[jfranco0426]

Hello - I pick up my 950 tomorrow – I think I made a good choice – but the thing that has me thinking is the floorboards scraping – just how bad is it? I’ve never had floorboards and wasn’t too excited about the toe-heal shifter – but figure I can just use the toe and ignore the heal But the scraping… what is the best way to handle that –
Thanks in advance

 

[Sgt Mike]

Hello - I pick up my 950 tomorrow – I think I made a good choice – but the thing that has me thinking is the floorboards scraping – just how bad is it? I’ve never had floorboards and wasn’t too excited about the toe-heal shifter – but figure I can just use the toe and ignore the heal But the scraping… what is the best way to handle that –
Thanks in advance

I've been riding mine for 650 miles now and haven't scraped the feelers on the floorboards yet. It all depends on how aggressive you lean in the turns. But, if you scrape the feelers to much, rest at ease, they are replaceable. Remember you're riding a cruiser not a sport bike so the clearance isn't quite as high. Ride accordingly my friend.

And yes you made a great choice by choosing the 950.

 

[jfranco0426]

That’s good to hear – I’ve always been a cautious/defensive rider – I have a lot of respect for the bike and treat it so.

Semper Fi

 

[jfranco0426]

picked it up today - wow what a bike - just love it - handles great - not a problem with scraping at all - very balanced bike - the seat could be better - but that's all -

 

[04ctd]

the seat is HORRIBLE...

we peeled up the back of the wifes to stuff some hard foam in to move her forward.

the "padding" is a 1/2 sheet of foam.

if you take out rear staples, and get some good foam,
you can take out the OEM foam, and in put in some good memory foam.

and just staple it back with SHORT staples.
a paper stapler wont work (ask me how i know....)

 

[04ctd]

Edit: i scraped them on the third turn out of the dealer ship,
most of my friends scrape them on thier first ride too.

you mostly scrape on aggressive take off & turns (like from a stop light or stop sign)

ride it hard, they are great bikes!

 

[Whetstone]

Scraping footrests on a new 950 bike coming out of the dealership means you are leaning a new bike on new tires fresh from a shipping crate that still have mold release on them which means you are way to aggressive which can easily lead to a nasty dump.

At least wait until more of the tire surface has come in contact with the ground and lost the mold release compound to give you some safety margin to quickly standing it back up to get the drive wheel off the slippery mold release area.

I rarely scrape the foot boards except in turns where the road is banked or crowned opposite of the lean or on mountain roads with switchbacks; however, in those cases, 650, 950, 1100, 1300 Vstars will all scrape. For those of us with short legs, it is scrape on a Vstar or tip toe on other cruisers.

IMO: If you are constantly scraping, your riding the wrong style bike for what you want to do with it because you aren't cruisin.

 

[04ctd]

???

please think before you post...this was demo bike that had been on the floor and ridden by a few people.

if it falls over, so be it, it's a cheap bike.

FWIW, i DUG my Ultra's floorboard in yesterday, a van came over the center line in a tight turn, and i had to lean it more.
it's a fact of life, parts scrape.

you NEED to get the "ride like a pro DVD"
he clearly states "learn to scrape your pegs so you won't be scared to death when you do scrape them"

it's not that big a deal.

 

[bevo1981]

i agree with 04ctd. the floorboards on the 950 are meant to scrape, and no, you won't have to replace them any time soon because of scraping. though, if you find yourself scraping every time you turning from a traffic light, chances are you are trying to take the turn a little too fast. otherwise, just plan on scraping every once in a while and know that you've still got plenty of clearance before you're in trouble. these bikes are meant to lean.

 

[Sgt Mike]

i agree with 04ctd. the floorboards on the 950 are meant to scrape, and no, you won't have to replace them any time soon because of scraping. though, if you find yourself scraping every time you turning from a traffic light, chances are you are trying to take the turn a little too fast. otherwise, just plan on scraping every once in a while and know that you've still got plenty of clearance before you're in trouble. these bikes are meant to lean.

No Bevo, they're not meant to be scraped they're meant to hold your feet . I agree, one is bound to scrape the FBs every now and again and as 04ctd stated it's fact of life when you ride, it's gonna happen.

 

[roxtar]

As has been stated, you can't avoid scraping, so it's best to know your bike well enough that you can anticipate it happening so when it does you don't end up over-reacting. My 650 is the 1st bike I've had with forward controls, and it's never happened on my old bike (Kawi Vulcan). I can say that the very first corner I took had the boards sparking along the pavement! Scared the hell out of me! I did not feel I was being aggressive at all. But It sure made me aware! I have now ridden about 600 miles, and I don't think I've touched the boards more than 3 or 4 times.

 

[stoner]

mine srapes every time i ride it! it got to the point where the chassis started to dig in thats nasty because it lifts your rear wheel of the ground momenterally, so out came the grinder and i angled the floorboard brackets to give me lots more frame to road clearace it really shows how good the bike is to achieve this sort of lean angle without tying me or the bike in knots. i love this 950

 

[bevo1981]

mine srapes every time i ride it! it got to the point where the chassis started to dig in thats nasty because it lifts your rear wheel of the ground momenterally

holy cripes, man. it's a cruiser not a crotch rocket!

 

[Sugar Bear]

holy cripes, man. it's a cruiser not a crotch rocket!

Makes a guy wonder sometimes.