| Author | Message | ||
     Thetable |
After about a 500 mile ride yesterday with a nice mix of twisties and country two lanes, my knees are now killing me. The only thing I can pin it on is the heel guards force me to either sit with my toes pointed in or halfway off the pegs dragging my boots in every decent corner. I had originally though it was the peg height itself, but after having to put the Uly in the shop for two weeks, I was forced to ride my old Suzuki. The Suzuki has much higher pegs and the peg to seat height is much closer, yet I can ride all day with no knee pain. The only other difference I can come up with is my foot position, especially hanging off the saddle, puts my feet in an awkward position, and this in turn puts a rotational strain on my knee. From looking at the bike, it seems that my heel is not hitting the heel guard so much as it is hitting the aluminum above and behind the heel guard. I'm looking for possible solutions, and I'm really coming up pretty empty handed. I've thought about changing out the peg assembly from one of the other XB setups, but then I lose the luggage. I've looked at going with some pegs with less drop, but I'm afraid that will actually exacerbate the situation because my heel would hit even more squarely on the piece that is already kicking my heal out. I've though about running lower pegs, but I'm already dragging the stock pegs, so anything lower, and I'm afraid I will either lever the bike off the ground, or have to run at cruiser speeds. After more than 20k miles, I'm afraid I may have found the only real deal breaker, unless someone can give me some ideas that I haven't come up with yet. | ||
| Etennuly |
Do you place the balls of your feet on the pegs, or let the heels of your boots go against the pegs? Did you ride the 'zuki five hundred miles? On a five hundred mile ride I move around a lot so my rusted knees and junk parts do not lock up. I often sit back on the pilon and dangle my feet just to relieve the position my legs are in for a while. Looking at the big picture though, I cannot sit in a lazyboy chair in the livingroom for more than a hour without moving around, so there is no way I can expect to ride a bike for twelve hours, with heat, vibration, and the stresses involved without either moving around or suffering somewhat. I will be working on some forward peg set ups for mine this winter. | ||
| Thetable |
Most of the time it is balls of my feet. Long straight stretches I will try to move my feet forward, but they still tend to migrate back as that is where I am comfortable. I tend to move around quite a bit, going from hanging heels off the pillion pegs, to hanging legs off the pucks, but in the twisties, when the symptoms really act up, it's all balls (of my feet). The Suzi, is old, tired and busted, and I take great pride in much of that, with almost 60k on the clock, I have done more than my fair share of >500 mile days, and none of them have left me in pain the next day. | ||
| Hmartin |
I don't have any hardware ideas for you; just a friendly suggestion. Maybe it's your boots. I'm 6'-6" and find I can't leave my arches on the pegs for too long. The way my boots are cut, it makes my knees want to stick out and I get tired trying to hold them in all the time. I often shift to the balls of my feet or hang my heels off the passenger pegs for a while. That folds my knees up more, but surprisingly, alternating those 3 positions around works out really well in keeping my knees and ankles loosened up; for me, anyway. | ||
| Etennuly |
Sounds like you need longer pegs so that your feet are not turned in at all. On your 'zuki, are your feet straight ahead, or turned out? I have seen somewhere some of the after market pegs that were noticeably longer. I think there are some rubber ones on the Buell accessory site that are longer also. | ||
| Pso |
I put a set of strada hiway pegs on mine for long straight aways and hiways. I have bad knees so I need to be able to stretch them out and it was akward to plop them over the frame pucs. If you get them check the welds regulary at least the one for the cross brace at the footpeg, mine failed. | ||
| Thetable |
On the Suzuki me feet are inline with the bike. I've thought about the longer pegs, my fear is loosing clearance. The Precision Engineering pegs look to be wider by a fair bit, but they sit at the same height so that means I will be dragging them. The Buell Traction Pegs look like they might be wider, but they say specifically, no Uly. Is this just related to the position of the controls? | ||
| Thetable |
I think the boots do contribute, the boots with the molded heel cup do make the problem worse, but even with the other two pairs of boots, the problem is still there, just not to the same extent. | ||
| Conchop |
You're not the only one. Knees get achy, ass gets red, and I wonder if I'm getting old. The 06 tall seat helps but they padded the damn thing with a railroad tie. There is a triangular opening above the pegs. I tuck the heel of my boot up in there and wedge the lugs on my boots on the peg itself [ won't slip off ]. On long stretches, this position seems to help. | ||
| Nadz |
I put Uly pegs on the 12R, and got the same pigeon-toed issue. With straight pegs, your arches can sit an inch closer to the bike, by kinda also covering the pivot point. On the Uly drop pegs, your foot's arch is an inch further out, but your heels are still in the same plane. Thus, ergo, therefore: toes point outward on drop pegs. It was worth it to me to unfold my long legs just a bit, and when I'm hammering I'm on my toes anyway. Hope this made sense... Edit: I should mention that it was an xb12R. And I'm still envious of your (12X) comfort levels. (Message edited by nadz on September 15, 2009) | ||
| 12bolt |
I have the same problem, size 13 boots are the cause! I agree you can't place the balls of your feet fully on the peg or your heels hit up against the heel guard and keep you slightly pigeon toed as you describe. Not sure there is a fix, bein tall ain't all what it's cracked up to be. | ||
| Blake |
I move my feet to the passenger pegs every now and then on long rides. And stop for a break every hundred miles or so. I've not noticed any knee or other issues yet. Blake (6'-3" w/ sz 13ft) |
