MFW footpeg kits - has anyone tried them?

[Sparker]

Hi!

I've been looking through options of lowering my footpegs, and I found that a german company MFW also makes kits for our GS500. It's a bike-specific hinge, extension plate, and foot peg. There are lots of options:
https://motacc.de/fahrzeuge/2578/suzuki/451-700/gs_500/wvbk/2000?p=1

You can check whole catalog, it's pretty impressive:
https://mfwgmbh.de/catalog.html

Has anyone tried those? If so, what extension plate would you recommend so I can fit it on the bike without any major surgery of gear shifter and rear brake levers or anything else? I've done some measurements on my bike and it seems like something around 30-40mm offset downwards is feasible, although, I've just realized it might collide with center stand, need to check it again.

It's my first motorcycle, I've made around 5000 km on it so far, mainly in small trips. I feel like it's the perfect bike for me, except for that foot peg problem, it makes traveling really tiring  .

[Bluesmudge]

I know people have used similar stuff from Knight Designs and also adapted eBay pegs from other bikes. The issue is always that the gear shifter and brake pedal don't have enough adjustability for them to be comfortable with the pegs dropped. If you do a lot of highway driving, this is probably fine but if you ride in the city a lot you will be cursing the pedal and shifter placement unless you can fabricate a solution.

I'm using CBR F2 rearsets, which can be adapted to the GS500 by reaming out one of the mounting holes on each side, and then making an adapter to mount the rear brake switch, and using a shift arm off a hayabusa and the shaft off a SV650. The CBR pegs have "infinity adjustable" brake and shifter positioning that adjust at an angle to work better with lowered footpegs. Then I bought some lowering pegs for the CBR off eBay and tapped the brake pedal to add an extension because all the lowering kits move the pegs farther away from the bike. I'm not saying you should do all this, I'm just explaining how much work it takes to get lowered pegs to work nicely.

[Sparker]

Hi Bluesmudge! Wow that's a lot of effort to make the foot pegs work nicely So in the end, how many inches/millimeters of adjustment have you achieved with this setup?

I am looking at the geometry of Knight Design fixed lowered foot peg from this thread. Seems quite usable. I think I will be able to achieve same geometry with the 20-35mm adjustable plate from MFW.

[Bluesmudge]

It looks usable in the photo until you realize that your foot is angled down quite a bit while riding on the bike, even after lowering the peg an inch or so. On the GS500 we don't have comfortable knees at 90 degrees like a dual sport or old UJM, so our feet don't sit flat either. That means with the lowered peg that every time you want to use the brake or downshift, you have to lift your entire leg because your foot can't bend up enough to get on top of the lever. It's totally doable, and you would adapt to it because you have to justify the money you spent on the lowered foot pegs, but in the back of your mind you would know it's actually worse.

That's my experience anyway. Your mileage may vary. Adding some height to your seat can help by opening up the angle of your knee.

If I could do it all over again I would probably just keep the stock Snicker's bar style rubber pegs and positioning.

[mr72]

I went even more nuts than Bluesmudge did to lower and move forward the pegs on mine. Works great, extremely comfortable riding position, and more importantly, easily works for standing on the pegs when riding real slow in rough terrain. It was a project though, fabricating entirely new mounting plates and adapting a KTM-style shift lever and a pair of old BMW pegs. That mod constitutes probably nearly half the value of my GS!

You can see my work starting with the initial failed attempt about here:
https://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?msg=877751
then again rev 2 begins here:
https://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php/topic,71055.msg879321.html#msg879321

Eventually I had to beef up the mount for the shifter by pinning it to the frame. It's still more flexible than I would like but at least you know you are shifting.

[Sparker]

Thanks for the honest opinions guys, I appreciate it.
mr72, that foot peg mod looks nice, in fact I'd even like to go same way but I don't have a garage to manufacture this

I've ordered those foot pegs and once I try them out, I will keep the thread updated.
Honestly now I'm more in the mood to sell GS500 and buy something more comfortable, if making it ridable for long range turns unfeasible for me. It's been a fun ride with the GS, just not a very far one

[mr72]

With the "ADV" mods, my GS500 is the most comfortable of my three motorcycles. This includes the Katana 600 rear shock, stiffer fork springs, lowering the forks in the triples, some seat modifications, and the footpegs/handlebar position. Oh, and the tires. The bike has more suspension travel than my Bonneville and just a more refined and comfortable suspension. I think in the long run my Triumph Scrambler with the Hagons may wind up being more comfortable, but not by much.

It was totally worth doing the mods. I think the GS is an excellent platform to convert to an adventure type bike. If it was financially feasible, I think a kit with the footpeg mounting plate, shifter, etc. rig would be a good idea idea. But the truth is, if I were starting from scratch, I would have just bought a different motorcycle for this purpose. I only did this with the GS because otherwise it had no purpose for me. Now it has become redundant again.

Considering how all used motorcycles tend to drift to the same price point after so many years, I think the time is coming when a CB500X, a BMW G310GS, KTM 390 Adventure or a Versys X-300 will all be within $500 of the price of a GS500 used, and all of them are a far better choice and value if you want a 35-50 hp lightweight ADV bike.

[Sparker]

Hi, as promised, reporting back after a few almost full-day trips.

In short, after a big ride my legs don't feel like I've been crouching whole day any more and I'm satisfied with the purchase. This removes the need to buy an FZ6 Fazer, for now Also I bought the 'Coleman ATV Seat Cover' from Amazon and it makes it more comfortable for the a$$, but it also adds a bit of seat height and lets the legs be even more free.

Now in more detail:
I've purchased the 20-35 variable plate with 'Master grip' pegs, which is 147 eur. without delivery price.
I've set the foot peg to pos. 5 out of 6 of the adjustable plate and kept the original rotation downwards, since the mount joint on the frame is already angled.
The shift lever is one position down, the brake lever is all the way to the bottom.
I ride with the feet balls placed on foot pegs, and I didn't expect that the variable hinge would add so much width. I am used to pushing foot heels inwards against the metal plates but now it's not possible, although it's not much of a problem.
I feared the heel would collide with center stand but it's not an issue. Anyway I almost never place heels on the foot pegs.
Shifting and using the rear brake feels totally fine even though you can see that feet is now placed more outside.
About foot pegs themselves, they grip the boots very well, and I can't say that I feel more vibrations than before.
Also, the foot pegs can't be folded up. The hinge has a spring mechanism with a plastic washer, but still it's not enough space for the washer.

[Sparker]

Bonus: side by side comparison with the original foot peg

[Bluesmudge]

Watch your cornering clearance with those footpegs if they can't be folded up. The only bike I've ridden with non-folding footpegs is the only bike I've crashed by having a footpeg touch the pavement in a corner. A non-folding footpeg can grab the pavement and cause the bike to instantly pivot around the footpeg, sending you flying. Ask me how I know...

[Sparker]

Thanks, that's a good point, I will take a look if I can remove the spring to make it fold up more. It's not entirely fixed now, it can fold up a little bit, just not much.