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Page 15.
TECHTRONICS QUICK-SHIFTER ROD REPAIR PROCEDURE.
OK, all owners of Techtronics quick-shifters will end up one day or the other with
a system that will refuse to work; sure, fiddling a bit with the adjustment collar can
help somewhat, but the real problem is not that; the system stays adjusted no matter
the road conditions you ride on...its well-made as far as the adjustments parts are concerned.
The real problem lies in the fact that despite the presence of o-rings throughout the rod,
water will find its merry way inside the rod one day or the other...that happens when you love your bike
clean and dust free...even if you don't use high-pressure cleaning devices.
Contrary as most believe, the rod is not a miracle of techno-trickery; it is quit simple really.
Here I'll run you through the how-to as far as "repairing" the rod is concerned.
First of all, lets look at my old rod that I've sacrificed for this purpose:
Don't mind the bend in it, I had to do that in order to run it with my Harris rearsets
adjusted to the most extreme adjustment!
Lets look at it:
A bit crooked isn't it??
You can see on this tape the piece of electrical tape that is holding
the rod together with the incision I had to make to get it apart.
Don't do it, this was only because I had no idea of how to get it apart!
Now lets look at it disassembled:
Lets identify the parts:
A- Is the end of the rod on which you attach the grounding wire (-) to the chassis;
it is normally located near the rearsets...the Heim joint screws into it.
B- Half of the offending part; this is the part of the rod that you actually adjust
with the adjusting collar.
C- The other end of the rod, on which another Heim joint is screwed in,
which attach to the shifter shaft bracket; note the wire coming out of it;
this is the positive lead that plugs into the Techtronics wiring.
D- The adjustment collar; you adjust the sensitivity of the rod with it.
E- The weak point of the rod; this little black anodized aluminum collar
goes on the "C" part, right on the O-ring near the + wire coming out of the rod.
F- Positive (+) lead of the rod.
Basically, this is a pressure sensitive rod, but in the mechanical sense;
The lead going into (or coming out of!) of item "C" doesn't go into a sophisticated switch;
its goes in, and it is held in there by a bundle of solder!
Now this is weird because this is exactly where rust install its ugly face...
right on the contact point inside "C".
Item "B" has an Allen head bolt in itself; notice the length of the bolt protruding out of it,
past the small white plastic collar...this is the maximum length, so its easy to see that it
wont go further into "C" and that this bolt length is equal to the distance separating
the beginning of "C" and the positive (+) lead.
You got it, the tip of the bolt coming out of "B" makes contact with the bundle of solder inside "C"!!!
Now I can imagine you asking....."how the hell can it contact it, its a dang bolt?"
Easy, the bolt, inside "B" ,before being inserted into the small brass piece you can see on "B"
has some wave washers that does the movement.
Note: You don't have to take "B" apart.
Now that we have covered the "how it works", lets get to the good part:
How to repair it.
Its simple really; with the rod in your hands, you have to figure out a way to remove "A"
without scratching too much the other rod parts.
You can use a small key to hold the end of "A", but its glued in with some black epoxy
which is fairly strong, but not elastic.
This is the secret to success; how to hold "B" while you remove "A" without scratching the lot!
For this procedure, you are on your own...use your imagination!
Note: The material used in the rod is very strong...but don't put it in a vise!
After you succeeded in removing "A" from "B", the rest is a breeze...
Now you can reach the Allen head screw (To be done in that order);
-Remove the whole "B" and "D" parts together by using and Allen key (3/16).
-Remove "D" from "B".
-Buff out the rust on the Allen bolt tip.
Now that you also have "C" in your hands, find a way to reach into the hole
and remove the rust that accumulated on the contact;
this is where the tip of the Allen bolt makes contact, doing the bridge between
the positive (+) and the negative (-) grounding sides of the rod!
Note: This can be a bit tiring, but you have to do it...be careful, you will notice
that the inner part of "C" is made of plastic!
You got to use dielectric grease (special grease for electronic components)
in order to cancel any further rust attacks.
-Remount everything and test...it should work!
Yes, rust is what makes the rod go berserk; bottom line is that the small "E" collar or ring
doesn't do its job well against the o-ring on "C"...letting water in.
Note: Don't forget to seal back the "A" and "B" junction!
In the future, to prevent anymore problems,
just cover the rod with something before washing the bike!
Feel free to e-mail me with questions if that was not clear enough.