1100 gear lever and brake pedal issue

[Uncle-Fester]

The issues I'm having is that they are both too low, the gear lever has an adjusting rod which I have made as short as possible to lift the lever, but the lever is still a little low for my comfort, and the rear brake pedal is all but useless as it's so low my foot won't bend down far enough , so I have to use the heel of my boot to operate the rear brake with any effectiveness, any ideas how I can improve this situation?

(Not had this issue with any other bike before)

 

[snelly]

How close are your ankles to your arse.

 

[Uncle-Fester]

Not sure I understand the question, but,not as close as they are when I ride my VFR

 

[snelly]

Not sure I understand the question, but,not as close as they are when I ride my VFR

It,s just me fuckin about fester. I also have an 1100, and at 5'9 I have no trouble reaching the leavers. You don,t say anything about any movement problems with your ankles.

 

[Uncle-Fester]

I'm 5'11" so reach isn't a problem, just that with the gear lever I find I difficult to get under it to change up unless wearing sport bike boots or trainers, and the brake pedal is just silly, ankle movement is no problem, maybe it's just the boots??
But surely the GS should be designed to be ridden in proper boots?

 

[Uncle-Fester]

Recently I have purchased a pair of fox m/c boots, and these give the worst problem, as they are quiet bulky with a deep profile, but obviously designed to work with motocross bikes?

 

[Littledumptruck]

Have you tried or compared to another one? Has yours been messed with? Maybe a previous owner had lower pegs, but refitted std ones to sell, but didn't reset the levers.

 

[Uncle-Fester]

Have you tried or compared to another one? Has yours been messed with? Maybe a previous owner had lower pegs, but refitted std ones to sell, but didn't reset the levers.

I did wonder about that as the pegs seem quite high in relation to the levers, I have adjusted the gear lever as high as it will go, but could still do with lower pegs

 

[ChrisH Kerry]

Photos might quickly tell whether the problem lies with the bike or your feet!

 

[Uncle-Fester]

Photos might quickly tell whether the problem lies with the bike or your feet!

[

Ok pictures attached.

The gear lever is as high as it will go, the brake pedal when depressed will drop down another 3-400 (1.5 in)

 

[Uncle-Fester]

Just been round the block with trainers on, and the gear lever is fine (a tad high but I never normally wear trainers) but the brake pedal requires a lot of movement to apply the brake.
Could it be in need of new disc and pads?

 

[snelly]

Measure your disc thickness ; and your pad thickness,and bleed the rear caliper,it sounds like it,s too spongy.

 

[freeloader]

If you're wearing thick boots, you could remove the pedal rubbers. You wouldn't get much more room, but it might help.

 

[Padowan]

If you need to raise the gear lever further than the adjustment allows, then you want to get a short piece of stud (or cut the head off a suitable bolt) the same thread as the adjuster, but shorter than the original piece, you can then use this instead.

Looking at your brake lever, you've got the stop as low as it goes so you're not going to adjust it any higher without either removing the stop screw or bending the lever - you could look at seeing if you can make a plate to increase the height of the end of the pedal, a bit like the 12GSA has to switch from "offroad to road". Removing the rubbers will also make is closer and make sure the brake circuit is bled so there's no slack there. Could also replace rear brake hose with a braided steel one to further remove sponginess.

 

[Uncle-Fester]

Yes, looking at the pictures I thought of fitting a rubber on the brake pedal to raise the height, that may well work, and I'll look into the disc and pads situation too it may all be down to wear and tear and some new brake parts and fluid change may help

 

[GARAGE HERMIT X2]

cut the g/linkage rod down a bit and re-thread the end to suit, weld a "U" shaped bit of steel onto the brake toe piece to suit, the "U" would be upside down, ofcourse,

 

[Uncle-Fester]

I have a feeling that the foot pegs are higher than standard, perhaps a previous owner changed them due to having short legs?
Can anyone with an 1100 with standard footpegs have a look and maybe post some pics?

 

[Nick591]

Uncle F you'll find if you remove brake pedal there is also a threaded adjuster linking the end of the lever to the master cylinder. Remove the rubber boot. You may find it needs to be unscrewed so as to actuate the rear brake earlier in the pedal travel. That's what I had to do to mine anyway, as well as put the pedal stop to its smallest length.