Repositioning foot pegs with GS brackets R1150R

[davesbmw]

I have been looking into using 1150 GS footpeg brackets to relocate the riders pegs forward and down. It looks like you would have to cut out about an inch and weld them to raise the lower section an inch. If you find used ones with the brake and shift levers you should be able to use them without modification. This would place the pegs in about the same position as an older airhead. Has anyone done this or looked into it? My present bikes are a 2003 1150 r and a 2004 1150
Thanks for you thoughts,
D2

[macx]

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=1303 ... fa7678f6bb

Not a very comprehensive A to B write-up, but you can glean all the info you need.

In short, why YESSS, I've done just that! And would do it again in a heartbeat.
Not without a couple minor problems but nothing close to a show stopper.

Used GS rider pegs & brackets, full GS rear brake lever assembly, full GS shifter
assembly - bolts right up to the r1150r shift lever coming out of the trans, retained
the stock rear brake master cyl and used the longer GS rod as provided by
the very helpful Beemerboneyard who told me how to do that part of it. He
pointed out also that the R rear master cylinder is actually larger in diameter -
and therefore volume - than the GS cylinder, so best to keep the master cylinder
that was designed for the R rear brakes. Didn't even have to disconnect the rear
brake line, left it hooked to the cylinder, mounted the cylinder on the bracket and
used that as a "handle" to help with leverage for gently rebending some of the curves
in the line cuz the GS bracket mounts the cylinder in a more upright position.

Slight problem with the toe loop on the sidestand - just massaged it to the rear a
little. Took a few times to get used to hooking it with my toe, now no problems.

Little bigger problem with the toe thing on the center stand - had to massage it
a little to the rear and towards the outside so it would clear the footpeg - I haven't
quite got it right yet so the stand is held down about 1/2" from normal position and
the tip of the toe thing lightly contacts my left heel, but am used to it now and
don't even notice it. Going to work on that when I have more time.

The big thing is comfort - puts the rider's pegs down and forward about 2" each,
sure makes it more comfortable on my old knees! Have a couple times on real
sharp left turns drug the left footpeg lightly when on a slanted road, so now I
just don't put my toe under hte shifter when in a turn like that.

Got the whole setup from Beemerboneyard at a reasonable price.
Serious improvement in knee and leg comfort!

PM me with any questions not answered in that mess of files in the write-up

[davesbmw]

Macx
Thanks for the post , alot of very usefull info there.Nice to have some one that has done this and willing to share the feedback. IT looks like one might cut out about an inch of the lower section of the GS bracket and reweld it to help with clearance of pegs. Do you know if these brackets are alumn. or magnesium? Great write up will be in touch when I get my parts. I have tried using suburban machinery lowering system but not happy with the position left with.
Good riding
davesbmw

[macx]

Not quite sure I understand what you mean by reworking the lower part of the bracket to help with
peg clearance?

Before massaging it a little, the center stand toe lever came up pretty much right under the peg, so the peg
would have to be moved up quite a bit to get away from it - sort of defeating some of the purpose
(lowering the pegs). If you're thinking of moving the peg ahead, that might really mess up the positional
relationship between the pegs and the shift and brake levers, which would actually happen if you moved
the pegs up, too, I guess, depending on where you did the cut etc.

Not sure of the mat'l tho I would guess an aluminum alloy. A commonly used automotive aluminum
alloy (if I recall) is 4043 and filler metal is readily available for tig welding, the only way to work with
that kind of mat'l. (I'm a certified welding inspector (I've looked into it for reasons of possibly modifying
an automotive cast alum efi intake manifold)

Anyway - when I started to study the problem, I found the travel arc of that lever is such that the only
way to get it away from the peg without cutting and rewelding the last couple inches on the end to change
the angle at that point was to bend the outer end of it to the rear when it's in the up position.
However, when the stand is down, too much rearward bending and the stand would tilt foward too much,
I don't think the stand would stay up because the load on it wouldn't "over center" - for lack of a better term -
and therefore I doubt it would stay locked in the upright position.

Also, moving the outer end of the lever outwards helps but doesn't get it out from under the peg.
So, so far I've done a little of both. Might end up cutting just the last couple inches of that lever off
and rewelding into a more outward angle. That wouldn't mess up the down position of the stand and
would also get it away from hitting the back of the footpeg. Gonna probly try that shortly - the fat
lady is scheduled to sing for me this coming Friday (getting laid off) so will be home and have time
to do thngs like this. Hopefully a couple months off, but more hopefully, will find another job
within 4 to 5 months. I'm a Quality Assurance (for the owner) manager for large construction
projects - mostly power plants, working on contract not directly for the owner, so always working
my way out of a job and usually living some distance from home. So there's always a backlog of thngs
to do when I do get some time off between jobs.

Anyway - my email is [email protected] if you want to stay in touch & I'll let you know probly
within a couple weeks what I end up doing to solve that little problem. The pics will even be free :-)

I'd also be hesitant to cut into any of those brackets, you'd have to have a welder that really knows how
to work with aluminum to make a weld that won't come apart - also then it could be a challenge to
finish the part so the rework doesn't show, at least not significantly.

If it isn't aluminum and is a more "exotic" material, then you REALLY have problems finding a welder
qualified to work with it. Not many guys around that know how and have worked with the more
exotic metals and alloys - VERY touchy and takes a lot of very specific procedural controls.

Good luck, stay in touch if you'd like.

[REFFI]

I, too have old, recalcitrant knees. When I bought my '04, I was faced with a long ride home from N. California to S. California. Fortunately, I was able to take the journey in stages. Durning my initial day's ride (Petaluma to San Luis Obispo), I discovered that the pegs were too high and too far back for me to be comfortable for long, and the seat was an unforgiving slab. (I'm 6'1" and gravitationally challenged.) I made the ride home from SLO with lots of rest stops. The bike already had bar risers, which helped. I brought it in to the dealer for installation of a peg lowering kit and made an appointment with Bill Mayer Saddles for a ride-in seat fitting. After installatioin of the seat, and with the new pegs and shifter (the shifter is stainless steel, by the way), the ugly traffic in S. Calif. allowed my to stay in my seat for three hours between gas stops. Some drawbacks with the new pegs:

1. I have very large feet and tend to ride with the heel of my boot against the peg. Turns do not become peg scrapers, but foot scrapers. I'm trying to retrain myself that when the road begins to curve, I have to pull my feet back on the pegs.

2. It is completely impossible for me to depress the centerstand tab with my foot. I have taken to carrying a folding carpenter's rule in my tank bag. I unfold it to sufficiently reach the centerstand tab, depress it far enough to get my foot onto it under the peg and stand the bike up that way.

i forget what th pegs cost me, but no cutting or bending was required to install them. I did have the shift lever break (turned out to be inferior steel) which the manufacturer replaced free.

Ralph

[Holtster]

I installed the Suburban Machinery foot peg lowering kit and it fixed the knee issue. I also have the high seat which helped as well. The only issue with the high seat is that I am on tip toes at a stop. The lowered foot pegs conflict with the ability to use the center stand...the folding ruler sounds like an interesting option. Right now I have to reach down and raise the foot peg with my hand and try to put my foot on the center stand at the same time...very unstable movement.

That said I have no knee pain which makes riding my 2004 r1150r a dream come true.