Homeade Shifter Assemblies

[unbusted67]

Has anyone experimented with making your own shifter assemblies for outboards? I currently have a Yamaha F9.9. I really think the remote control shifters for those things are about as ugly as they get and I don't relish cutting holes in my cockpit. Here is my idea. Get a couple of small lawn mower shifter assemblies and run the cable up the bottom of the tiller, and mount the throttle and shifter on the end of the tiller in a neat unobtrusive way. Has anyone experimented with this at all? I would love to see some photos of people's ideas etc.

Also does anyone know if Yamaha makes an optional high output alternator for their smaller outboards? I would love something higher than 6amps . Maybe I will get a Yanmar