Scraping Highway Pegs

[Rysaman]

Hi everyone! I have a 2007 FJR and I’ve recently put Gerbaurd (I hope I spelled his name right, sorry if I didn’t!) Highway pegs on my bike that attach onto the engine. I
Love the pegs, so far so good but I need some feedback from people who have managed to scrape the Highway pegs while in a tight fast turn. Was it catastrophic?? In my mind I’m hesitant to take turns the same as before I had them because I dont want them to scrape and crack my engine. On my last two set of tires before I had these new pegs I’ve worn off my chicken strips, now since I installed them I have about a good 3/4 inch chicken strip on my new rear tire because I’m scared to get down there. Has anyone worn the strips off without scraping their Highway pegs. I’m taking a ride to the Windy 9 in two weeks and want to know what I could expect. I hope I’m explaining my concern clearly and I hope I get some sincere feedback. Thanks!

 

[Ignacio]

I did that with a set of lowering pegs and made them and scrape a couple of times. They'd scrape before I got to the highway pegs. I'm not a big leaner and both times scared the shit out of me, but no splat. The pegs *should* fold up if there's sufficient force.

Not much you can do, highway pegs and lowering pegs are messing up what the Yamaha engineers did a good job designing. Pick your compromise.

 

[harper]

They should fold up, although it is unnerving to have to lift your foot when you're in that tight of turn. Just go try to fold them up by hand. The MCL and the Garauld pegs I had needed to be folded down to use them. Naturally they folded up when they started to scrape. You have a long way past that before you're putting any force on the mounting plates. If you were leaning that far you would be on the rider pegs anyway.

 

[rbentnail]

I removed my highway pegs. As much as I liked them, I couldn't find a way to keep them up when not in use and still have them easy to put down when I wanted them.

 

[Whooshka]

Depending on the angle you have them mounted they may fold up a bit on their own.

But here's a better idea... How about just folding them up before you hit the twisties?

Or are you trollng to impress us what a great rider you are?

 

[escapefjrtist]

Those pegs will scrape in tight turns. Beware. I had a set, removed them after one of the PNW crew suffered a broken case from a zero speed parking lot mishap. Ruined a trip and the bike earned a UHaul ride home. Not something I want to risk many miles from home.

~G

 

[rbentnail]

Depending on the angle you have them mounted they may fold up a bit on their own.

But here's a better idea... How about just folding them up before you hit the twisties?

Or are you trollng to impress us what a great rider you are?

Funny guy, haha

My point was I couldn't get them to stay up. Same as the PO mounted on engine guard on the '13 I bought. When I finally got them to stay up I couldn't get them released with my foot to go down.

 

[garauld]

I couldn't find a way to keep them up when not in use and still have them easy to put down when I wanted them.

I have been supplying the pegs with thin washers placed on each side of the peg stub at the pivot. These should provide a more-consistent friction effect to allow a finer adjustment to keep the pegs up or down. If you want a set, just PM me with your address and I will send them to you gratis.

 

[Rysaman]

I agree with the washer providing sufficient friction. I lower and raise my legs with my feet. I have set the tension in at a point where it does it perfectly and without the need to have to stop to adjust them up or down. I was more curious about the lean angle and how far they would protrude in the up position in a tight turn. After taking some line of sight measurements yesterday though it looks like my pipes would scrape/hit way before the peg bracket would hit in the folded-up/stored position. Not only that but my ORM pegs would scrape and need to move almost an inch before that would happen and that’s plenty of warning to correct if need be. Thanks again!

 

[2GENAE]

I knocked my 2008 AE over in the garage my frame slider hit before the Hiway pegs no damage. Plus my rear R Garza bars saved my hard bags.

 

[FJReady]

My brother has Garaulds excellent hiway pegs on his 2005 FJR. He was having trouble with the pegs and peg stems being ground away from contact with the ground. So we drilled some new holes in the brackets to move the pegs up about an inch. I don't know if he's tested them yet.

 

[roger dodger]

But here's a better idea... How about just folding them up before you hit the twisties?

I have the same pegs and love them on the highway. I fold the up and put the balls of my feet on the pegs (where they belong) during tight twisties. The washer allows for some fine tuning. I check them often with my feet, because I don't like the idea of draggin stuff either.

 

[torch]

I don't like the idea of draggin stuff either.

Au contraire. If you are not replacing the curb feelers at least every valve check, you are wasting a lot of available tire...

 

[SkooterG]

Lots of variables going on here. What generation FJR do you have, and is it a stock suspension? How loaded are you? The stock FJR, and the Gen I especially and even Gen. 2 doesn't have a lot of cornering clearance. I've had all combinations. A good aftermarket suspension gives more cornering clearance. I had never had an issue with the highway pigs until recently. Sure, the peg itself might hit but it easily folds up.

But right now while in Europe and strafing the Alps while two-up and fully loaded I hit the actual mounting bracket. No serious Issues upsetting the bike, but it did startle me when I heard and felt it. I just had the shock rebuilt and something ain't right. Either that i'm just getting more comfortable and leaning the bike over more. But my gut tells me that the shock after the rebuild is still off from previously.

BTW, this is an "09 FJR with an Ohlins shock and Racetech in the forks. Both the shock spring, and the fork springs were put in one higher spring rate than recommended. I wanted it stiff. This FJR has a 145k miles on it, and if I'm just riding solo it's a bit harsh. But during track days and when 2 up, it's dialed in. I've never had this issue before.

 

[Auburn]

What Skooter says ^^^

My '06 with GP Suspension front and rear never drug highway pegs. Bike was properly suspended for 2up riding fully loaded. Now the center stand is a different story. If there was a hard bump in the middle of a turn it would hit all the time. Not upsetting the bike, just a loud bump and scrape.

 

[SkooterG]

Now the center stand is a different story. If there was a hard bump in the middle of a turn it would hit all the time. Not upsetting the bike, just a loud bump and scrape.

I'll have to check my C-stand. As seen below I also noticed the side stand got it a little bit. My assumption is that is fresh.

On my left turns I am consistently scraping the normal rider pegs without drama. There is not much of the peg feelers left. I don't remember doing it so much during previous years two-up and fully loaded in the Alps. Something is amiss....

 

[torch]

I found out long ago that dragging a motorcycle's hard bits is a good way to lever the tire(s) off the road. After careful consideration, I concluded that this qualified as a Bad Thing, and started replacing the other hard bits that were left behind.

For the most part, I have avoided repeating the experiment, although in a somewhat related incident I once demonstrated that a Virago will drag hard bits before the folding bits make contact. The test results were similar.