VFR Peg Scrappers

Just curious how many VFR riders on this forum have scrapped their pegs on their favorite set of twistys...

 

Just bought my 2008 VFR, only 120 miles so far, love it. I take the feelers off all my bikes, and the VFR feelers look quite grabby to me, no rounded ends!!

 

Confessed peg scraper and knee dragger here. :biggrin:

 

"Peg scraper": on the riders footpeg, there is a piece of metal that sticks out and lets you know when the bike is getting close to the maximum amount of lean angle.
"Knee dragger" is having your knee in contact with the tarseal, normally when going around a corner.

I have long legs and appear to be able to scrape my toe before the other two occur...

 

Balls of the feet on the pegs, tuck in the toe. (not that I can do it, but I've been told) I've touched down my toes a couple of times on the VFR, but never when I was on the balls of my feet.

 

I took the peg feelers off the day I bought the bike (same reason as Jessiah1). I have been known to scrape my left toe on rare occassions (more likely sticking my toe out a bit than reaching maximum lean angle).

 

I actually ripped one of them off on the Dragon. That's why I have the foot pegs that I do.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

My peg feelers are pretty hammered!!!!
They have been ground down to about 7/10th of their origional length!:whoo:
I have never considered removing them,however,I like the warning that I'm at the edge of my tread!!

Funny little side story:
My father in-law just got his mot.lic. and proceeded to buy a brand new 1200 H.D. Sportster.
He asked me to ride it home from the dealer for him, as he was not comfortable enough to tackle the ride home with impending t-storms loomimg.
Anyhoo, I found out right quick that these bikes have shit for cornering clearance when I dragged the pipe on the tarmac rounding a clover-leaf at fairly tame (by VFR standards) speed.
I was pretty surprised that the first thing to touch down was a hard part and not the pegs.....good bike for a straight road,I guess:frown:

 

Pulled the peg feelers off pretty early on. After I had ground them down about half way. I use to manage to scrape the pegs fairly often. But I've also found that the right side header pipe can be scraped as can that little extension of the left side fairing that wraps around the kick stand. I wasn't an official kneedragger until early this week when I finally got out there and worked my butt off to get it off the seat and put the knee down. During my attempts to get there I tried to not drag any hard parts since you really are supposed to do that. You should be getting your a$$ off the bike so that you can keep it more upright. Through a bit of practice in a big parking lot I finally got there turning left and right. I can now do ti pretty successfully on the road as well.

The moral here is that you really shouldn't be dragging hard parts of the bike since its a bit dangerous. Better to keep the bike more upright and get yourself off the seat and the knee on the ground. Plus its fun! Go forth and practice the fine art of kneedragging!

 

im really tall as well and i find myself scrapin my toe before anything else

 

I'll bite....
What foot pegs do you have???

 

Pull your foot in....
Peg feeler is not far behind:rockon:

 

I swear we must be related sometimes, over the years I scrap the pegs much less frequent but I've gotten much faster and smoother in doing so...

 

Now that I'm into drifting, I don't scrape nearly as much...:strong:
But really... the one on the left gets pretty chewed up (3:1) over the right. Maybe from MC, being so comfortable silding into left turns and roosting out.
:unsure:I've never felt too good about doing it on rights. Have done it but not nearly as agressive. My chicken strips tell all... to the edge on the left and a solid 1/4 inch on the right.

 

Ding-Ding-Ding give that man a Cigar.

Well he's mostly right & you do have to look into the turn, get your butt & upper body squared & off the bike.

Knee dragging is only a feeler on where the ground is, nothing more, it's your head & upper body that gets you through a turn :wink:

it's cool & I give Derstuka Sh_t about it, but I'm just messing with him for having shiny unscratched pucks :boink:.

I know a guy that rides @ the track & he is unbelievably fast & he has no use of his legs. He just knows how to get his upper body & butt of the seat & keeping the bike as upright as possible to have the most tyre contact patch as possible :smile:

I do but rarely do, any knee sliding on canyon roads or mountain twisties, even pushing it.

But on the track it's different because you can push the limits much further than & safer than public roadways.

Peg scrapers are telling you if your scraping them that you are doing something wrong & is a warning you to that effect. so practice, practice, & Practice & get your :bootyshake2: off the seat !

Master that, then work on getting your knee down .

 

ouch...darn, wasn't tooting my own horn as much as pushing that fact that you shouldn't be dragging hard parts as it is dangerous. I agree with Taz that Kneedragging isn't a necessity to go fast or safely thorugh a corner fast, but Taz I think you would agree that it is fun. As for doing it at the track I'll find out this weekend at Beaver Run out near Pittsburgh. My last several track days were a lot of fun but I was not successful at dragging the knee, but I did hit hard parts. The control riders suggestions were pretty clear, work a bit harder to get your body off the bike and keep the bike more upright and you'll be safer in the corners and probably go faster.

So I don't need any cigars...nor do I suggest you attempt to kneedrag every corner on canyon (damn I wish we had some of them out here) or street rides. Getting your butt off the seat and body/head toward the mirror of the side your turning towards is very much recommended if you want to feel comfortable going fast in a turn. As for Kneedragging it is fun to do it every now and then especially since it took me quite some time to get there. So find a big parking lot and practice. You'll be amazed how easily it helps going a bit faster in the corners.

 

Nothing special, just $25 Emgo's I got on EBAY for $10.



PARed makes a great point about body position. As a rule, whenever you have your carcass hanging off the bike, you can take a turn faster & at less lean angle than if you stay upright on the bike. It takes alot of practice & I am by no means telling anyone to go right out & drag their knee today. If you are interested in this procedure, pratice slowly moving you body to the inside of the turn, bit by bit. When you first try, I can't stress this enough, only try it on roads you are familiar with in lightly trafficed areas. If you have access to a giant parking lot, that is the best place to do this. It's all about center of gravity. Once you actually get the whole concept of CG & how it affects the motorcycle in motion, body positioning will become second nature to you.

This is the 2d most important skill we teach in the USAF SportBike course. 1st is proper throttle control. I can say from experience, having learned this myself & then turned right around & taught it to others, once you realize how much difference body position can make, I would be willing to put money down that it will make you a better rider overnight. It will be like someone turned on a switch that said "Better Rider Switch" under it.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

dragged toe, but thats because was lax and not on the balls of the feet.

Once on the ball sof my feet i have not touched the feelers, i have draged a knee. that seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

I find it odd as i am fairly fast in the corners often out cornering my friend on the gsx-r and cbr's that they drag pegs...i just seem to keep the bike more upright.