Can I have my cake and eat it please?

I have just fitted a foot peg lowering kit from Motorworks. It's excellent, and to be honest, I don't think I could have done the 604 mile journey I did yesterday without them. Biggest area of discomfort was still my knees.

Anyway...I love them. Slight problem though....I knew they would reduce the lean angle of the bike somewhat....but they reduce it too much for my liking. The issue is that once you scrape the pegs, there's almost nothing left at all before you hit the actual bracket. I clonked them badly quite a few times on several bends and it's just a matter of months (if that) before I wear them down to the pins holding the pegs and have to replace the whole footlowering kit. Not an option at over £100 a set! It's also not a pleasant feeling the hit the brackets......they don't give like the footpegs!

Steve Currell said somewhere that Ohlins raise the bike. I reckon if I could raise it by an inch I would have legroom and enough clearance to make it perfect. What do you think? Is there any way I can raise the bike by an inch without it costing me an arm and a leg? I thought about only fitting the footlowering kit for long journeys, but it's a pfaff as you have to fit adjustments to gear and brake levers as well. Know I am not sure what to do.

Incidentally, I weigh just 11 stone, so there's not much compression on the rear shock from the rider.

Regs,

Richard

Rich:
I've now got Verholen footlowers fitted to my bike and I haven't yet ground the brackets (just the pegs) - you tiger! But, I have found myself more anxious about the Verholens "digging in" because of the feel of them being further out and back than the standard pegs. In fact, I'm undecided whether or not to keep them on.
I'm going the expensive route of Ohlins or WP shocks in the next couple of weeks which doesn't actually raise the height of the bike but reduces sag when you sit on it. Despite what Steve says, either way it won't or shouldn't affect the height of the pegs more than a few millimetres (only the saddle and thus seat-to-peg distance). What it will do is stop the bike grounding out so much over bumps and under hard riding (especially for big and heavy buggers like Steve and I, which you are not).
This is an expensive option, especially if it doesn't give the ground clearance you're looking for. Likewise, any mod that looks to increase spring travel or raise the mounting (e.g., fitting shims) will raise the bike/seat height, possibly speed up steering, but will make a proportionately smaller difference to peg height/clearance.
Sounds negative but I don't think you're going to find a solution very easily without considering a different rear shock. How many miles on your bike now? All those bumpy Peak District roads, maybe your shock is just shagged. I reckon they're good-for-nothing after about 11,000-12,000 miles. Every specialist I've spoken to for advice about choosing Ohlins or WP has said the same, the BMW OE rear shock is (literally) shocking. There could be cheaper alternatives just for the rear than going the whole hog.
Simon E.

Simon,
I'm probably being exceptionally dim here but....

The problem Richwi has is that, having solved the seat to peg problem by lowering them, his ground clearance is now insufficient for his needs. Your solution, fitting a new shock, would obviously help the ground clearance as it would, effectively, increase the seat ride height by reducing sag. Since both the pegs and the seat are rigidly attached to the same stressed member/subframe, surely, if it affects the height of the seat, it must also affect the height of the pegs. The seat/peg distance must remain constant, variable only by raising/lowering the pegs or seat.


I'm going now, before I confuse myself further...

MikeO:cockeye

Mike:
I've re-read my post and realise that I've said something completely stupid and you're absolutely right. The seat to peg distance is constant. Hopefully the gist of my post came across.
My main point (clumsily made) is that EVEN fitting a new shock won't make that much difference (in theory) to the height of the pegs per se. I was trying to explain that a new shock won't raise the bike appreciably (static sag should still be set about the same at 15mm) but will give a net gain because sag under load is reduced and the spring rides stiffer so there will be an effective peg height gain under heavy/bumpy riding. It helps lardy riders like me but might not make as much difference to a lighter rider without making the rear too hard.
I make it clear (hopefully) that fitting an Ohlins will help (and that's one reason why I'm doing it) but it's an expensive solution.
Fitting some sort of shim or bracket to alter the height of the bike will also raise the pegs, but once you've adjusted pre-load etc to compensate for the handling changes, the net gain at the pegs won't be as much (because of increased sag). You could, of course, take the spring out and replace with a steel rod (no sag and nice high pegs) but the handling would be interesting. That was the point I was trying to make really - the only help that will work under load whilst riding is a better spring with good compression and rebound qualities but stiffer. The standard spring can be wound up for pre-load but not without affecting the handling badly. Hopefully the main gist of my post is there when you remove the complete ******** bits in parenthesis.
Oops.
Thnaks Mike. Sorry Rich.
Simon E.

Simon...why's a big lad like you having trouble getting his lowered pegs down. You could try a bend or once again ask Lisa to go out and give your bike some Sarrat cred!

Re-leg to peg distance: How about sitting on an old telephone directory.

Today I'm mister helpful....

Footpegs, lowering kits etc (was "Can I have my cake and eat it?")

For anyone who's considering the Verholen footpeg lowering kit (which is excellent), this is worth bearing in mind. I have to confess I like banking over, but there's not enough clearance for me.

This picture shows just 10 days use. Notice the pin is already scuffed. Unless I change my riding style, they won't last a month! Given your posts guys....not at all sure what to do now. There's very little warning between scraping the pegs and hitting the bracket...the angle is almost the same.

Have this dreadful feeling I'll go back to standard pegs.

Has anyone tried fitting rear pegs to the front? They are a different shape and will be about an inch lower than standard I reckon. Do they fit?

Regs,

Richard

Oops! Picture this time?

I have heard (I think) of the rears being fitted to the front . . .

Impressive picture Rich. I've scraped both pegs but not scraped the brackets. Before going any further, let me know the following:

(a) height from ground to level with top of footpeg rubber with you sitting on the bike (Caroline will need to measure for you)

(b) same as above but without you on the bike, but with the bike level on its tyres and not on the centre stand;

(c) the static sag for your rear shock - measure from a fixed point on the cardan to a fixed point vertically above it on the rear subframe (e.g. the top of a pannier rail); do this with the bike level but not on the centre stand. Ask Caroline to measure the distance between the same two points with you (and possibility a mate) lifting the back until the rear wheel is just about to leave the ground (i.e., with the rear shock fuly extended).

We'll compare these measurements to mine and see whether or not your rear shock is shagged or incorrectly set up.

Wreford Miles said:

Re-leg to peg distance: How about sitting on an old telephone directory.

Click to expand...

It's not a bad suggestion! Rich: if you end up putting your pegs back to the original height, then rainsing the seat height will give you more leg room (although you might not be able to touch the floor!).

You didn't get chance to ride mine when we called in but you would have noticed that I've had the seat effectively raised between 1inch and 1.5inches with the extra padding and gel. I rode about 200 miles yesterday with Verholens and raised seat and hoped off the bike afterwards with absolutely no knee stiffness at all (a first). I'm fitting 35mm bar risers on Wednesday so I'll be standing up soon with no backache either.

Simon E.

Re: Footpegs, lowering kits etc (was "Can I have my cake and eat it?")

richwi said:

Notice the pin is already scuffed. Unless I change my riding style, they won't last a month!

Click to expand...

Looking more closely at the picture (note that your safety circlip has gone AWOL) I don't think there's much danger of wearing down the brackets so much that the peg falls off. It also looks to me IMHO that the damage to the bracket is being achieved by a combination of lean and compressed shock - see my previous posts, you might just have a knackered shock.

To protect the pin you could consider countersinking a larger hole into the bracket where the pin comes out; shortening the pin and drilling it so that it will take a split pin. The end of the pin will then be hidden/protected by the bracket. You'll have chamfered brackets but once worn down they should ride free and not be dangerous.

You could try finding a 2nd hand replacement for the naff Showa rear shock with the same attachments but slightly longer (i.e., off a different bike).

Simon E.

Both the meaurement and the idea about a different pin/location sound good Simon. I'll have Carolyn measure up tonight re the shock.

I had noticed the Circlip had come off! Fortunately have a spare, as they seemed to put a third in the packet by mistake - I noticed that when I fitted it 10 days ago.

The bike's now done 13,600 by the way. The first 7,600 were ridden by the original owner - a rather big chap (apologies Adam if you are reading this!), rather than a stick man like myself. The poor thing is only 11 months old!

Measurements later.....and I'll go and ponder that pin re-positioning idea. Chances are I'll only wear them so far down before they find their final wear point....

Regs,

Richard

BTW, I fitted mine with the pins the other way round (i.e., the new pin holding the new bracket in place, the old pin fitting the footrest to the bracket - partly because the old pin was drilled for a split pin and I felt this was safer should there be a lot of movement in the pegs).

Given the mileage, I'm guessing your rear shock's had it. The measurements might reveal more.

Simon

Rich,

You can almost hear the BMW designers/engineers exchanging money after bets made a couple of years ago.

Engineer1: I bet they'll all be wanting to fit lower pegs but find they can't corner without digging a trench at the same time.

Engineer2: Nah, don't worry, the peg position is absolutely perfect.



Russ

How much are these lowering kits and where from?

If the bikes done under 12,000 miles and is under a year old then why the hell are BMW not replacing the shock under warranty. I would be round the dealer screaming blue murder if a shock had gone off inside the waranty period. MIne has done 7000 in 5 months and it will certainly be dragged back to BVM if the shock goes before the 2 year warranty is up.

Any news?

What did you decide in the end, Rich?
Did you keep them or ditch them?

I'm thinking about the lowering kit for myself.

Russ