biggrin: