If I do use the heel shifter myself it is with utmost grace, it does lack the feel of the toe end, but if one is slow and deliberate it can be used. This is a heavy bike and while it can happily surge ahead when desired, do make shifting a sedate affair.
Welcome Jeremy, from Montreal Can. Don't worry about what you read about the trans. There are thousands of riders that have not had any problems. Its just we don't hear from them. If I had made my decision on what I read, I would never had bought a R3T. Bought mine and have never looked back. 20000km & never had a problem. If you ride like a race car drive than for sure it will last you for a race. Its like a lady treat her right & and she'll take you to dream land every time. NB: I removed the heal shifter 2hrs after I started riding. Never used them and don't want to get used to them. Just my 0.02$
What no heal shifter dang and I've been shifting my rockets wrong since 2006. (using clutch) mind you the Classic heal toe shifter is one complete strong piece and will take force with no problem. I can see where the two piece touring with tbe heal can be weaker and brake in the splines it would be fine for regular use.
You do make me laugh MH.... Except for the idle recall and normal wear and tear my 2005 has been good to me. I do go the extra yard with maintenance and making sure she's on the trickle charger. Always keep her garaged and away from the elements. My heal toe shifter shifts like butter with a slight tap. Just in case you don't know what the 2005's look like...
Forum users represent a small portion of ownership, applies to all vehicles.
Forums tend to over represent problems because people go looking for information when something is wrong, not when everything is honkey dorey.
Cognitive bias will make a handful of events seem like a “wide spread” trend online, because you don’t read about properly working bikes, but instead about broken ones.