Recently I tried changing the position of my shifter on the spline.  I rotated it one position down, so that I didn't have to reach as high to downshift.  I didn't like it with my stock footpegs.  Also, when I tried to go down into first gear I got a grinding noise and it refused to go into gear.  This happened twice, and then it was back to normal. 

Now I have new footpegs that are lower, so I would like to try to move the shifter down again.  Has anyone else experienced issues with shifting when rotating the shift lever to a lower position, or was it just a fluke that happened when I moved it before?

One notch down is a problem and two down would be much worse I think having just delt with a similar problem.  My problem is old age related, that can't be yours.   

I've worn high slip on boots for almost all of my 400k miles and was shifting flawlessly rarely ever missing a shift but lately my foot would get hung up trying to get back up over the shifter quickly.  A new pair of boots of a different type with slightly heavier and a bit wider soles made shifting almost impossible for a while.  I started out clashing every downshift and ended up in neutral not reaching 1st when stopping.  Rotating the shifter down one notch quickly made the downshifting manageable except shifting into 1st was still missed too often.

Had a similiar brake problem last year when my rear brake seemed to be getting very weak and I thought something was wrong with it.  Found out if I lifted my heel a bit as I applied the rear brake when needing some real braking force it all worked as good as ever, it's since become automatic.  Same thing seems to be working out with the shifter, if I remember to lift the heel just a wee bit going into 1st it works good and missed shifts into 1st are dissappering now.  Think it will all work out shortly, only been at it for a week of limited riding as this extremely hot weather has limited me to a bit of morning riding only for now.

That shift lever rotatated down one notch has a rather bad angle and looses some torque advantage in shifting and rotating it even further would be worse I think.  I've given some thought to getting a shifter lever made a bit longer to restore the original leverage advantage to shifting but I think I'll be good to go as is for a couple more years now as soon I get some more miles in.

I can turn my head only about half as far as I use to but am lucky to have excellent periferral vision or I'd probably have to quit and my other joints are getting similiarly limited including the ankles causing the above foot action problems. 

I have gotten a grinding noise a couple times as well, and it didn't happen before I moved my shifter, too.
As gsJack says, its probably related to the angle, and having enough torque to get it into gear.
I will probably move mine back, since its probably something I should have just gotten used to in the first place - I mean, it wasn't that uncomfortable for me - just a convenience thing.

- Bboy

My issue is not age related, but anatomy related.  I am fairly tall (6'1"), and I have long legs.  My legs are bent at the knees quite a bit when I ride.  That puts my foot angle down more, and makes it harder to reach up and downshift. 

Thanks Bboy for pointing out that you had the same grinding issue.  I wasn't too worried about it because I did a search after it happened and found that several others had it before.  I just didn't know how it could be caused by rotating the shift lever position, but it seems to make sense that it's a torque issue.  Maybe with the lower pegs the rotated down position will work better, but then again it did feel pretty awkward and much less comfortable than the normal position with the stock pegs.  I'll just try the way it is with the new pegs and see what happens.  I might have to sit further back to relieve some of the bend in my knees, but that will cause me to have to lean further forward to reach the handlebars. Anything else I can do short of getting new rear sets?