View Photos PATRICK M. HOEY, JEFFREY DWORIN, THE MANUFACTURER

PATRICK M. HOEY, JEFFREY DWORIN, THE MANUFACTURER

International recently loaned us its biggest, chromiest new truck, the LoneStar Harley-Davidson Special Edition. With commercial driver’s license in hand, we set out to shift through all 18 of its complicated forward speeds.

View Photos PATRICK M. HOEY, JEFFREY DWORIN, THE MANUFACTURER

STEP 1: The shift knob has two switches that control additional, air-actuated gearing, which magically allows the five forward ratios to become 18 different speeds. One is the range switch [A]; the other is the “hi/lo” splitter [B]. With your index finger on the range switch, select “lo through 4.” Then, with your thumb, set the splitter switch to “lo.”

View Photos PATRICK M. HOEY, JEFFREY DWORIN, THE MANUFACTURER

STEP 2: Hold the clutch pedal to the floor to engage the clutch brake, which stops the transmission gears from turning, a necessary feature that allows the shifter to go into gear without grinding in this synchro-less transmission. Select “lo” by moving the shifter left and back.

STEP 3: Let out the clutch, and the 11-ton truck shudders to a blistering speed of maybe one mile per hour.

STEP 4: Flip the splitter to “hi,” depress the clutch slightly (making sure not to activate the clutch brake), let it out, and you’re in “lo hi.” (Doesn’t make any sense to us, either.)

STEP 5: Switch the splitter back to “lo,” depress the clutch slightly, shift to neutral and let it out, push it back in and move the lever up and right to 1—you’ve just double-clutched. Let the clutch out. Welcome to 1 lo.

STEP 6: Repeat the switch-flicking/shifting/clutching process of steps four and five to go through the pattern to 1 hi, 2 lo, 2 hi, 3 lo, 3 hi, 4 lo, and 4 hi.

PATRICK M. HOEY, JEFFREY DWORIN, THE MANUFACTURER

STEP 7: With the splitter switch in “lo,” flip up the range selector. Double-clutch-shift back to where 1 was before. As a result of flipping the range switch, that’s now 5 (5 lo, to be precise).

STEP 8: Continue the flick-and-shift procedures to move through 5 hi, 6 lo, 6 hi, 7 lo, 7 hi, 8 lo, and, finally, 8 hi. Congratulate yourself for sticking with the program, and don’t forget to double-clutch on the way back down, too.

P.S. Something to look forward to: There are also four reverse speeds.

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