Scraping pegs

[Strawboss]

I have my brothers 1980 BMW, when he got it, I noticed the foot pegs weren't hinged, and I thought it odd at that time as my KZ550A had them. When I get down south as I did this past weekend, I regularly scrape my pegs on the C-10. Surprising at first but welcome after. I think BMW thought that their bikes were not made to be ridden like that, I think they were correct as I can't imagine scraping pegs on that thing, although they won the first superbike races, WAY different bikes though. But, I keep having to remember to put my toes on the pegs as when I corner, the road sometimes scrapes the sole off the boots.  Anybody else scrape C-10 pegs?

[Boomer]

Scraping C10 pegs is easy if you have tyres that grip well.
I often scrape my toes but I do have size 16 feet. 

By the time the 1980 BMW pegs touch down you are already off the side of the crossply tyre and have actually crashed. 
On the older boxer BMWs (before 1993), the cylinders would touch down before the pegs.
They still corner pretty quick though.

[Strawboss]

Yikes, so the cylinder scrape pads are for cornering or for tip over protection? I use my toes as a guide when leaning, toes, then pegs, my boots always are worn down at the toes.

[greenie]

I like a margin of safety -  there are  too many unknowns when cornering. If I know the road well I come very close.
I had ridden motorcycles about 10 years before joining COG. I joined and the wife and I rode out to Banff for a COG rally in 1991. Riding with the group I witnessed some amazing skills - Ron Ramlow, Earl Simpson, Deb Rowe (to name just a few) ... Riding very fast on very wet roads in the Canadian Rockies. I improved my skills a lot on that rally but I'll never ride as good as those folks. I remained behind, not spoiling their ride but watching what a rider with superior skills could do on the same bike I was riding,
When I came back home friends I used to ride with seemed very slow.
Not to make excuses but we have five months of comfortable  riding every year. The other 7 months a rider (at least me) can lose a lot of skills and confidence that I need to have in order to take turns faster.

[Strawboss]

Ride your ride is what I say and nobody will fault you or say anything to you as long as I'm nearby. There are many that are much better than I, I'm slow but on tight mountain roads it's just so easy to scrape them, you aren't going that fast, smooth is fast. Then, I come back to Cleveland and it's back to flat land and reality.

[Rick Hall]

All the time. Those round nubbins on the lower edge of my pegs are non existent.

Guy at the Blackhawk Farms Race day event at ?? National, arrived with mostly new pegs on his 1988 (red), he wore 1/2 of the pegs away by the time we left. Wish I'd taken pix.

Lastly if a driver of an early model GSXR says they've ground their pegs, in actuality they've low sided and just haven't realized it.

Rick

[Boomer]

I remember those pics of his footpegs Rick. 
The heroblob was completely gone along with the whole outer edge of the footpeg.
He had even ground away half of the head of the outer bolt and was starting to wear away the rubber too.

[Strawboss]

Wow, that's some impressive riding! I'll never be that good.

[connie_rider]

I'm gonna throw this out as a thought. (For discussion)
ie; {"Think about what I'm saying before ya flame me"}

We all think of scraping pegs as a sign of "fast".
But; "Scraping pegs is not necessarily a good thing".     

1) If your scraping pegs; you may have exceeded the chicken stripe on the edge of your tire.
,,,,,,If you've done that, you have less and less rubber in contact with the ground.
By using more weight transfer, you'll lean the bike "less" and have more rubber in contact with the ground.

2) If your scraping pegs; you may have your suspension set too soft.
,,,,,,If so, the G force of the turn compresses the suspension and the peg is closer to the ground.
Setting your sag correctly, and/or stiffening the suspension will allow less compression and the pegs won't drag.

3) If your scraping pegs; You may be close to a crash, and it's gonna hurt!
,,,,,,The road isn't a race track. There could be debris/vehicles/etc on the road.
Using the idea's above, or "slowing a bit" might prevent a crash.

Ride safe, Ted

LET THE FLAMES BEGIN.. 

[VirginiaJim]

Agree to all!

[greenie]

"Scraping pegs is not necessarily a good thing"  Thank-you. I still enjoy the ride and the sensations of force without scraping foot pegs. The few times there have been roadside witnesses at a corner they appeared to be impressed... not that I was trying to impress anyone. Just a simple throttle change can make the pegs drag or clear.

[Strawboss]

No flames from me Ted, my suspension probably is a bit soft, and, I was not going all that fast also sometimes, and, it doesn't happen a lot to me anyhow.

[gPink]

I'm gonna throw this out as a thought. (For discussion)
ie; {"Think about what I'm saying before ya flame me"}

We all think of scraping pegs as a sign of "fast".
But; "Scraping pegs is not necessarily a good thing".     

1) If your scraping pegs; you may have exceeded the chicken stripe on the edge of your tire.
,,,,,,If you've done that, you have less and less rubber in contact with the ground.
By using more weight transfer, you'll lean the bike "less" and have more rubber in contact with the ground.

2) If your scraping pegs; you may have your suspension set too soft.
,,,,,,If so, the G force of the turn compresses the suspension and the peg is closer to the ground.
Setting your sag correctly, and/or stiffening the suspension will allow less compression and the pegs won't drag.

3) If your scraping pegs; You may be close to a crash, and it's gonna hurt!
,,,,,,The road isn't a race track. There could be debris/vehicles/etc on the road.
Using the idea's above, or "slowing a bit" might prevent a crash.

Ride safe, Ted

LET THE FLAMES BEGIN.. 

In other words... Get your ass of the seat.

[VirginiaJim]

Or know the limitations of the bike and tires..

[Nosmo]

I seldom  ground a peg but I did once ground-out the foot-pedal part of the center stand making a hard fast left turn across a highly cambered cross-road with a hump in the middle.  The rear wheel came off the ground, and she hopped sideways a little.  Scared me half to death.

[Boomer]

I had a friend who had a 1000cc sportsbike who was so obsessed with "getting his knee down" that his riding got slower. Eventually I started crying off if he was going to be on a group ride because he was dangerous to be around. I feel the same with people who obsess over pegs down and chicken strips.
However, if you are on a track day, then fill your boots. I've done a few and on good tarmac on a warm day I have gotten my knee down on my C10, I can get very close to the edge of the tyre, and have touched the pegs down on both my C10 and C14. Track days are fun and you learn a lot about how to handle the bike, but track behaviour stays on the track.
I have touched the pegs on the road once or twice, but never deliberately as I see them as indicators of "the limit" so when it happens, I back off.
On the road such behaviour is dangerous due to the unpredictable surface, unpredictable environment, and other road users being extremely unpredictable.

[VirginiaJim]

 

[greenie]

"I have touched the pegs on the road once or twice, but never deliberately as I see them as indicators of "the limit" so when it happens, I back off.
On the road such behaviour is dangerous due to the unpredictable surface, unpredictable environment, and other road users being extremely unpredictable."

Very true.

[connie_rider]

I don't want ya'll to think me a liar. I admit that I often ride too fast on the street. I just don't use it for a Race Track.

My point was; I've worked to prevent dragging pegs.
ie; Stiffened the suspension and added better damping control, set sag, weight transfer {Mostly upper body/no knee draggin'} shortened the pegs, etc...

NOTE: When we ride, we do our version of the Pace.
It's not for everyone, but works for us.
https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/pace/

Ride safe, Ted