lower the pegs ...or raise the seat?

[Guest randy]

my first long(ish) ride on my LM last friday was splendid , but i could tell that things might get pinchy on an all-dayer. and with a 34" inseam i see no reason to get closer to the ground... i see many threads on lowering the pegs- but has anyone tried raising the seat? i dream of fabricating a custom subframe to raise the whole aft section an inch, but the reality might be something simpler.

 

thoughts?

[Guest ratchethack]

FWIW, I'd advise give it some miles before you start hacking it up. Yes, yes -- many have done peg-lowering mods, and this is always an option if you really want and need to go that way. But IMHO, you can start a process without end and never be happy. It often goes something like this: Raise bars. Custom seat. Lower pegs. Sell bike at a huge loss.

 

Until I had 4-5K miles on mine, my peg position felt cramped, too. Then I became "conditioned" to it. I've adapted. Now it fits me like a glove. Stock clip-ons, stock pegs, and stock seat.

[orangeokie]

. . .    Stock clip-ons, stock pegs, and stock seat.

87981[/snapback]

 

DITTO

[Admin Jaap]

I had my seat rebuilt by Rich Maund. He raised it about 2 cms (4/5 inch?) Much more comfortable on my knees.

[dbdicker]

I lowered the pegs. When my seat came back from Rich Maund a little raised, I felt uncomfortable and too much "over" the bike. I had the seat reduced to stock height and lowered the pegs, bringing it's own problems but solving my cramp.

 

If you can get 'used' to the stock position though, that's your best bet. Ride until you're absolutely sure you need a change.

[rocketeer]

Hi Randy,

Seat height and footpeg position is a matter of personal ergonomics. What`s good for one person may not be good for another. I had a Corbin Gunfighter on my LeMans and found it too tall . I`m 5`9" and a have a 30" inseam so for me it was too high . I did lower the pegs 1" and with the stock seat I am quite happy now. If you decide to go with a taller seat, pm me and I`ll give you a good deal. Ciao

[Guest ksann]

I had Rich raise my seat, and I used the peg relocator kit.

 

Now that I have totally changed the position, I find the bike comfortable for a few hundred miles. Still not good enough for a really long day (my longest was 850miles).

 

I am 6'0" tall.

 

 

Love the bike.

 

 

 

 

ken

[Guest randy]

thanks to all your suggestions!

 

yesterday was another long day of mixed riding- but this time, i managed to improvise a Vista-Cruise (poor man's throttlemeister) throttle lock: HALLELUIAH . just having the options to stretch and straighten while riding? yeah, makes everything rosier.

 

and, maybe my knees are getting used to the 45' bend? ('coz when it's V11 Love, we'll bend over backwards )

[dlaing]

Get a inch think piece of high density foam, slide her under your rear and go for a ride.

See how it feels, especially going down hill.

I tried it and it seemed to make the bike feel less secure.

Lowering the pegs is a better option for me as I my chicken strips are enough to fill a KFC family size bucket.

[Greg Field]

Randy:

 

Rich's custom upholstery has made several taller seats for others in the Seattle area. Or, next time you are at Moto, sit on my Billy Bob and see if the Motobits foot controls would ease the pain.

[Guest randy]

"Billy Bob"? heh.

 

i was scopin' those foot controls out last time i was there, as matter of fact- are you dragging/ losing cornering clearance? thanks Greg

 

how was the ride? alas i played too hard the night before

[Guest randy]

good points, sir! i found a suitable chunk of foam, and will be experimenting tomorrow. also yeah, granted i'm still learning this bike, but getting rid of my chicken strips feels like it would take a few grand in suspension. and balls

[dbdicker]

good points, sir!    i found a suitable chunk of foam, and will be experimenting tomorrow. also yeah, granted i'm still learning this bike, but getting rid of my chicken strips feels like it would take a few grand in suspension. and balls 

89080[/snapback]

 

Lotsa balls, and some of the guys on this forum have 'em. Dunno whether the suspension mods will do it all for ya, but it'll help. Scrapin' hard parts of this baby requires cujones larger than mine..........i've scraped some pretty neat bikes, but can't seem to lean this one that far, not even after close to 10K miles. Meanwhile, I'm still plenty fast on it, even without the knee down, spark-flyin' histrionics.

 

Lotsa fun...........

[Ryland3210]

Lotsa balls, and some of the guys on this forum have 'em.  Dunno whether the suspension mods will do it all for ya, but it'll help.  Scrapin' hard parts of this baby requires cujones larger than mine..........i've scraped some pretty neat bikes, but can't seem to lean this one that far, not even after close to 10K miles.  Meanwhile, I'm still plenty fast on it, even without the knee down, spark-flyin' histrionics.

 

Lotsa fun...........

89081[/snapback]

 

I can't resist telling my knee down story: 30 years ago, 30 miles/hour on my Honda XL250, familiar hairpin curve, hangin' that knee out racing style. Oops, leaves! Bike slides out, knee hits the ground. No pain, no bruise, no abrasion on my jeans, but snapped a ligament in my knee clean off. Knee surgery, screw to reattach ligament. 1 year on crutches, 1 year with cane, 8 years to get the knee straightened out.

Last year, knee blows up with swelling while hiking the Himalayas. Surgery finds screw is loose, puncturing veins, just missing arteries, which would have killed me in a couple of minutes. The ligament attachment never worked, so I've lived without it for 30 years. Still don't have one, but at least the screw is gone.

 

With today's better surgical techniques, I was on my feet within 24 hours. In all those years, I kept on riding dirt and street. FWIW I might slide my butt out on a corner, but you won't ever find me hanging my knees out again.

[Greg Field]

The pegs haven't touched down yet. We tried to design them to move the pegs as much as possible without having them be the first thing to touch down. I have the shifter peddle adjusted quite far down, and even so, it didn't touch down.

 

That was my first time having Billy on a twisty road outside the city. I set a pretty good pace and was all alone in front of the pack after the second curve, so it seems to do OK. I didn't push it at all, though, because the rear suspension is quite horrible on my Billy. Maybe it's adjustments, but I've tried a lot of combinations without noticable success. It'll soon have a rebuilt and re-valved Ohlins from a Scura. I'm really hoping that helps. Or, I'm hoping that while installing the new shock I find something else that could be causing the "wiggly" feeling feeding back from the rear end.