Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: Bugnut on February 26, 2012, 03:57:53 PM
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Wordless wonder...
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/bugnut_bucket/Kawabunga/botzdot.jpg)
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/bugnut_bucket/Kawabunga/36c1dc10.jpg)
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/bugnut_bucket/Kawabunga/6567b7a7.jpg)
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee259/bugnut_bucket/Kawabunga/ba39e3d9.jpg)
Lesson learned... watch out for those stupid dotz! :-[
Mike
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I don't understand. Did you hit it? Did you fall? What da he'll happened?
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Though not a variable your dealer would blame it on the lowering pegs. Did you go down? I hate those markers.
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Nothing more than hurt pride and a lighter wallet. Bike is so stable I never felt it even flinch. Peg was under my foot one second and just not there the next. Continued through the corner and once out, looked down to see it dangling away.
Mike
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Good deal, I checked Ebay but only saw the peg setup and no frame parts.
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Yeah, 108 bucks from Ron Ayers and sssssllllllllooooowwwww postal system. I've gotten stuff directly from China faster than our own US based companies. Back on the road by Wednesday.
Mike
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Not that it helps you right now but Rider's Choice Racing (based out of Illinois I think) has super fast shipping. I have ordered from them several times and I always have my parts within two business days. And that was with free shipping, I could have had it a day sooner if I wanted to spend a couple extra bucks.
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Though not a variable your dealer would blame it on the lowering pegs. Did you go down? I hate those markers.
It is not an issue, this type of damage would not be covered under warranty, regardless.
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Actually the Buell pegs he is using have slightly more ground clearance when cornering than the stock pegs. The Buell pegs are lower but the pegs don't stick down very far at all while the stock pegs are quite thick and have that <endlessly long> feeler.
Brian
Though not a variable your dealer would blame it on the lowering pegs. Did you go down? I hate those markers.
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Nothing more than hurt pride and a lighter wallet. Bike is so stable I never felt it even flinch. Peg was under my foot one second and just not there the next. Continued through the corner and once out, looked down to see it dangling away.
I am really glad you didn't get hurt. How did you get home?
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Those things mark fire hydrants. If you aren't draggin toe at night, that should make them a little easier to spot.
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Yep on the peg "height" from the ground. Scrape them just about as much as the stock ones. Just more leg room overall.
And I would would never think to make that a warrantee claim! :o
Cruised home about a mile away with a dangling leg. Actually anymore than that and I would have used the passenger peg. My biggest issues would have been running the bike in permanent 3rd gear! Not so bad for a stop or two, but mile upon mile in stop and go would have been a bit much for the clutch!
Mike
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Gahd dayum! I used to catch the occasional cat's eye with the floorboards on my Road Star, wouldn't upset the bike but the kick back through my leg alwyas hurt like a mofo.
Could have the part been welded back up if you were so inclined?
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Could have the part been welded back up if you were so inclined?
Could, but for 100 bucks, I'd feel more comfortable. I like to stand to stretch the joints a bit now and again. And it would give me pause to think, will this weld fail at a most inopportune moment? :-\
Mike
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I like to stand to stretch the joints a bit now and again. And it would give me pause to think, will this weld fail at a most inopportune moment? :-\
Hmm, good point.
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:yikes:
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Wow!
That's a big hit to break it like that, good post to warn us all,thanks.
Anyone ridden Skaggs Springs or the Ortega?
They have double rows of the ruddy things, you just know they are put there to discourage enthusiastic riding.
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I had nearly identical breakage from a left side fall over, when the bike was only two weeks old and I still had stock pegs. My wife backed into my parked bike and knocked it over.
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Were you way off-line, or do they scatter those blue dots randomly over the road? I don't recall seeing any around here (AZ), but maybe I haven't been paying attention.
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Bugnut Mike, I'm glad to hear you are OK. After riding with you several times, I can say you are are one tall and fast rider that really uses the ground clearance on the C14.
Forum members, Mike is also known locally for taking great photos and videos as he strafes the corners here in west central Florida.
Mike, be careful out there!
Best wishes,
Dave
Bradenton Florida
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Were you way off-line, or do they scatter those blue dots randomly over the road?
Down here these blue ones are dead center in the lane, not the center of the road. But even the center of the road has these dots, but usually the round variety and yellow. With those if I'm not positioned in the lane correctly, the peg will ride those dots like reading braille! In this incident, I was really well positioned and smoothly carving the corner. This little blue meaney just reached out and bit my peg!
I contantly try to improve my riding line and now that I'm "somewhat" better at it than I was when I was younger, I have to deal with these hydrant markers in the middle of my lane!
Thanks for the kudos Dave. Should have some nice shots and vid after a run to Solomons Castle and the Boat in the Moat this weekend. ;)
Mike
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Down here these blue ones are dead center in the lane, not the center of the road.
That is crazy! We have those blue things on many roads in Virginia, too. But they are always in the center of the road (where the lines are), not the center of the lanes! Sounds like an excellent task for a motorcycle special interest group to go after...
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Bugnut Mike, I'm glad to hear you are OK. After riding with you several times, I can say you are are one tall and fast rider that really uses the ground clearance on the C14.
Forum members, Mike is also known locally for taking great photos and videos as he strafes the corners here in west central Florida.
Mike, be careful out there!
Best wishes,
Dave
Bradenton Florida
Out of curiosity, how's Bradenton? I grew up on the corner of 43rd Ave and 79th St, off of Cortez headed out to the beach. I haven't been back in 10 years and I miss it all the time.
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That makes sense. May I suggest contacting your local AMA or MSF to request that they contact the local MVD / highway department / legislators? I think it is a safety issue, but I'm not sure I'd want to explain the situation of how I lost the peg. Perhaps it would be better to couch it as a road hazard to motorcycles.
As I said before, I don't recall seeing them in AZ, not counting the fact that my peg dragging is a rare enough occurance that I probably wouldn't have anything to worry about anyway.
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Here in WA state we have lots of dots, or turtles as we call them. Heavy rain, night time and the lines dissapear, but them turtles are still visible. It is a hazrd we talk about during road hazards and again during line selection when entering a corner. Goes kinda like this, "it's wet out, the lines are gone, but walla, there's a bunch of turtles staying up late to help guide you along the road, what happens when a tire hits one? Yes, they are slick, which is another traction changer so be aware of that. I ask the class if anyone had ever hit one or heard of a friend who had, I most always get a yes, my next question is who sees a problem with this? I hear the "It's slick", I ask another lead in question, "where are the turtle placed"? In the middle of the road for lane dividers. Yes, so if you are going around a corner and a tire (or peg) hits one what is the problem, providing you recover? The bike has crossed into the oncoming lane. It only takes a bit of imagination to see how that could be bad. I have heard rumor that they are really there to help blind people drive, brail is a medium of communication, right? :yikes:
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It's not a huge deal generally. The problem comes in when the dots are marking a hydrant in a corner. And that's not too often. And of course when wet.
Thanks for the suggestions on contacting local help with legislation change. Floriduh doesn't really care much about road hazards. Much like other states, they lay down paint "tape" for pedestrian crossings and lane markings. That stuff is slick even in dry conditions! Then there are the rain grooves cut in the concrete of many freeway slabs. Love those!
For sure I'm going to be watching closer to those dotz that might lurk in a corner! :o
Mike
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Reviving an old thread... Since I posted that the blue dots don't seem to exist in AZ, I've been seeing them everywhere. :) Middle of lanes, between lanes, on wide streets and narrow ones. It amazes me just how fast they were installed after my post in this thread, as I simply couldn't have been that oblivious before. LOL
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We have them here also, if there's a fire hydrant there will be a blue reflector marking it's location and they're always in the center of the lane.........
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...as I simply couldn't have been that oblivious before. LOL
Definitely wouldn't describe you as oblivious.... ;)
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We have them here also, if there's a fire hydrant there will be a blue reflector marking it's location and they're always in the center of the lane.........
Really, I do think it is insane for installers to put them in the middle of lanes. They should only be placed between lanes or on the shoulders. If they were placing them in the middle of lanes in my locality or state, I would be writing the DMV/city/MSF/whomever I could find, complaining about it STRONGLY.
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Glad you are OK but that's quite a repair.
Jon.
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OEM pegs are designed to flip up and back for exactly that reason.
Chances are that if you had the OEM pegs on the peg would have lost the feeler, maybe.
Because your peg couldn't flip up it transferred all the force to the next weakest component.
Glad you didn't come off and it only cost a couple of hundred bucks to fix, but I'd be wary of cornering hard with those pegs on again. Next time you might not be so lucky.
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Because your peg couldn't flip up it transferred all the force to the next weakest component.
And the next weakes component would be? Your .... foot and/or leg? :o
I think I'd rather have the peg to take that hit. Much easier to get it fixed/replaced.
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OEM pegs are designed to flip up and back for exactly that reason.
Chances are that if you had the OEM pegs on the peg would have lost the feeler, maybe.
Because your peg couldn't flip up it transferred all the force to the next weakest component.
Glad you didn't come off and it only cost a couple of hundred bucks to fix, but I'd be wary of cornering hard with those pegs on again. Next time you might not be so lucky.
Actually Boomer, that's kind of why I've switched back to the stockers. The Buell pegs do utilize the stock spring and action of swinging up and back. But my real problem was 1) my position in the lane placing the peg in such a way that it was directly in the line of the dot, and 2) that my somewhat agressive riding style put that peg firmly on the ground as I rounded the corner. Knowing that peg took such a hit had me thinking, "no way I'm trusting that peg anymore!" But I think my 1-2 punch of "bad" line and body position would have still destroyed the stock peg and feeler, and probably that frame bracket too.
My general riding had compleatly ground off the feeler and about a half inch of the stock pegs mass. Riding with my body and bike in line into a corner put much of the peg in danger of grinding away. As I've "matured" as a rider, I now shift my body mass to the inside and keep the bike more upright. I still nick the stock pegs now and then, but no where near what I did with them in the first year, and then with MCL brackets the second year, and even less so than with the Buellers.
Another item that allowed me to return to the stock pegs and height were Larry B's highway bars. Now if I'm in the twisties I can keep the up-tight foot position and on the relaxing straghts, put my foot up. That was the whole reason for going with a more relaxed peg position of the Buell pegs. I have horrendous knee joints and giraffe legs that don't fold so well.
Yep, feel lucky I didn't go down or have anything other than a story to tell and a couple hundred less dollars in my wallet, but I also feel more confidant in the stability of this bike in almost any riding situation. My lastest 2000 mile journey had me at Wolf Pen Gap and Deals Gap for a bit more than a week. Only tickled the pegs once and only for a nano second. But still roasted a rear tire to it's limits though!
Mike
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:yikes: I've got one of those right on the main road I turn onto every morning! Thanks for the head's up and sorry you had to learn about it the hard way.