Footpegs options

[mr72]

Hi all-

Hoping some of you more familiar with other bikes might be able to help me with this.

Quick story recap:

- I have long legs and the GS is borderline cramped, so I had a goal of lowering the footpegs.
- To try it on the cheap, I cut the stock (worn) rubber parts down to try and get 1/2" lower without swapping parts. Then after riding a while the remnant rubber began to come apart/wear through and I decided to try something else
- currently got some aluminum "passenger pegs" that were $7 on ebay on there, but they are way too short. However, they do succeed in lowering the position of the pegs compared to stock by probably 3/4".

I'm also fighting numbness especially in my right foot when riding long distances and I think I might be able to solve that with a wider/bigger platform on the peg.

Ideally I would like oversize motocross-type pegs but I can't see to find any that are guaranteed to fit the GS mounting location, do not have an elevated platform, and are not prohibitively expensive. I can find cheap ones but they may not fit and have an elevated platform. I can find ones without an elevated platform but they are very expensive and not guaranteed to fit.

Anyone have any suggestions? Options? I have a size 12D foot. It's big and wide basically. These teeny sport-bike type pegs are a joke. A toy. The stock pegs are the right length but with stock rubbers on them they are too high.

I considered putting BSA or Triumph replacement rubbers on the stock pegs, which may come close to fitting. They are advertised as 3/4" square inside and the GS are like 16mm from what I can tell, which is likely way too small for the old Brit bike parts to work.

Anyone know of a MX footpeg that is known to fit the GS mounting location? That'd be a really good start. The MX pegs just have a much bigger platform and I think that'd help with my foot numbness.

I'm also not averse to making huge mods to my old original pegs, or use them as donors for a DIY solution.

Another option I have seriously considered is just to cut/grind off the peg mounting flange thingy on the "rearset" plate, and then drill a hole in that plate where I want a peg to be mounted and use one of the thru-bolt type pegs. Problem is I still think the narrow round pegs like this are going to cause my foot numbness.

Any other ideas?

[gregjet]

There are some footpeg repositioning in the project area you need to trawl through. Check the scrambler/offroad posts. The stock footpeg assemblyis VERY heavy ( pegs, plates, heel plates and brake weighs 2.6kg!).
The left footpeg plate is simple to make and reposition BUT the gearlever is attached directly to the shaft so you have to fabricate something to make the shift useable again. The right one has the brake lever pivot on it and requires a fair bit more fabrication but is doable .
Here's what I did but that was for a slightly rearward repositioning. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70598.0. It does show the plates though.
Nudie had some ideas and did some mockups you could use, just plating the whole plates using adapter plates. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=72127.0

The footpeg position doesn't exist by itself. Your whole body position is changeable. All contact points should be considered, in this case, seating position ( height forward/rear). It may be easier to change those. Padding the seat higher can be a useful option. Or even raising the whole seat ( usually a bit harder to accomplish, but again doable.
The pegs themselves shouldn't be too much of a problem , as you suggested off road pegs would fit the bill. Hundreds available, but remember the wider pegs don't allow you foot to pivot on them to use the brake and gears. You will have to adapt you change/brake foor movements.
Go for a position that will give you as close as possible to a right angle at the knee and ankle at rest. A photo from the side with you on the bike in a natural riding psoition will help and is a good starting point. And make sure you hip angle isn't too acute.

[Bluesmudge]

I replaced the stock rear sets with ones from an CBR (process covered elsewhere on this site, basically just reaming out one hole per side to match the GS bolt pattern). Then I bought some cheapish Chinese dirt bike style lowering pegs off eBay that were designed to fit the CBR (lots more options for those bikes). Total cost is under $300 but I can't remember how much because it's been several years.

I believe knight designs makes a dirt bike style lowering peg that fits the GS500. Not many options because GS500 owners don't like to spend money and the aftermarket companies know that.

I also purchased a higher aftermarket seat with gel. Helped knee and butt comfort.

[mr72]

Yeah $300 is what I'd call expensive.

I've already modified the seat, added like 3/4" of foam.

My knees are definitely a lot less than 90 degrees. But anyway, I was kind of looking for some bolt-on pegs that were not any higher than the peg mount (not elevated) and had more of a platform so my feet don't get numb. I happen to have nerve issues in the balls of my feet so this is likely related to my issues.

At this point I'm thinking I might wind up having to fab my own, or modify the existing. In any case I at least need to get replacement rubber for the stockers.

I would just have thought that Suzuki would have sort of recycled the same peg/frame interface for >1 bikes, making it possible to replace the pegs on a GS with some from something else. My dad's DR200 pegs might work with spacers, but they are small.

[Bluesmudge]

Did you actually look at these?
Seems to be exactly what you are after:
http://www.knightdesignllc.com/Products/Motorcycle/Suzuki/GS500/Suzuki-GS500-1-Front-Foot-Pegs.html



Price wise they are middle of the road for well made "adventure" style pegs. Worth the price considering someone went through the trouble to design for our little bike.

[mr72]

Yeah that's a perfect solution at about 4x the price I would expect to pay for it. If it had a platform about twice as wide then I would even consider spending close to that much money on them.

But yeah these are nearly perfect, except the price. At half the price of a used GS500 engine or 1/10 the price of an entire good used bike, it's a little extravagant for this motorcycle.

[gregjet]

They look well made actually

[ShowBizWolf]

I didn't think of this until now and Idk if it will help you or not but, have you checked out the stuff available from Wild Hair Accessories?

About half-way down this page here:
http://www.whaccessories.com/GS500Accessories.htm

[mr72]

I didn't think of this until now and Idk if it will help you or not but, have you checked out the stuff available from Wild Hair Accessories?

About half-way down this page here:
http://www.whaccessories.com/GS500Accessories.htm

Yeah I checked that out. Again very spendy. 2x the price of the others!

But they do have one with a platform that might be a lot more comfortable for me:



However for that kind of money I'll just fab something. If I could find something for $50 or less I'd be all over it. But $300 is going into the new bike fund instead of more money into this one.

BTW I went for a ride today to run an errand and I'll say my knee is more like a 60-degree angle than a 90-degree. It would take a ton of mods to get this bike to fit me so that I can only bend my knee 90 degrees.The pegs would have to drop probably 3" and the seat come up 2". And to do that would take taller suspension.

[Toner]

Did you actually look at these?
Seems to be exactly what you are after:
http://www.knightdesignllc.com/Products/Motorcycle/Suzuki/GS500/Suzuki-GS500-1-Front-Foot-Pegs.html



Price wise they are middle of the road for well made "adventure" style pegs. Worth the price considering someone went through the trouble to design for our little bike.

I'm a short arse so I don't need the length but those pegs look amazing.

[qcbaker]

I think if you want a significantly more relaxed seating position, you'd probably be better off looking into a different bike. Is it possible to modify the GS so that it had mid controls and a fully relaxed seating position? Sure, but it would either be expensive or overly laborious.

[mr72]

Yes, it's not so much that I want more relaxed, it's just that my legs are too long for this one.

[Kookas]

Having long legs on a GS is also a pain shifting gears because bunched up legs mean that your natural foot position is quite angled, away from the lever. I've got my gear lever adjusted a notch down, but that's not really great either, it's too low then.

[mr72]

Well for the time being I cut up an old pair of Oury bicycle grips and put them on the stock square pegs in place of the OE rubber and it's moderately comfortable and worlds better than the crummy aluminum sport style stuff.

Being extra attentive then to my foot position and the ride today I can say that moving the pegs forward would not be as much of a benefit as moving them down.

I think I'll wind up trying to fabricate something on my own. Nothing I can find in the market addresses my issue directly. I think I could get some 16mm thick by about 40mm aluminum bar stock and use it to create my own dropped pegs with a platform on them, stick some diamond-plate rubber on top and call it done.