Pillion Foot Pegs and Rear Cage

[Highett]

I have added a few accessories to the GTR and in most cases it seems that once fitted there is always something else that needs to be adjusted or changed.

The Rear Cage - Left and Right Side
After I fitted the canyon cages, the rear Pillion foot pegs became a problem.
For me this is not a major issue because I rarely carry a pillion however I did not want to have to remove the rear cages to make the passenger foot pegs usable in the event that I did have a pillion on a ride, sort of defeats the purpose of fitting the rear cages in the first place.

Firstly, the pillion foot pegs could not be put in the raised position because of interference from the rear cage bracket attachment at the foot peg mounting point




Secondly, the brace from the peg attachment to the cage was slightly higher than the peg, and did not allow sufficient room for a persons foot to rest comfortably on the peg.

To me I think a pillion would feel insecure with the foot pegs the way they were with the rear cages fitted.

Your heal was on the brace and the peg was not under the arch of the foot, this is demonstrated with a sneaker in the photos below.




I decided that I would try fitting a set passenger foot peg lowering links, these ones are from ProjektD
They lower the peg x 70mm and position it forward x 40mm, I figured that they would make the foot pegs usable with the rear cage fitted.

I noticed that the peg fitted loosely into the lowering link and there was a slight rattle, that would drive me mad over time.

The links came with a small piece of sticky back foam.

The supplied foam  (gray) I stuck on the side with a hole for the bolt to pass through and on the back I put a small piece of foam double sided tape (white) of the same thickness, it made the peg tight to get in place but no rattle.




Lowering Link and foot Peg fitted.

Left Side:





Right side:





My size 11 boot - Left side only:






Cheers

Paul

[pistole]

- re that last pic above : it would be terrible if the passenger's leg got trapped in that canyon cage's loop in a crash.

.

[Debs]

I had the same problem Paul. My pillion was not able to put her feet on the pegs properly and I also bought the Projektd lowering kit thinking this would be the answer.

This then caused another problem as she is a short ass and would put her feet in the canyon cage when the panniers were off because she couldn't reach the pegs comfortably. I needed to stop this so always keep the panniers on and bought these instead. They are adjustable and was able to put them in the perfect position for her.

I went for the 30mm ones but they also do a 50mm & 23mm

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=kawasaki+1400+adjustable+vario+footrests&rt=nc

You can also buy them from the manufacturers.

http://www.mfw-wolf.de/en/Vario-and-Replacement-Footpegs/Vario-Footpeg-System/Vario-Footpeg-Mounts/Vario-Pillion-Footpeg-Mounts/Vario-Pillion-Footpeg-Mounts-Kawasaki2

[Highett]

- re that last pic above : it would be terrible if the passenger's leg got trapped in that canyon cage's loop in a crash.
.

Agreed,
However the space there on the rear cage  is relatively small and I think it would be unlikely to occur
The cage is more likely to protect your leg in the event of a drop or slide by preventing your leg being trapped  under the bike

Cheers

Paul

[Highett]

I had the same problem Paul. My pillion was not able to put her feet on the pegs properly and I also bought the Projektd lowering kit thinking this would be the answer.

This then caused another problem as she is a short ass and would put her feet in the canyon cage when the panniers were off because she couldn't reach the pegs comfortably. I needed to stop this so always keep the panniers on and bought these instead. They are adjustable and was able to put them in the perfect position for her.

I went for the 30mm ones but they also do a 50mm & 23mm

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=kawasaki+1400+adjustable+vario+footrests&rt=nc

You can also buy them from the manufacturers.

http://www.mfw-wolf.de/en/Vario-and-Replacement-Footpegs/Vario-Footpeg-System/Vario-Footpeg-Mounts/Vario-Pillion-Footpeg-Mounts/Vario-Pillion-Footpeg-Mounts-Kawasaki2

Good solution there Debs, thanks for the links too

Cheers

Paul

[BigAlan]

Debs

Did you buy the rear lowering pegs from Nige last week? If so are they the ones which don't fit?

If not forget i asked the question as its early in the morning for me.

Alan

[Debs]

Debs

Did you buy the rear lowering pegs from Nige last week? If so are they the ones which don't fit?

If not forget i asked the question as its early in the morning for me.

Alan

No I didn't Alan.

I sold mine to Andy [Rossendale Rider] a while back.

[hurricane]

Highett & Debs, you've solved my dilemna... I've just ordered the pannier guards and have those peg lowers already from ProjektD, and was wondering how they will fit together. The peg lowers work well for SWMBO and she does have smallish feet, so the extra bit forward and down solves the problem, and also that of not being able to fold the pegs in when not in use. I noticed that on the PCA web site for the bars it did say that you cant fold the pegs in any more. I do think the pillion pegs are a bit small but to date the boss reckons I don't need to steal the pillion pegs off my FJR before I sell it.

[PCPeteUK]

Hi Guys,
really like Deb's neat solution and would appreciate part numbers for the pegs too in addition to the adapters but as I have just (yesterday) ordered my full set of bars I have sent Ryan at the manufacturer's the link to this discussion and asked if there is any modification they can undertake following customer feedback.

He sounds like a very fair guy when I spoke to him and I'm sure that if anything can be done for future bars they will look into it - I'm also sure he will post comment on here too 

[PCPeteUK]

Reply from MCE...
Pete,

It's okay! We appreciate all feedback and comments on our product, good or bad! Unfortunately there is no way to really "modify" the guard to fix the problem short of simply chopping off that entire supporting piece which would drastically weaken the bar. I've heard this same complaint before and the truth is, these guards were originally designed for Law Enforcement who never ride with passengers and that's why they were manufactured that way. The agency we worked with to initially design the guards wanted them that way so that's how we made them. Honestly, though, there's a bit more room there than people seem to think. I'd wait and see how your wife feels with the guards installed before making any drastic changes because she may feel that she has enough room.

With that said, we actually recently changed the design of the rear guards for the FJR1300 to give the passenger slightly more room because we were fitting up new bars for the 2013. We shifted the guard to a forward-facing 45 degree angle (so it matches the angle of the saddle bag itself), moved it back a tad, and completely removed that foot peg mounting location (we used a mounting point further back on the bike so we could retain two mounting points for the guard). You can see this latest iteration of the guard on FJROwners.com/forums under The Farkling II section under MC Enterprises Canyon Cage Design Thread. I believe it's towards the end, somewhere in the last 3-5 pages or so. People seem to prefer this design over our "current" one so we'll probably change most of our Saddle Bag Guards for the Concours and ST1300 to the newer style once the new models come out and we have to design new parts again. Unfortunately, I don't see us changing the design mid-model year, though. Since the 2012 guards for the Concours fit on the 2013, there was no reason to bring in a new Concours and change the guards. I'll chat with my tech tomorrow and see if perhaps there's something you can do, though. I'll get back to you once I have a chance to talk to him.

Thanks!

Ryan Nichols
MCE
866.886.2368

[RyanMCEnterprises]

Hey guys! I'm sorry to hear that some of you are having issues with these Saddle Bag Guards. Like I said to Pete in the email, these guards were originally designed for Law Enforcement Officers who never ride with passengers and that's how they wanted it so that's what we did. However, I don't see a reason why we can't modify the design of the guard to better accommodate passengers as long as the strength and positioning of the guard stays the same. Actually, we did just that for the new 2013 FJR1300. If you look at the photo below, you'll notice we've slightly changed the design so you can fold the peg up and down and it also gives passengers quite a bit more room while still having two mounting points so it can retain its strength. I have a feeling we'll be going with this newer design for the ST1300 and Concours 1400 once we bring the bikes in to make new guards for the new models because people really seem to prefer this new design. What do you guys think of it? I know it's for a different bike but we can always modify it slightly to fit on the Concours as well. If you guys truly prefer this new design, I'll see if I can talk the boss into using it instead of the older design.

[Debs]

Hey Ryan and welcome to this mad house 

I really like the new design. I wouldn't have had to change the pegs if I had these.

I love my engine/fairing guards but some are not keen.. Do they really look like scaffolding? 

[RyanMCEnterprises]

Hey Ryan and welcome to this mad house 

I really like the new design. I wouldn't have had to change the pegs if I had these.

I love my engine/fairing guards but some are not keen.. Do they really look like scaffolding?

Thanks for the welcome! Y'know, some people really like those guards and others don't. They protect the bike extremely well but some people really don't like how they look. The reason we made them that way is the same reason we made the Saddle Bag Guards as they are, because they were designed specifically for Law Enforcement who needed room to mount lights, sirens, baton/flashlight holders, etc. However, we recently designed a new set of guards called Canyon Cages for the 2008-2009 and 2010-2013 Concours. Have you guys seen these? They protect the bike in a very similar fashion as the Law Enforcement Guards do but they're much better looking, lower-profile, and specifically designed for civilian use. People on this side of the pond really seem to love the new Canyon Cages. They've been selling like hot cakes! In fact, we've been having trouble keeping them in stock because they've been selling so quickly. Below are a few shots for those of you who haven't seen them!

[hurricane]

Hi Ryan from MC Enterprises. They look good on the FJR - but then the bags on the FJR (I've still got my 2003 FJR, haven't sold it yet) are a much more friendly profile for the pillion - in fact it's more comfortable all round especially for the pillion, and also for the rider there is a bit more freedom to move in the saddle and so better on a long ride. But the GTR is more fun  . I digress - the FJR is much more sloped back at the bottom, so having the angles suits. The C14 might not be so friendly to this design as there isn't the same rake. But even if there is only 40mm more room to the pegs, it would help. Pity you don't have them ready yet - I've just ordered mine (and the canyon cages). Only been less than a week, but right now no stock!.

[RyanMCEnterprises]

Hi Ryan from MC Enterprises. They look good on the FJR - but then the bags on the FJR (I've still got my 2003 FJR, haven't sold it yet) are a much more friendly profile for the pillion - in fact it's more comfortable all round especially for the pillion, and also for the rider there is a bit more freedom to move in the saddle and so better on a long ride. But the GTR is more fun  . I digress - the FJR is much more sloped back at the bottom, so having the angles suits. The C14 might not be so friendly to this design as there isn't the same rake. But even if there is only 40mm more room to the pegs, it would help. Pity you don't have them ready yet - I've just ordered mine (and the canyon cages). Only been less than a week, but right now no stock!.

That's actually a very good point. The different designs of the bags from the FJR to Concours would definitely call for a slightly different for the Saddle Bag Guards. I'm not surprised that the Canyon Cages aren't currently in stock, though. Those things have been REALLY popular for us. They've been selling like hot cakes! It seems like every time we run a large batch, they're nearly all sold before we have time to finish! I keep telling my production manager that we need to run larger batches (which we will begin doing once we catch up on normal production a bit) but because of our move we're extremely backed up on other items so we have to pick our battles wisely right now.