Can it be done?

After I got my Norton I changed all my other bikes to 1 up and 3 (and one 5) down.

Jackman said:

I was hoping someone would say it’s all bolt on parts from Andover, Guessing not that easy. I’ll have to learn to shift and brake from the wrong side . Thanks all

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No. As God intended motorbikes to work....

If you haven't ridden a bike with the traditional set up before it can seem a little daunting, but the brain as a fantastic thing, trying to keep it out of shitter's ditch for the first couple of rides is the hard bit, you will just have a couple of oh f**k thats the brake moments, these will help you learn.

Jackman said:

Answer is never, I’m 60 years old and everything I’ve ridden was left shift right brake and 1 down 4,or 5 up. I don’t see it being an easy thing to adjust to but I’ll probably have to

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I have bikes with the gear change on the left and the right with both up for up and down for up shift configurations.as has been said before you know which bike you’re on and it all seems to work quite naturally.

Dave

I believe it is not only a matter of setting your mind in order for which bike you are riding (to remember which sides the controls are on), but also for doing so on a REGULAR BASIS.

If you don't ride one type and the other, both fairly often, or if you don't ride very often at all, your mind won't adjust as it should for panic situations. Up to a couple of years ago when I used to ride daily, always switching between classics and moderns, I encountered MANY panic situations, and never messed up (not since my first ride on a Bultaco Metralla in the 70s)

grandpaul said:

I believe it is not only a matter of setting your mind in order for which bike you are riding (to remember which sides the controls are on), but also for doing so on a REGULAR BASIS.

If you don't ride one type and the other, both fairly often, or if you don't ride very often at all, your mind won't adjust as it should for panic situations. Up to a couple of years ago when I used to ride daily, always switching between classics and moderns, I encountered MANY panic situations, and never messed up (not since my first ride on a Bultaco Metralla in the 70s)

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I think you hit the nail on the head there
If you have only ridden one style of gearchange for a long time then a different configuration would be concerning ,at least initially
But if like me you regularly ride with left or right gearchange I think it becomes a lot easier
I just sort of know what bike I'm on and ride accordingly

I jump between my Commando and Goldwing with no problem on rear brake and shifter being on opposing sides with different gear patterns.

For me, the feel of the bike resets my brain - I can switch from my Norton to my BMW to any other modern bike without really giving it a second thought.

What messes with my brain is when I hop on a Mk3 (uncle and a few other friends have them) - Feels like a Norton... but wait a minute!!

Derek Wilson said:

For me, the feel of the bike resets my brain - I can switch from my Norton to my BMW to any other modern bike without really giving it a second thought.

What messes with my brain is when I hop on a Mk3 (uncle and a few other friends have them) - Feels like a Norton... but wait a minute!!

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Oi! Are you implying those MKIII's with their fancy folk electric legs, anti wet sump TC's and rear discs are not Nortons? ;-)

Its said the right hand & left foot are coordinated , so the legislators got it wrong .

I have Japanese bikes and Nortons - the left side / right side bit has never been a problem for me but if I haven’t ridden one or the other for a while the shift pattern occasionally trips me up.

A couple years ago, at the 50th Anniversary of the Commando at Barber Vintage Fest, I was wearing a boot/cast on my left foot due to a ruptured plantar fascia. I rode the SS clone (right shift) from our camp to the Fan Zone and took the shuttle back to camp to get my Honda Spree (no shift) for getting around on. When a guy on the shuttle spotted my boot, I explained I had ridden one bike up and was headed to get the other and he asked, "How do you shift either bike with your left foot in that boot?" I told him the first one shifted on the right and the other one didn't shift, as it had a CVT. He had heard of CVT's but never heard of a bike that shifted on the right. I told him to go back to the Fan Zone and he could see a whole line of them.


In answer to the original question, you can do anything if you have enough money, time and desire. My question would be "Why"?