The weather is cold and I still haven't ridden my new bike yet, but I've had plenty of time to look at the things that are going to scare me to death. The one I keep going back to is the floorboard and the brake. Originally, I wanted a bike with foot pegs thinking it'd be easier to ride compared to the floorboards. The owner of the shop swayed me to get this bike (which, I'm glad he did, it's gorgeous and way more power than I need) and said the floorboards wouldn't be a huge adjustment. The problem is though, is every time I sit on this thing and try the brake lever I have to damn near lift my entire foot of the platform to hit the brake and it's just down right awkward and uncomfortable. I've been researching switching all the linkage to a peg setup and running pegs. I can't find a kit to do that and would prefer to buy rather than swap, in case I change my mind. Is there a way to adjust the brake or floorboard height to adjust for this?
Thanks all! I searched the forum and it seems like people always start to go towards the switch and people sway them back. This bike is not a long distance rider, it's a commuter back and forth to work which is maybe a fifteen minute drive if traffic is bad, so I'm not worried about the added comfort of the floorboards.
Mike you say you haven't rode the bike yet. I would wait until I do and see how I feel WRT the brake / floor board worry. You'll quickly realize that it's a no issue. When you apply the rear brakes on a bike equiped with pegs, you pivot the foot from the center to the brake pedal. With floor boards the pivot point shifts rearward to the heel of the foot; not that big of a difference at all. I think you'll be fine and thismissue will disappear.
+1 Corsair's post. This bike was the first time I had ridden with floorboards and it took about 3 rides to get used to it. Now you couldn't make me buy a bike with pegs (unless Ducati comes out with a lowering kit that actually makes the bike low enough for me!! )
I'm not sure how the 950 is laid out, but I hated the brake pedal on my 1300. It seemed like it was in the middle of the floor board in an unsafe position. I had to really lift my foot to hit the pedal. I don't have pictures, but I cut the brake pedal arm and welded an extension piece in place, thus moving the pedal forward to the front of the board and slightly to the left. The extension piece runs level with the floor board so it is hardly noticeable. Now I simply move my foot to the left a little without raising my whole foot. I painted the bracket John Deere Blitz Black and it matches the bike great. I can post pictures later if any body wants to see it.
I also cut the heel part of my shifter off and straightened the arm in a vise, and it gives me more room on the floor board.
there are forward extension kits you can buy that will move everything forward a couple inches or so. if you start riding and still don't like the action of moving your feet, it could be improved by just having your feet farther forward.
I have 4" extensions and it didn't help any. The problem is the pedals and boards are moved forward together so the position of the pedal in relation to the board stays same. It also seems the taller a person is, the worse it will be.
I guess it's just the idea of while riding having to pick my entire foot up in order to press the brake pedal down. The difference between getting to pivot your foot and having to raise up on your heel wearing motorcycle boots that cover your ankle seems really different. I'll give it a try, it's probably just that with all the time sitting and looking at the thing I'm freaking myself out. I'm just worried about covering the brake.
If someone did want to switch over.... Do they have a kit to do it, or do I have to piece stuff together? I would assume that the foot peg assembly, brake, and shifter levers would bolt over with different linkage. I wouldn't think that Yamaha was doing different frames for the two setups or different thread pitches. Would all different "metric" bike components swap over or would it be a matter of finding a yamaha only component.
Mccutchan, I'd be real interested in seeing the photos of that brake lever when you get a chance. I can imagine what you did, but would love to see it. I have the ability to do it, if I don't get accustomed to this setup.
Remember... on a motorcycle most of the braking power comes from the front brake and you should have that covered with a couple of fingers at all times...
Mike
I wouldn't look at making any major changes to the bike until you have had a chance to ride ot a bit. When I first get my 1100 the brake pedal was a little high. I was able to adjust the linkage and bring to down a bit. Like others have said you will quickly get used to pivotting off of your heal. If you think about it you already do this everyday in your car. I bet you don't even notice that anymore. ;-)
Good point. I went down in the garage and fired it up. I rocked it in first and tried really applying the brake. It may not be as bad as I thought, even with the motorcycle boots on. I was hoping for a bit more natural movement, but you're right, it isn't a lot different then hitting the brake pedal on the car. It is in the center of the floor board a little more than I'd like, but I can still leave my toe on the side of the floor board and just pickup the toe and slide my foot over. The shifter floor board is a little odd, especially with trying to find neutral, but I'm sure that will come. I think both sides will improve as the boots break in.
I still don't know if I'm totally sold on the floorboards yet, style-wise, but it is what it is.
In an emergency situation most of your braking should be done with your hand (front brakes). Your rear brake is secondary. Try not to over think things and just enjoy the ride!
OK, finally got around to getting a couple of pictures of the brake pedal arm and the shifter. These mods really give me a LOT more room on the floorboards, and is a lot more comfortable on longer trips. I really need to clean up my welds and shape it better, but I wanted to make sure I liked it before I put more work into it. The one thing I did notice, it takes less brake pressure to get the same results due to the longer arm, but it was easy to quickly learn.
You can see from the picutres where the pedal used to be (about where my shoe laces are). It never made sense to my why we can't utilize the entire floor board, and I didn't like having to lift my leg up to hit the brake pedal. Now I just lift my toes and pivot my foot over and can easily reach it, especially in an emergency. I'm over 6' tall with size 11.5 shoe, so it may not be an issue if a person is shorter, but it really was awkward for me.
I realize this was a few years ago but if you're still around I'd like to say thanks. I have the same issues at 6'2" the brake where it is, is almost unusable. I think I'm going to have a friend fab this for me. I'd do it myself but like I always said when we were building our race cars, I don't trust my life on my own welds. Lol
So, I did it! My first motorcycle ride since high school today! Nothing exciting, a mile to the store and back. It was ugly, I'm not going to lie. In the wrong gear too much, stalled out a few times (mostly because I was trying to get around my truck, on a hill, and was in a mud patch trying not to roll backwards), lost where I was on the shift pattern, etc. It's hard to judge when to downshift on this thing because it never sounds like it's revving high, it just kind of starts popping and kind of jerking back and forth a little. I know, KNOW, I was riding the clutch way too much.
But, onto the point. The brake pedal wasn't in a bad spot, and the shifter wasn't either (I only wear size tens). Most of my problems came from nerves.
Congrats mike. The nerve thing happens to all of us once you start riding again. I was nervous after I began riding after a few years off that I almost ran off the road when a car passed me! You'll be fine
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