Scraping Pegs

[ZooTech]

So what am I doing "wrong"?

Absolutely nothing. You seem to enjoy riding, whatever style that may be or however "aggressive" that might be, so you're doing nothing "wrong". Just know that your bike is capable of leaning further than some of the appendages will allow.

[sapaul]

You know that bit on the form that asks " hero pegs, yes or no". You must have ticked NO everytime.

[bikeguy joe]

Hey guys, my "chicken strips" are only a quarter inch wide.....maybe I'll try a little harder.

In all honesty, I've never been a "sport rider" or like I said "overly aggressive".

I've only wrecked two bikes in my life, both when I was a much younger guy and both times were due to shear stupidity on my part, both times were 20+ years ago. Maybe I "toned down" my riding style a bit after the three broken vertibrea in my neck kept me off a bike for a year. It was either that, the tickets, or the fact that I got married and she said "If you keep this up, you'd better get some good life insurance."

Seriously.

[ronboskz650sr]

If you shift your body weight to the inside of the turn, you decrease the likely hood of scraping. The more you lean, the less the bike has to. Some bikes are modified with rearsets that put those pieces higher. If the bike was designed with the footpegs to scrape as the warning, scraping rearsets can cause some problems! The lean angle necessary to do it may exceed your tires' ability to hold you on the road. The weight of the rider affects ground clearance, too. It's good to recognize the sound, and feel of a scraping peg, But personally I think it should be avoided on public roads, as it indicates you are getting close to the traction limit of your bike's design. Exceeding that limit on a highway, can be alot worse than doing it at the track.

I try to minimize my lean angle on public roads. It gives me a margin for error (from the other guy) that I like. I regularly take the 30 mph curves at 65-70, but I lean in to keep the bike in the highest possible traction position for that curve, not standing up by any means, but just leaning well within the design limits. Not knee-dragging (who knows what speed that would have to be) just shifting body weight to put my head outside where the inside mirror used to be before I put the bar-ends on. This lets me have lots of fun, but feel safer at the same time...we have a large percentage of drivers crossing the yellow line out here...cell phones, makeup, you name it. Even in the garbage truck I meet many cars on my side of the road every day out in the country. I want some turning capability in both directions, in case I need it.

[bikeguy joe]

Hey Ron- They got me wondering, and now I want to try to scrape the pegs! If I lean to the outside will this help?

Seriously, I was just saying that in 25+ years on the road, I never scraped anything. I don't exactly ride like an old lady (my apologies to any of the senior lady riders out there) but I can't see where laying the bike that low in a corner (even in the city) is of any benefit.

A lean angle that low would indicate either racing speeds (that's a no-no) or a propensity toward uh, "showing off".

Oh boy.....flame away people.

[bikeguy joe]

....not that "showing off" is a bad thing, after all, we ride motorcycles.

I'm really questioning my riding technique. Maybe I am leaning too much for my given speed? Maybe I just don't want to bust my "O Ring"? Still, I'm going to try to drag something today. I'll let you all know the results.

[sapaul]

Really no need Joe, some bikes have sharper lean angles than others, looking at Zoo's mean streak that can not be more than 40* while a sport bike may have as much as 50*. Go over the limit on the sport bike and you are off, on the mean streak you will have scraped off several thousands of dollars of metal before she goes.

[ZooTech]

I'm really questioning my riding technique. Maybe I am leaning too much for my given speed? Maybe I just don't want to bust my "O Ring"? Still, I'm going to try to drag something today. I'll let you all know the results.

You don't have to be going fast to do it. I scrape 'em at parking lot speeds all the time. Admittedly sometimes I do it just because I can, but the Dragon was another story...

Really no need Joe, some bikes have sharper lean angles than others, looking at Zoo's mean streak that can not be more than 40* while a sport bike may have as much as 50*. Go over the limit on the sport bike and you are off, on the mean streak you will have scraped off several thousands of dollars of metal before she goes.

That's very true. My pegs hit just about the same time I'm at the edge of the shoulder on my rear tire, so they kinda act as warning indicators saying, "I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain! Any more and she's gonna blow!"

I had roughly 1/2" wide chicken strips when we left for Deal's Gap, but after stretching the springs on my pegs a bit (and squeezing my boot against the frame in the process) the strips were completely gone afterwards. For a crotch rocket with stickier tires and higher pegs, you'll definitely need to put your knee down to do the same, so you'd have to be really aggressive like this guy:



Notice how he's at the very edge of usable tread. If he leaned any further, the only thing touching the ground would be the lettering!

Sounds like fun!

[Skier]

....not that "showing off" is a bad thing, after all, we ride motorcycles.

I'm really questioning my riding technique. Maybe I am leaning too much for my given speed? Maybe I just don't want to bust my "O Ring"? Still, I'm going to try to drag something today. I'll let you all know the results.

I think that if you haven't had a problem cornering in 25+ years of riding, your technique is probably perfectly acceptable.

I believe there is nothing wrong with leaning over quite a bit. It just means you have lean angle (thus turning ability) left over for emergencies, which is exactly what you want on the street.

[bikeguy joe]

Thanks guys, I was obviously pulling a few legs on some of my posts...I really haven't tried to scrape 'em too hard. I like the margin of safety. My Volusia has pretty high cornering clearance for a cruiser I guess.

I did try a little harder today, and by putting the heal of my boot out as a "pre-feeler" I found I was a lot closer to scraping them than I thought. (really close a lot of the time, in fact).

I also found that I was indeed going slower than the lean angle dictated and if I carried a bit more speed, or apexed a little later, then leaned more agressively, I could lean lower through the corners. The fun factor went up, but as far as "better cornering" goes, my "technique" is A-O.K.

I don't think "scaping the pegs" should be a priority for the newb however.....