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Peg feelers too long?

4.4K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  Big B  
#1 ·
I've had my Wee for around 6 months now and, maybe it's because I'm getting more comfortable on the bike, but in the last couple of weeks I've found myself regularly scraping the peg protectors on either side.

It's happening much more frequently than I ever had it happen with either my Honda Nighthawk or my Kawasaki Concours.

Is there something about the stock pegs on the DL650 that makes them more prone to scraping? And are people regularly grinding them down to prevent it?
 
#2 ·
You want that warning. It tells you you are at the edge of the envelope. The question is what is your body position? to have good clearance, your body should be leaning toward the inside of the curve more than the bike is leaning. Having your chin over the inside mirror is a good position for the street. Getting your butt off the seat to the inside and dragging a knee is a track position. Don't do that on the street as there is no margin for error.
 
#3 ·
If you have good road tyres like Pilot Road4s and like to exploit their amazing edge grip the standard footrests will hit down hard irrespective of inward body lean. If the standard feelers worry you unscrew them and replace with a short bolt so the bolt head sits just below the outer edge of the footrest.
With PR4s there is still a good safety margin when the shorter feelers touch down.
 
#4 ·
Margin of safety is what this is all about. If you are regularly dragging peg feelers there are two things to consider. First is riding style. If you are not leaning toward the inside of the turn on the bike, or worse yet leaning the bike while you are staying more upright, then I recommend you consider learning to improve technique. Second is that if you are using good riding habits and still regularly dragging pegs, SLOW DOWN! You are riding in a zone the requires absolute concentration and very good conditions. Your luck might just run out.

Peg feelers are simply there to alert the rider that they are past normal riding lean angles.
 
#5 · (Edited)
What is the length of your feelers? My 2016 wee has 12mm feelers, and the OE centerstand kit comes with a feeler, (Suzuki calls it a sensor), that is 20mm longer than stock for the left side only. I sometimes get a bit aggressive in the mountains but have not touched the right side, while I have touched the long one on the left once. (Suzuki got it just right, as the centerstand did not touch, just the tip of the feeler.)
Still on stock tires, YMMV.
 
#6 ·
I touched down on the peg feeler for the first time on the Wee a few weeks back riding the Dragon. I was over pretty hard already and the turn tighten up more then I expected. That isn't a place I need to be taking the bike on most days. I have a buddy that rides sport bikes and counts it as point of pride, but it feels pretty far out there for me.
 
#12 ·
Maybe the set up of the bike is off and he has too much sag.
BTW, what are some good sag numbers for the strom? I know 30mm is average for most street bikes, but the vstrom does have a bit more travel, and I've always heard that approximately one third of total travel is something to shoot for.
 
#9 ·
I regularly drag the left side but never the right side. My Vee was lowered in the rear when I bought it, not sure how much. It also has a center stand and the longer feeler on the left side footpeg. I plan to remove the center stand once I get a trackstand so I can replace the longer feeler with one that is the same length as the right side so hopefully neither side will drag.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
I appreciate the feedback.

To address some of the questions/comments:

TECHNIQUE: While I'm sure I could always improve, I think my lean technique is better than average. My approach when entering corners/curves is to 'lead with my chin'; look into/beyond the turn, lean into it with my upper body, etc.

NEW VS. USED: I bought the bike used, from the original owner, with around 19k miles. The PO is an engineer, and meticulously cared for his bikes (this was actually the wife's ride).

SUSPENSION: Not lowered. I've never adjusted the suspension since purchasing because A) it's felt pretty good to me all along, and B) no matter how many times I read/hear about suspension adjustment, it still seems like something of a black art to me.

TIRES: Front is still the Bridgestone TrailWing that came with the bike; it's down to the wear bar and will be replaced once I put the bike up for winter. Rear is a Shinko 705 I put on before I did a 4-day ride back in August. Maybe 2k miles on it.

PEGS: Stock, as far as I know (the PO had very detailed maintenance records, including aftermarket parts, and there was nothing there indicating replacement pegs). I don't know peg feeler length; I assume they're stock as well -- honestly, I haven't looked at them closely enough to notice if they're removable.

Another thing I noticed when it happened a couple of days ago -- it seems to occur when I'm taking a relatively sharp (90 degrees, for example) and I'm accelerating mid-turn. Perhaps the act of accelerating is causing the bike to 'squat' a bit, which could reduce clearance.
 
#13 ·
40mm is a good sag number.
 
#14 ·
All it takes is a little gravel, a little oil, and down you go in a case where you could have stayed upright.
 
#15 ·
Scraping the peg feelers isn't a problem, although a few pebbles or spilled fuel or sand can ruin the rest of your life at that point in cornering. When you corner even harder, soon you will hit down on parts like the frame and then you can easily be out of control because it takes weight (traction) away from the tires and off you go into the guard rail. On a track, you can rub pegs all day without concern, but on the street where there are repaired potholes, humps in the pavement, etc. you can be gently rubbing your pegs one moment and touch down hard the next without warning. And down you go! So leave them alone and consider it a reminder of how far over you are. You're at the practical limit of leaning on the street. And accelerating will lower the back some and help cause a scrape. I'd moderate that, too, as strong acceleration in a corner is another common way of kissing the pavement.