Loving Your Boom Vader Motorcycle Gear Shifter (Stock)

Now, if you are a Boom Vader Gen 2 motorcycle owner or just looking at buying a Boom Vader motorcycle, you likely started lurking in the Chinese Bike forums and FB Groups. You will notice a trend of upgrades recommended for new Grom-Clone owners. New motorcycle chain, upgraded carburetor, new exhaust system, and new motorcycle gear shifter.

You will address the issues associated with the stock Boom Vader motorcycle gear shifter. This might be a little messy, and I know you are ready to comment on my position, so please do. Please comment below if you have an opinion on the stock motorcycle gear shifter.

Why Do People Hate The Stock Boom Vader Motorcycle Gear Shifter?

Sources: Motorcycle forums, Motorcycle FB Groups, and my own opinions.

1.- The Stock Motorcycle Gear Shifter Look.

Yes, the out-of-box Boom Vader gear shifter looks ‘busy.’ 

Too many parts, and redirection of movement, cause concern for mechanical loss or breakage.

While other motorcycles(like my TaoTao TBR7 motorcycle) have gear shifters that are a single lever directly connected to the engine shift shaft.  

However, with the Boom Vader, the toe peg is connected to a long shift lever, which pivots by the toe-peg. It transfers motion to a shorter lever, which then transfers motion to a cross-member forward to a short lever connected to the engine shift shaft.

Oh my, stay that three times fast without passing out.

Well with all these linkages and redirection of motion for the shifter, some people do not feel comfortable with how the shifter build looks.  

I understand. Every time I look at my Boom Vader stock gear shifter, I think today is the day I upgrade that gear shifter. Well, that day has not come, still running the stock motorcycle engine gear shifter.

2.- The Stock Motorcycle Gear Shift Is Loose And Noisy.

The Boom Vader stock shifter has more parts than a typical motorcycle shifter; those parts need to be fixed.

Looking at my video above, you can listen to my Boom Vader shifter’s sounds when it is moved. It gets worse when the motorcycle is running down the road.

The noise of the loose gear shifter is annoying, and I admit it doesn’t promote confidence for the rider. It sounds like something is going to fall off the motorcycle.

3.- Motorcycle Gear Shifter Doesn’t Give Good Feedback.

The redirection of your foot energy and the loose connections on the gear shifter make it sloppy.  

Sometimes you can ‘feel’ when you slip into gear or are between gears, like neutral.

I have thousands of miles on my Boom Vader, and I still find neutral shifting down from second gear rather than from first.

So with a lack of good feedback from the stock gear shifter, I do feel like I’m ‘slamming’ or ‘stomping’ the bike’s engine into gear, to be sure.

4.- Boom Vader’s Stock Motorcycle Gear Shifter Falls Apart.

It happened to me.  

I was riding around slowly, breaking the engine in, going up and down my road slowly, trying to cycle through the gears, and then…..

No shifter.

The shifters extended arm was dangling straight down. The cross-arm became unthreaded and fell off.

I was still determining what I was looking for, but I found it.

How to fix a loose motorcycle gear shifter?

I learned a little thread locker on both sets of threads, and proper tightening would help prevent my shifter from falling apart ever again.

I was lucky to have found the missing part, and I warn you when getting the Boom Vader out of the box, take it apart, use the thread locker and tighten the gear shifter cross-arm.

I Still Have My Stock Motorcycle Gear Shifter

Yes, I still need to upgrade the recommended Grom-Clone gear shifter. As in the video, I want to spend more time riding my Boom Vader motorcycle instead of tinkering.  

After I do the 141cc Big Bore Kit upgrade, I will think more about getting a cleaner-designed, better-feeling shift lever.

In the meantime, I’ve done this to keep my Boom Vader’s stock gear shifter running strong.

1.- Fix The Loose Motorcycle Gear Shifter

Well, it wasn’t planned, but the shifter falling apart gives you a chance to tell you ahead of time; the stock motorcycle gear shifter can be loose, and you need to fix it.

Take apart anything with threads and reassemble it with a thread locker and good torque.

2.- Cleaning And Lubricating Motorcycle Gear Shifter

All the moving parts can use lube.  

On the cross-arms, there are little ball sockets that are hard to clean and lube, but I found a way using WD40 with the little red tube to go around the lever ends and get into the joint.

I put a shop rag under the areas I was cleaning and gave a couple of squirts of the WD40 to clean out the old lube and road grime from all the moving parts.

I followed up with lube. Some people recommend lithium grease for lubricating your motorcycle gear shifter. Still, I use the same lube I touch up my motorcycle chain to keep it simple.

Spray on chain wax. Can I use the little red hose to get into all the moving joints and help keep them clean?  

The nice thing I found with the chain wax. It usually comes off on its own and keeps my chain reasonably clean. You need to touch up the chain with a little squirt here and there to reapply the chain wax lube.

So, figuring out the self-shedding properties of the chain wax helps pull out and eject any dirt and grim that tries to get into my bike’s gear shifter joints.

Keep them running smooth and clean for as long as possible.

My Background With My Boom Vader Motorcycle Stock Gear Shifter.

I have thousands of miles on my stock gear shifter, which continues to work, and it needs improvement on feedback or noise, but it works.

Will I Keep The Stock Motorcycle Gear Shifter Forever?

No.

As I said, when I get downtime this winter and get around to doing more mods on my Boom Vader, I will add to my Boom Vader motorcycle upgrades to-do list a new/better gear shift.

In the meantime, follow along. Please leave feedback if you want to share your experiences with maintaining and changing your motorcycle’s gear shifter.

Ride Safe, Ride Fun!

Click To See My Recommended

Boom Vader Gen 2 Upgrades