Forward mount and clip ons? Feedback sought.

[brad black]

being italian orientated, i really don't ride anything extreme "chopper" wise. ridden a lot of californias over the years, and 20 years ago quite a few of the bmw r1200c, and nowadays a few diavels.

what do those who ride these things often think of the riding position below?

 

[DesmoDog]

I rode a bike set up something like that and couldn't wait to get off of it. First turn out of the driveway I knew it wasn't for me. But then I'm more familiar with a certain Italian brand too so am not the target audience I suppose.

I can think of another site you could ask on... though I already know the answer you'd get there. ;-)

 

[pidjones]

Honda CTX much?

 

[brad black]

don't know what that is.

 

[Maritime]

I personally hate it, 5 mins on a bike setup like that and I want off. I stop and put my feet down then start out and my feet want the pegs below my knee not stuck out front. Wind and bugs blow up your pant legs, its uncomfortable and the bike handles like crap. But loads of folks love it.

 

[cb360j]

With handlebars up higher, like mini apes or something its actually comfortable for long rides. But even with ape hangers I prefer mid controls. On that bike, please don't.

 

[canyoncarver]

It won't take long before you won't like it. Do what you wanna do but imho it's the wrong machine to setup like that.

 

[Garc]

Do some time studies where you'd need to bail off the bike to save your life in both positions and let us know what you come up with.

Falling on your side is not a proper bail FYI, think of it as a ghost ride where you continue running or at least use arms to prevent yourself from eating too much ground.

 

[irk miller]

Honda CTX. Notice the location of the pegs.

 

[Maritime]

Yep, they're in a total shit place LOL. I sat on one of those in the dealer, they suck.

 

[pidjones]

Yep, they're in a total shit place LOL. I sat on one of those in the dealer, they suck.

Would love to try the DCT, though!

 

[brad black]

I rode a bike set up something like that and couldn't wait to get off of it. First turn out of the driveway I knew it wasn't for me. But then I'm more familiar with a certain Italian brand too so am not the target audience I suppose.

I can think of another site you could ask on... though I already know the answer you'd get there. ;-)

i figure if jag's allowed that yellow piece of shit, this couldn't be that bad. ;D

 

[brad black]

comments pretty much as expected i guess. i have sometimes sat in that position on things with clip ons for a joke, but never ridden anything like it. i used to put my feet up on top of the crash bars on my old eldorado at times when cruising, and that wasn't so bad. but i was younger then.

i have the front fairing that is really too small for one of these in any normal sense, and needs clip ons to sit anywhere near sensible, so i was hoping to clear out some stuff in one go. of course, the clip ons needed would probably cost more than the fairing did, but i don't need to explain cost logic to anyone here.

it doesn't really need to be that practical either. mostly it's being done for the sake of it. see, i'm talking myself into it. normally i'm not so inclined to listen to myself. and, realistically, if i do it and only have to ride it 100 metres before i stop and get off and think "well, that's fucking horrible", i've only got myself to blame.

also, with the bulge in the side of the tank, i either need my feet in the original position (or back, like one of my other monsters) or forward like this for my knees to clear. i was thinking tracker with mid-ish controls, but the tank is a pita shape wise for that, making my knees poke out the side. that's the real issue and stimulus here. the shape of the tank and moving footrest position.

i could go an older ss tank i have and modify it, but that's a lot of custom work and involving professionals to make stuff look not like a moron butchered it. i have one of those handy, but i'd rather use him for worthwhile stuff.

i do have a tdm850 18" front wheel for it, so the front will be a touch higher. and i can do what i need with the rear shock.

 

[brad black]

I personally hate it, 5 mins on a bike setup like that and I want off. I stop and put my feet down then start out and my feet want the pegs below my knee not stuck out front. Wind and bugs blow up your pant legs, its uncomfortable and the bike handles like crap. But loads of folks love it.

yeah, every time i ride a diavel i have to look for the pegs. i will probably want to onsell it, and my track record with doing mods to hurt resale is so strong that this couldn't hurt anymore than the typical seemingly useful stuff i normally do.

 

[brad black]

With handlebars up higher, like mini apes or something its actually comfortable for long rides. But even with ape hangers I prefer mid controls. On that bike, please don't.

why not this bike? these things are all i have.

 

[brad black]

Do some time studies where you'd need to bail off the bike to save your life in both positions and let us know what you come up with.

Falling on your side is not a proper bail FYI, think of it as a ghost ride where you continue running or at least use arms to prevent yourself from eating too much ground.

interesting take on it. how to fall off a bike is not something i usually consider when getting on.

and i tend not to fall off. historically, i'm much more a "straight into the side/back of shit" kind of crasher.

 

[brad black]

Honda CTX. Notice the location of the pegs.

they are kind of interesting. very lounge-ish. one for the chilled gent.

 

[spotty]

they are kind of interesting. very lounge-ish. one for the chilled gent.

or taking into account the only one i've seen on the road, "one for the lieing on his side under the bike gent", downhill sharp left turn on gravel....didn't end well

i helped him and the bike up and even through the tinted visor i could see the bright red glow of hideous embarrassment

 

[brad black]

i recall the r1200c used to make me feel a bit odd leaning over with my feet forward. i was doing a fair bit of track work at the time, so it just felt wrong.

 

[brad black]

i had a bit of a play with dave yesterday. the forks in it were from another bike, so they had to come out and the forks for this one are now in it. they must be a touch longer, because the front wheel is not as close to the lower triple at full compression. well, collapsed, i just undid the caps. not sure where the cartridges would actually stop it, maybe i need to check that.

assuming 100mm of total travel at each end, and with 30mm or so sag with me on it, it'd sit like this. i was going to fit a horizontal header pipe from a mts620 that runs along the rh side of the motor, so there'd be no header under it. and given the minimum travel points won't have changed and the front has the forks pushed down as far as they can (we used to do that to settle them down a bit) and it has a bigger front wheel the minimum ground clearance shouldn't be any sort of issue.

i think it's going to end up with original footrests, as much as i hate the idea. the forward mounts would need to be level with the front of the engine to work. the contoured side of the tank controls where my legs and thereby feet can end up, and mid mounts would have to be rather low to fit my legs on. custom tank maybe, but i'm not a panel work kind of bloke, so that sort of stuff is a farm out for me. mid-ish mount might work bolted to the side of the engine, but on the rh side it'll be in the same place as the header pipe wants to be.

handlebars i think i'll need some high rise clip ons, the fairing can't work any other way. might have to make some - i'm sure it can't be that hard. they need to sit out the side to clear the top triple, which is kind of bulky, so anythign off the shelf either fits crap or just doesn't. some nice swan neck sorts of things with 130mm rise would be in about the same place as std handle bars.

overall, an afternoon spent looking at it and thinking has given me enough to think about to put it back against the wall for a while. probably a long while.