"E" Pegs on an "F" Bike w/Pictures

[Electrojake]

Following this post is a review of the German made, lowering front foot pegs sold by Wild Hair Accessories. The link to the peg page is here:
http://www.whaccessories.com/FootPegLoweringKit.htm

The reason these pegs are an issue to me personally is this: As a new GS500F owner I have found that there is an abundance of parts and equipment listed as available for the older "E" bikes, but very little available for the 04 and up "F" bikes. I found very little info on this fitment subject on the GS Wiki or the forum. Pegs, side racks, hard luggage, are all very expensive. Blind ordering and hoping it fits can get costly, (I know).

The total price on the "E" bike pegs I wanted was $190.00 and I had no way of knowing if they would fit.
Fellow GStwin.com forum member BaltimoreGS came to the rescue.
I had mentioned my dilemma to BGS and he immediately provided a full set of pictures and mounting dimensions from an older "E" bike so I could compare the numbers to my F bike.
Outstanding!
The numbers looked good, I made the order for the rather pricy (not guaranteed to fit) pegs.

Good news!
They fit the peg mounts on my 2007 F bike perfectly.
Thank you BaltimoreGS!
A few photographs and related comments are in the post below.
-Ej-

[Electrojake]

The German made 30mm drop front pegs marketed for the 1988 to 1990 GS500E as part number 051 06 05 30 by Wild Hair Accessories also fit the 2004 and up "F" bike.



The pegs are bright silver aluminum but for an extra $20 they can be ordered in various anodized colors. Additionally, they can be ordered with 22 mm, 30 mm, or 50 mm lowering shanks. I chose the 30mm kit. I'm 6'3" tall with a size 13 boot. I would have gone with the 50mm kit but It appeared that they would not clear the exhaust on the right side of the bike. Fortunately, the 30mm pegs fit nicely.



As you can see in the photo below, the drop pegs are light duty as compared to the stock units. After I mounted the pegs I bounced on them with my full 195 pounds and in spite of the flex they seemed O.K.



A shot of the peg disassembled. . .


These stacked conical washers provide the spring action that keeps the pegs in the up or down position under spring tension. I ended up removing one pair of the washers the get the best fit.



Here is a shot of the left side peg flipped up.



Left side with peg in the down position.



The photo below will give you an idea of how much extra room I acquired for my dainty size 13's



Keep in mind that these pegs are infinitely adjustable. Up, down, forward, back, whatever feels & fits best.
Thanks again BaltimoreGS for doing the engineering on this rather pricey experiment. As you can see, it was a success!
Regards,
-Ej-

[black and silver twin]

It looks like those could be rotated to raise the pegs as well, am I correct in thinking they could be rotated to the 2 or 3 oclock position moving the pegs up and back ?(for more cornering clearance)

[tt_four]

It looks like they'd go up without any problem. With how much smaller than they are, I think you'd get the extra ground clearance, and your pegs still wouldn't be that much higher than the stock ones.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but if you would someday decide that you just want your pegs mounted in the center of the mount, not with the offset in any direction, do they give you an extra washer with the teeth on it so you can mount the peg right to the part that bolts to the frame?

[BaltimoreGS]

Glad I was able to contribute to this experiment     I guess it's not an issue since you have size 13 feet but I could see the shift lever needing to be extended for smaller feet.  Thanks for the review!

-Jessie

[Electrojake]

Answers to questions. . .
black and silver twin, Yes the pegs can indeed be rotated in any direction. If you wanted to swing them up for super high ground clearance, that would be a 2 minute job with a 5mm Allen wrench.

tt_four, You ask a good question. Unfortunately, in their virgin form; No, you cannot discard the 30mm drop shaft and use the pegs in a center mount fashion. However, it would be a fairly simple process to go to the local hardware store and buy the proper sized metric hex bolt to allow for it.

As for the size 13 feet. . .
Be aware! The new pegs made the bike feel a Lot different. I had to lower the shifter one notch in order to shift properly. The rear brake now requires a purposeful reach. No more toe accidentally resting on the rear brake lever and triggering the brake lights.  With some tinkering of peg positions on the side of the road, I have found a comfortable set-up. I can see that the 50mm pegs would have been too much for street use, the 30mm is workable, but the 20mm probably would have been sweet!

I plan to put the stock pegs back on the bike in a few weeks. That way I will truly be able to decide if the new pegs are "better" or just "different".

I also have reviews planned for both the AirHawk Cruizer and AirHawk Pillion biker seat cushions, (see photo).


And. . .
The ZeroGravity Sport Touring windscreen (previously reviewed at GStwin.com) with the Laminar LIP added to it!
Another expensive blind experiment that (fortunately) worked out very well.
Thanks for the questions.
Regards,
-Ej-

[johnny ro]

cool. I made spring washers for my Gixxer pegs by bending flat washers, down the middle. Keeps the pegs firm, no rattles.

Would the 30 mm fit on right with it oriented straight down to give maximum leg length?

[Electrojake]

cool. I made spring washers for my Gixxer pegs by bending flat washers, down the middle. Keeps the pegs firm, no rattles.

Would the 30 mm fit on right with it oriented straight down to give maximum leg length?

Yes, straight down clears nicely on both sides.

[tt_four]

tt_four, You ask a good question. Unfortunately, in their virgin form; No, you cannot discard the 30mm drop shaft and use the pegs in a center mount fashion. However, it would be a fairly simple process to go to the local hardware store and buy the proper sized metric hex bolt to allow for it.

The hex bolt seems easy enough, I was more curious about the fittings/washer having those teeth on it. Now that I look at your disassembled picture, it looks like you could move enough pieces around to have enough flat surfaces to make it work.

[Electrojake]

Now that I look at your disassembled picture, it looks like you could move enough pieces around to have enough flat surfaces to make it work.

Yes, it would be easy enough to modify the drop-pegs but at $190.00 a set, you could probably get a nice set of straight pegs for a lot cheaper.
Talk to "Irfan" at Wild Hair Accessories and see what he can do in the way of straight alloy pegs for the GS500.
Web site: http://www.whaccessories.com

Email: infowildhair@cox.net

Note that I have no connection to Irfan or his business but I did find him to be very helpful.
Regards,
-Ej-

[tt_four]

I got the gsxr pegs from ebay for $15, so I'm set, I was just curious what your options were if you someday wanted to go back to the normal peg position.

[Electrojake]

I got the gsxr pegs from ebay for $15, so I'm set, I was just curious what your options were if you someday wanted to go back to the normal peg position.

Your $15.00 price sounds a LOT more practical than the 190 I spent on my drop-peg experiment.
Please post a few photos if/when you get the gsxr pegs on the bike.
As for going back to the old pegs. . .
I always felt that the stock GS500 pegs would have been fine if they were coated with a thin hard rubber rather than the fat spongy stuff Suzuki uses. Additionally, those new alloy drop-pegs I got are somewhat petite for the ol' heavy duty GS. They look a little too "cute" for my taste but they seem incredibly strong thus far.
Regards,
-Electrojake-

[O.C.D.]

And if you get creative, you can drill a 3/4" hole through the stock mounts and then weld the GSXR ones from behind. Looks great and far better than stock. 

I don't have a pic yet, sorry.