So I notice that when I corner sometimes I manage to scrape my toes and pegs.  I have a tendency to corner hard, fast and sharp.  Bike is all stock and feels stable and comfortable when I corner.  How do racers prevent scraping of anything other than a knee when taking tight corners?  It's kinda creepy feeling and I'm sure dangerous to have something like a foot or a peg hit the ground.  Do rear sets on race bikes sit up higher?  Could it be my foot position?  Would changing my rear sets out help?

I beleave pegs are moved up on race bikes someone correct me if im wrong.

a set of aftermarket rearsets would solve that problem.  you may be able to make an adjustable rearset bracket, assuming you could still reach the shifter and rear brake

Body positioning is a big part of it - if you get your body further inside the corner, the bike does not have to come over as far. Hang off.

IMHO, for a street bike, if you are touching pegs, that's your warning to back it off a touch. The pegs are hinged precisely so that they are not very hazardous to touch, but if you lean much further, you will get to hard parts touching. Search my old/early posts for a detailed explanation of what hard parts touching leads to (in that case, a poorly designed case protector/highway bar.)

While you can move the pegs, that will also reduce (or eliminate) your warning band, where you have something scraping but it's not prying you off the road. OK on the racetrack, perhaps, but not a good plan on the road.

If you are riding aggressively you should keep the balls of your feet on the pegs and slide forward to shift or brake. 

-Jessie

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on October 05, 2009, 05:16:34 PMIf you are riding you should keep the balls of your feet on the pegs and slide forward to shift or brake. 

Fixed.

Three things keep the scraping to a minimum:
-Higher controls (the centerstand will probably be limiting on a GS).
-Body positioning.
-Line.  Taking a line lets you carry the same speed with less lean angle.

If you scrape the centerstand, it's not as forgiving as the pegs, and can potentially lever your rear tire off of the ground.  Even lightly scraping isn't good, as bumps happen in the road and can take you from light scrape to solidly planted rather quickly.  The latter two are more where you get your happy buffer out on the street.

Also, the stock spring is really soft, so using it you are already closer to the ground.  I try to hang off a little (or a lot ) when I ride and keep the bike as upright as possible - seems to me you would want the largest contact patch on the road anyway (yes I know that some tires have different compounds, but I'm speaking generally), plus I think its fun.

Edit:  I know there are other reasons why a soft spring is not as good... they just escape me at the moment.  I think one of them is that when you are at an angle the spring can't keep the tire planted as firmly... anyone with more experience/knowledge please correct/add this other info.

First thing a racer will probably tell you:

Point your toes back in, Flipper.

Track times are usually shaved by a handful of seconds because of the ergonomics that come from pointing your toes INWARD. Your feet should never scrape the ground, even if your pegs and drag indicators are throwing sparks. If your feet are hitting anything, you probably look like a big goofy duck riding a motorcycle.

Quote from: NF11624 on October 05, 2009, 06:11:23 PM
when I ride and keep the bike as upright as possible - seems to me you would want the largest contact patch on the road anyway (yes I know that some tires have different compounds, but I'm speaking generally), plus I think its fun.

Just because you're up and down doesn't mean you have the largest contact patch on the ground.  That's not how it works.

You're right of course, but being more upright gives you more access to the tire than being more over (or else we would never lowside right?).  I defer to those with more experience though - I've never had to touch a knee to get through a turn on my GS and have quarter inch strips on my tires (this set anyway).

+1 on hanging off, but I will call it 'shifting weight'.  If you're consistently dragging a peg, then there is likely a problem with your body position.  When cornering, your body weight should be shifted to the inside of the turn.  If you stay straight up in the saddle, your bike will actually lean further to make the turn...dragged pegs.   Even if you're only shifting your upper body, it will improve your cornering clearance.


If you're doing it right, you should drag knee before pegs.

If you're over at about a 45 degree angle, your suspension is loaded up about 40% more. If you increase the preload on the rear shock, and maybe fit stiffer springs in front you will get more cornering clearance. Apart from that its about how you ride, as others have said.
Personally I don't move my body much and if my feet or pegs touch, I take it as a warning. There's too many potholes, bumps and unpredictable surfaces to push it harder than that on the road IMHO.

Quote from: oramac on October 06, 2009, 05:37:39 PM
+1 on hanging off, but I will call it 'shifting weight'.  If you're consistently dragging a peg, then there is likely a problem with your body position.  When cornering, your body weight should be shifted to the inside of the turn.  If you stay straight up in the saddle, your bike will actually lean further to make the turn...dragged pegs.   Even if you're only shifting your upper body, it will improve your cornering clearance.


If you're doing it right, you should drag knee before pegs.

listen to this guy....  This is spot-on correct! 

Quote from: RyanMidd on October 06, 2009, 04:20:28 PM
First thing a racer will probably tell you:

Point your toes back in, Flipper.

Track times are usually shaved by a handful of seconds because of the ergonomics that come from pointing your toes INWARD. Your feet should never scrape the ground, even if your pegs and drag indicators are throwing sparks. If your feet are hitting anything, you probably look like a big goofy duck riding a motorcycle.

As I have read GP racers us their toe sliders as the maximum limit of lean angle, I would think you would want that marker there.  But that also comes with the requirement that you are positioned right.  The last track day I was at I scraped both sides of the center stand, both foot pegs, the right tor slider, and the sole of that boot.  No knee dragging though, so I need to either get off the bike more or something else is wrong.  Pictures are forth coming....