Looks like Schnitz is pushing a Robinson Brand heavy duty detent spring with the appeal of "Tired of missed shifts or that vague gear feel? This heavy-duty detent spring from Robinson Industries is built to keep your ZX-14's transmission locked in and shifting clean."

Anyone have one of these and like it? I heard the shift star doesn't do anything for you on these bikes. Not sure if this is snake oil or something the platform is really lacking.

The shift star has rounder lobes that seem like they should make shifts smoother. It's real hazy Dan, but I seem to recall thinking shorter lobes would make for more definite shifts and also reduce weight. The Robinson hayabusa shift star looked like it would improve shifting. The ZX-14 star from Robinson is heavier than stock and as far as I can tell is more likely to permit a backshift. The OEM lobes are sharp and once the shift is over the lobe, it's not going back. I have a brand new bike and it shifts better than my old Gen2 did with the Robinson detent arm, star and spring. I did have a few shifts into Neutral from first to second the last time I rode. It was very hot weather, oil has 500 miles on it so I'd expect oil to not be a factor but oil is usually what causes missed shifts. Old transmission on my Gen1, have to say i noticed no difference with the Robinson star, detent arm and spring. ...so I'm kinda leaning toward snake oil on this one. It won't hurt though so go ahead and try it if you want but I don't think it made a difference on my Gen1 that had a bit of wear on the shifting mechanism.

If the shift star was no noticeable improvement, the spring was virtually unnecessary. No difference in feel, no change in shift quality with the whole shebang. If yours is worn out and the Evo is cheaper than OEM, it works the same. Otherwise, I'd just go with new OEM parts on this.

The ceramic bearings in the detent arm don't make a difference either...at least not for the short time I used it. They supposedly need some time to wear in.

I'm the guy that frowns on many popular mods. I think I'm objective and I tell the truth. AFR tuning doesn't make your bike all new and different. Flies out on a Gen2 makes no real difference. For the most part, weightloss makes no real difference at speed.

Here's what works: +4 sprocket on the rear, full race exhaust for weight loss at very low speed but there's no making amends for the fact it's a big ol fat bike at higher speed. Loved the feel of my Gen1 as i lifted it off the side stand at -80 lbs but the completely stock Gen2 handles just about as well. Forged aluminum rims do produce a noticeable increase in acceleration but the bike feels less stable in corners until you get used to it. Took me two years and at that point, it was pretty hard to compare. I'll give the thumbs up on aftermarket wheels though. Ohlins suspension front and rear, more stable than stock on the Gen1 but not nearly good enough to make me any faster.

This modding thing is fun but I have a feeling you need to go extremes to experience a real game changer. Turbo is one I expect to be a game changer. Do what you need to support the turbo. The rest is kind of if you want to or if you think it's cool enough to spend the money because it's not going to make that bike faster than the turbo. Straighline speed is what this bike was made for so if you want to improve, improve on that. That's my philosophy anyway.

...however, I just love to mod and I'll do it all over again. I won't use the Evo shift star, detent arm or spring again. just no real reason to do it. The OEM parts were fine at 50k miles. The shift star had minor wear that had no impact on performance. Good for another fifty, I'm sure. The OEM detent arm was just about like new and as far as I could tell, the spring was also.

...so I'm calling snake oil. It's cool though. Fun project. Not worse than OEM so you can feel safe in trying it. My feeling is you add ane ounce of weight for no reason. I wouldn't bother about the weight of the spring alone, the star is where the weight increase comes from. Have pics if you would like to see them. Only difference I can tell in the spring is the OEM has has pink paint on it.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/4/2025 @ 5:13 AM *

I had someone say it made a big difference but they went from a Gen 1 to Gen 2 (gen 2 was bought with it installed) and said it was night and day. But that might be him noticing the difference between a high mile gen 1 and a low mile Gen 2.

Who knows. I didn't plan on pulling my clutch basket, hub, lockup, and all that crap again just for a little spring. I might've bought it and let it sit on a shelf in case I took it all apart again, but only if someone here could really sell me on it.

Wait until you need to change change clutch plates if you're going to try it. Na, I wouldn't remove the clutch basket and all just to replace the OEM shiftng mechanism as long as it's working fine. Actually, if you're just replacing the spring, I think you can do that with no more the removing the clutch cover and the shift shaft. You could give it a try but I don't think it works any better than OEM. Personally, I'd change the seal on the shift shaft and let that be the reason for going in there. You can change the spring just to salisfy your curiosity. I just remember riding the bike and hoping for something different but there really wasn't IMO.