I have a 96 warrior, i am 6'6" tall, 250 lbs. I am a rather large fellow, and my footpegs keep bending, no, not the actual peg part that you stand on, but the part that the bolts go through. Unfortunately, the shift linkage is bending right with it. What i would like to do is eliminate the linkage, and weld the old shifter to the piece that goes on the shifting shaft. If i was to make the shifter be located in the same spot that it was originally the pivoting radius of the shifter would be much smaller, and therefore would not have as much leverage. My question is- would this make it too hard to shift?? Has anyone tried this??

any info would be greatly appreciated.