Rearsets vs. Cramped Knees on my '01 M900s

[koko64]

I have had two Sargent seats (M900&Hyper100), they were both very comfy compared to oem seats. I also had each one modified to remove the piping and support my GLW passenger. The piping may not bother you however. Some also swear by Corbin seats and there is one for sale on the forum at a bargain price.
I have been lucky to have specialist craftsmen nearby who custom modify seats, tailor made to the individual's ergonomic  needs. There are many threads worth searching here about seats, bars, foot pegs and the personal nature of rider ergos. It's more important than many people realise.

If you have a large boot size I reckon you can reach the brake pedal easier with those pegs. I was annoyed having to toe in to reach it, but I have a slight foot deformity from birth which restricts my range of movement. If you need more ground clearance you can raise the bikes ride height at the front and rear to compensate as I have done. My old Monster is 20-30mm taller at each end and this reduces peg scraping. That's a whole other well travelled topic here.

Between a more plush, thicker seat and lower pegs you can gain valuable inches in room to make a substantial difference. The Sargent seat has you higher and closer to the bars giving a more comfy reach if that works for you.

[GK]

The gear selector side is the full 45mm lower but slightly back, to allow for my boot getting sufficiently under the lever.

Brake side is as described by koko.

[S21FOLGORE]

For adjustable foot pegs, I recommend to get these rather than e-Bay items.









https://japan.webike.net/products/9733101.html

Instead of 40mm, AELLA pegs rotating radius is 20mm, in 12 position.

Yes, they cost more, but they are better designed, better built, higher quality, and you can get replacement parts.

[S21FOLGORE]

To give you better, clearer idea about rider ergonomics (handle bar, seat, foot peg position) ...

The bike is 05 S4R, with

Triumph Speed Triple / Street Triple handle bar
DP touring seat comfort (NOT the one with gel pad)
AELLA rear set(NOT adjustable pegs)

The model is 5'5" (165 cm), 125 lbs. (57 kg), with 29" inseam (wears 28 x 30 pants)



Ball of the foot on the peg, relaxed riding



Ball of the foot on the peg, aggressive riding
(Notice butt moved back slightly, head lowered slightly,but not tilted forward)



Now, if you move your foot peg (& controls) to rearward and higher,
it will make your knees to be bent more. You don't want to move your foot controls that direction.
Which means, typical aftermarket rear set will not work for you.



Then, what if you move the foot controls rearward and lower?



Yes, this will make your knees to be bent at more relaxed angle, at the expense of the reduced ground clearance.

Also, notice if you move the foot control rearward, it will make your thigh - upper torso angle greater BUT it will cause your upper body pitched forward, makes it difficult to support your upper body weight by abs and lower back muscle.
Which means, you tend to ride with supporting your body weight by your arms and wrists.
Which means you are spoiling the bike's self-steering function, you are more prone to get tank slapper, slower to react to the tire slide (more chance of low side crush) ...

Look at the photos carefully, pay particular attention to where my butt is, and where my foot is.
The foot peg is 20mm higher than stock, but not moved forward / backward.

Bologna's engineers aren't stupid.
They didn't place the foot pegs where they are without thinking.
For the cornering performance of the bike, it is best NOT to move the pegs forward or backward too much.
20 mm is the limit I would move foot controls.

My advice?
Go to the link below, play around a while.

http://cycle-ergo.com/

Then, sit on a bike, move your feet forward, backward, higher and lower.
Let us know how you feel.

[diamonddog-2]

I'll play around with my foot position and see what feels better.  Right now, I'm having too much fun playing with the ergonomics simulator!

S21FOLGORE: I noticed the Aella pegs have a smaller adjustability range compared to the SSR-ebay ones.  Better quality aside, that might be an issue if I could still reach the controls with a larger adjustment which MIGHT be what I'd need to get a better comfort level?    Maybe I could strap blocks of wood to the controls for better reach.  It's what my grandpa did on my trike when I was a wee lad.        I dunno, just throwing stuff out here.

I just really appreciate the personal experience, information and general help you guys put out on the board, for guys like myself.  I looked back at the 2 years I've been asking questions and how the information you people gave me helped me to find a great bike for ME.

koko64:  I had a Corbin Gunfighter on my K bike. It was just as uncomfortable as the stock seat. After a few seasons, I sent it back to Corbin, telling them of my issue and asking for new, thicker padding. It was just the same when I got it back.  With the initial seat cost plus backrest [which WAS a nice addition for the passenger] and the repadding, it was an overall unimpressive aftermarket experience.  Just 1 person's story.

[S21FOLGORE]

Your concern is very understandable.
Let me explain a little bit, abut that part. (And forgive me if I sound like I’m preaching.)

This style of adjustable foot pegs came in at around 2009, IIRC, AELLA adjustable peg was the first one.
(AELLA, is the brand name of the motorcycle parts produced by Kasuno Motorcycle in Kyoto, Japan.
Their web site
http://www.aella.jp/category.html)

Why did these pegs come with so little range of adjustment?
Because they test all the stuff they make& sell, on the track, on the street, quite extensively.
They are motorcycle enthusiast, just like you, or myself.
So, if they decided 20mm radius instead of 40mm, there’s a good reason.

More adjustment range means more possibility of having problem with shift pedal and brake pedal.
Most of the time, moving the foot peg / handle bar 10 mm (even 5 mm) makes noticeable difference, and quite often, that small change is all you need.

When it comes to motorcycle foot control aftermarket parts, “wider range of adjustment” is just a sales gimmick.
Because 1/3 to 1/2 of that “wide adjustment range” is unusable. (Gillis tooling rear-set, for example, claim to have wider range of adjustment than the others, but roughly 50 - 60% of that range is totally unusable. If you move the foot peg position to the extream end, shifter / brake pedal will be in a place where you can’t operate, your boots will hit the exhaust, swingarm, etc, etc)

E-bay knock off parts seller, unlike guys at Kasuno motorcycle, does not care if you (purchaser) run into problems or not.
(Hard (or impossible) to reach / operate properly brake/ shift pedal, pegs / pedals interfering other parts, for example.)
They don’t know (because they didn’t spend any time / money on R&D) and THEY DON’T CARE.
They just want your money.

Take a close look of the picture of both products.
As you increase the distance between the mounting bolt and the foot peg bar, you increase the possibility of the flex.
The closer they are, more solid they are. (The best is the non-folding, fixed type foot peg bar. But, no such option for your bike right at this moment.)

If you buy that eBay item, and postion the foot peg where your knee would be most relaxed, it would be (roughly) 34mm back, 34 mm down.

(40 x sin45 ≒34)

Do you think you need to move the pegs that much?

[S21FOLGORE]

I forgot one more, very important thing.

Do you stretch, at very least, every time before you get on a motorcycle?
(Ideally, you should do it every morning, which I do.)

How (physically) fit are you?

Seriously, this is one of the most overlooked stuff.

[diamonddog-2]

Dude, you ain't preaching. It's all solid information and I thank you. I'll be stretching before rides from now on too. I'd do it before I went skiing or working out. It just never occurred to me to it before riding. Kinda makes sense now that you bring it up. It  I stretch my feet and elbow tendons daily. Knees, etc. are now in the rotation!

Anything to make the ride more enjoyable.   You guys are great.

[diamonddog-2]

Okay, I got the footpegs lowered by just over 1.25 inches and picked up a used Corbin seat [Thank you pitbull] that, together, are SO much better than OEM. My knees are now fine and my butt, while not perfect, is now manageable for longer rides. The only adjustment needed was on the shifter.

Thanks for the suggestions!   

[koko64]

 

[greenmonster]

 

[pitbull]