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Bls Footpeg Block Install


Veefer800Canuck

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Picture001.jpg

Well, these little guys have been floating around on the top of my toolbox for quite awhile now, and this past weekend I made the effort to install them in preparation for the ride to Laguna and MotoGP Baby! :goofy:

I began on the shifter side, firstly removing the peg feeler (more on that later):

Picture002.jpg

I had to do a bit of filing to get things to fit, but my peg hangers are powdercoated, and the coating is pretty thick as compared to paint, so that was probably most of the difference right there.

13 inches to the bottom of the footpeg with the lowering block, bike on centrestand:

Picture005.jpg

And the stocker on the other side; 14.5 inches:

Picture004.jpg

Here's the difference measured at the knees:

Picture006.jpg

I then loosened the shift lever and lowered it down 2 notches on the splined shaft. It's one of those "test and try" things to see what's comfortable for you.

At first, I had only gone 1 notch, but the shifter was too high and I was constantly having to lift my foot up for downshifts. Much better now.

The next bit of trouble was the sidestand hitting the lowering block when retracted. I think someone else with the BLS blocks did this trick, so I stole the idea.

I drilled and tapped the sidestand for an M4x10mm bolt so the head would contact the sidestand stop bolted to the frame. There was a little too much clearance after that, so I strategically ground down the bolt head until the clearance was satisfactory, approx 3/8" or so:

Picture007.jpg

Picture008.jpg

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Lastly, I removed the sidestand tang as it was lightly contacting the bottom of my foot on upshifts.

The brake side was mostly Lather, Rinse, Repeat:

Picture010.jpg

You can also see that in place of the footpeg feelers, I substituted an M8 allen head bolt which I shortened so it would screw all the way in and tighten against the footpeg.

However, in order to get the brake lever down as low as possible, I had to eliminate the locknut from the brake rod (red circle) and shorten the threaded brake rod (arrow). I used a drop of locktite to keep the lever bracket from moving and as far as shortening the threaded rod, well, when I did the RC51 fork mod, I had custom fit a CBR600F4i rear master cylinder and I had left the brake rod longer than stock "just in case". In case of what, I'm not sure, but that was probably the reason it needed to be shortened in my situation:

gallery_554_564_625346.jpg

As well, the brake light switch did not have enough adjustment and the brake light was naturally on all the time, so I had to remove the switch actuating spring and stretch 2 or 3 coils, effectively making the spring longer and allowing for the light switch to perform.

One thing I have not yet done is to remove and stretch a couple of coils on the lever return spring. The brake pedal seems a tad stiff with the spring pulled more taut, owing to the lower position of the lever. Brake engagement/disengagement is fine though, I tested that by spinning the wheel on the centerstand with the bike off in neutral and also with the bike running in gear.

Final verdict: if you have knees older then 40 years and/or do a lot of LD riding, then these are the things for you. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Great product, Larry puts on a good show. There is tinkering involved, and Yes Virginia, you do lose a bit of cornering clearance, but as long as you don't ride like Rickey Racer, you'll be fine.

Oh, and keep those toes up on the pegs!

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Breaking Rule 5, tsk tsk.

Nice photo essay on this mod, very interesting to see how they install!

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Breaking Rule 5, tsk tsk.

Nice photo essay on this mod, very interesting to see how they install!

Heh, well, I tested them out before departure and all is well.

Just gotta remember to keep my toes up on the pegs in the twisties!

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  • 1 month later...

Just a bump to say how awesome these peg blocks were on the trip to Cali and back.

I was snug as a bug in a rug.

I used to have hip joint pain on long rides, some cramping, etc, but not with these babies.

I drug pegs exactly twice on the trip, once on each side. Sidestand did NOT drag ever.

I'm leaving them on full-time, I see no need to remove them when not touring.

:thumbsup: to Crazy Larry and his lowering blocks.

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  • 5 months later...
  • Member Contributer

Ricky Racer? I think you have to be over 50 to know this term. Great post and a good looking product for my forty something puck less knees. :warranty:

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest onetrack

Any one willing to give out dimensions on these blocks? I'm looking to make them myself, having some measurements will make it easier.

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Guest RWB25

Sorry, I know this is an old thread.....

Are these foot pegs available in Canada? Where did you buy them? Or did you make these yourself? I'm very interested.

Thanks.

J

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  • 2 years later...
  • Member Contributer

Lastly, I removed the sidestand tang as it was lightly contacting the bottom of my foot on upshifts.

However, in order to get the brake lever down as low as possible, I had to eliminate the locknut from the brake rod (red circle) and shorten the threaded brake rod (arrow). I used a drop of locktite to keep the lever bracket from moving and as far as shortening the threaded rod, well, when I did the RC51 fork mod, I had custom fit a CBR600F4i rear master cylinder and I had left the brake rod longer than stock "just in case". In case of what, I'm not sure, but that was probably the reason it needed to be shortened in my situati

gallery_554_564_625346.jpg

As well, the brake light switch did not have enough adjustment and the brake light was naturally on all the time, so I had to remove the switch actuating spring and stretch 2 or 3 coils, effectively making the spring longer and allowing for the light switch to perform.

One thing I have not yet done is to remove and stretch a couple of coils on the lever return spring. The brake pedal seems a tad stiff with the spring pulled more taut, owing to the lower position of the lever. Brake engagement/disengagement is fine though, I tested that by spinning the wheel on the centerstand with the bike off in neutral and also with the bike running in gear.

Final verdict: if you have knees older then 40 years and/or do a lot of LD riding, then these are the things for you. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Great product, Larry puts on a good show. There is tinkering involved, and Yes Virginia, you do lose a bit of cornering clearance, but as long as you don't ride like Rickey Racer, you'll be fine.

Oh, and keep those toes up on the pegs!

Hey,

What did you use to remove the sidestand "tang?" Would a dremel work?

Also, how did you remove the locknut from the brake rod, and is it necessary to shorten the brake rod if I have the stock master cylinder installed? In your opinion, would it be necessary to mess with (stretch) the brake light and brake lever springs if I eliminate the locknut and set the lever a bit lower to accomodate the lowering pegs?

Thanks!

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Hey,

What did you use to remove the sidestand "tang?" Would a dremel work?

Probably, but an angle grinder with a ZipCut disc is so much more effective, followed by a trip against the bench grinder and some spray paint.

Also, how did you remove the locknut from the brake rod, and is it necessary to shorten the brake rod if I have the stock master cylinder installed? In your opinion, would it be necessary to mess with (stretch) the brake light and brake lever springs if I eliminate the locknut and set the lever a bit lower to accomodate the lowering pegs?

Thanks!

You need to remove the pin (gold thing in the pic) and thread the upside down "U" shaped swivel connector to take the locknut off.

Not sure of it would be required with the stock rear master cylinder or not. As I mentioned in my post, I had an F4i rear master due to my brake delinking, and the pushrod was WAY longer than the VFR one. I shortened it, but left it a tad long "just in case". Can always go shorter, but mighty tough to lengthen!

So, you MIGHT get away with just removing the locknut, if you run out of adjustment on the black swivel piece (meaning the threaded rod contacts the bottom of the upside-down "U" shaped swivel piece) than you might have to shorten the pushrod.

You might have enough adjustment on the barrel of the brake light switch, you can thread the plastic adjuster wheel to make/break where the light comes on when you depress the pedal, so by doing that, maybe you can get the brake light to work.

You'll have to look at it all once it's installed and figure out from there which way you need to go.

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Hey,

What did you use to remove the sidestand "tang?" Would a dremel work?

Probably, but an angle grinder with a ZipCut disc is so much more effective, followed by a trip against the bench grinder and some spray paint.

Also, how did you remove the locknut from the brake rod, and is it necessary to shorten the brake rod if I have the stock master cylinder installed? In your opinion, would it be necessary to mess with (stretch) the brake light and brake lever springs if I eliminate the locknut and set the lever a bit lower to accomodate the lowering pegs?

Thanks!

You need to remove the pin (gold thing in the pic) and thread the upside down "U" shaped swivel connector to take the locknut off.

Not sure of it would be required with the stock rear master cylinder or not. As I mentioned in my post, I had an F4i rear master due to my brake delinking, and the pushrod was WAY longer than the VFR one. I shortened it, but left it a tad long "just in case". Can always go shorter, but mighty tough to lengthen!

So, you MIGHT get away with just removing the locknut, if you run out of adjustment on the black swivel piece (meaning the threaded rod contacts the bottom of the upside-down "U" shaped swivel piece) than you might have to shorten the pushrod.

You might have enough adjustment on the barrel of the brake light switch, you can thread the plastic adjuster wheel to make/break where the light comes on when you depress the pedal, so by doing that, maybe you can get the brake light to work.

You'll have to look at it all once it's installed and figure out from there which way you need to go.

Thanks for responding so quickly! Don't have an angle grinder, so I'll see what I can use to cut the tang off.

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Thanks for responding so quickly! Don't have an angle grinder, so I'll see what I can use to cut the tang off.

$29.99 at Pimps 'n Queers:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00912794000P?keyword=angle+grinder

That's how I get tools. Just buy 'em when you need 'em and sometime later on, they're always right at hand!

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My dad had a machinist friend from work make something similar for his (now mine) Gen5 back when he had it in '98-02. the milled aluminum piece went straight down at the same forward angle as the peg bracket naturally is cut out at. This set you have seems to be even further forward with that offset built in. With his he never had any issue with the kickstand hitting although it was too hard to deploy in my opinion. The other issue he had was that the shifter was now too close to the peg so he ended up cutting/shortening it and splinting it which made it a little shorter throw but not quite so close to the peg. It wasn't an issue to move it down -it was just too long still. The brake side he just heated up with a torch and bent to fit.

When I bought the bike I was touching down all the time in slow parking-lot manuevers. The VFR turns like a fat pig at slow speed because of the lack of steering lock and you really need a lot of lean angle (and often counter-leaning with your body) to get it lean over enough to U-turn like other bikes with decent steering lock. This would cause the pegs to really drag in the parking lot so after a couple of weeks I just took them out.

I still would drag the pegs with the stock set-up though until I swapped the rubber-topped pegs to the all-aluminum ones from a Gen1. I kept the shorter peg feelers of the Gen1 on there so now they hardly ever touch down. I don't have that rubber bumper on the C-stand so it doesn't touch down either.

I think with regards to touching down the pegs or other semi-hard stuff (stands) it's all about how you ride. I'm not a "fast rider" on the public roads but I do tend to lean a lot to get the bike to turn at slow speeds. I also ride mostly on slow-speed tight town back roads where a marked 15 or 20MPH turn will have you rubbing pegs at anything over 55-60MPH. I get my yayas off on roads like that. Doing 100-120+ sweepers on county roads just isn't good for your personal health or your license IMHO.

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Thanks for responding so quickly! Don't have an angle grinder, so I'll see what I can use to cut the tang off.

$29.99 at Pimps 'n Queers:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00912794000P?keyword=angle+grinder

That's how I get tools. Just buy 'em when you need 'em and sometime later on, they're always right at hand!

Yeah, that's a good idea. I didn't know they could be had that cheap. I don't have a bench grinder, so I may have to get one of those too.

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How much are the blocks selling for?

They be $90 shipped. And I must say that BLS is a cool dude. I bought a set a couple of months ago, but returned them when it looked like I was going to have to modify my bike more than I wanted to in order to accomodate my long ass legs (e.g., lower shifter, lower rear brake, modify kickstand, and possibly trim fairings so my shins don't hit). BLS was very cool about taking the product back and refunding my money. Then, a couple of weeks ago, after getting my fill of discomfort while riding, I PM'd him to see if he'd be gracious enough to sell me another pair, and he did. Just wanted to get this out there.

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Thanks for responding so quickly! Don't have an angle grinder, so I'll see what I can use to cut the tang off.

$29.99 at Pimps 'n Queers:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00912794000P?keyword=angle+grinder

That's how I get tools. Just buy 'em when you need 'em and sometime later on, they're always right at hand!

Yeah, that's a good idea. I didn't know they could be had that cheap. I don't have a bench grinder, so I may have to get one of those too.

$29 at K-mart? I don't shop at K-mart. I quit buying Craftsman once K-mart bought them out. For K-mart quality one might as well pay Harbor Freight prices. Their angle grinder is regularly under $19, and I've seen it on sale for $9.99. It's pretty much indestructible. I think HF and K-mart pretty much have their stuff made at the same factories in China. I avoid the middleman and buy straight from China.inc/HF.

Electric tools are OK but the real power is in using pneumatic tools. If you have a decent air compressor I'm a big fan of the low-cost HF China-Pneumatic line of air tools. The air angle grinder is pretty slick. Much better than an electric grinder other than you are tied to the air line rather than an electrical cord.

With the China-Pneumatic tools you just have to have a few extra O-rings on hand as they don't last as long before the first rebuild compared to the 10x the $ version like real Chicago-Pneumatic or Ingersoll-Rand. But if you clean up the rough spots inside while you are rebuilding with new O-rings they'll last nearly as long between rebuilds as their high-$ cousins. Air tools are dead simple devices IMHO.

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  • 1 year later...
  • Member Contributer

I just installed a set on my '98 & am having some of the same issues with them as other members have had. At the point, it's abit disappointing.

First though, there is a right & left side with these blocks & they will only install one way, correct?

One issue I'm facing is the kick stand hitting the block. I'm considering checking with a local welder to find out if a bead of weld(is there is such a thing?) or some object can be welded to the kick stand to prevent this unwanted contact. Does anyone here have welding expience to know if this is possible? If so, does it seem to be a good solution? I'm thinking that if the object is too thick, I could grind/file it down till I'm satisfied with the kick stands position when up.

Also, can anyone tell me if the stand is difficult to remove/install on a '98?

And the brake pedal is another issue. What needs to be done to remove the nut to provide more adjustment?

TIA.

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Not that this helps any of you guys that are having problems, but I had no issues with these whatsoever on my 6th gen. Just bolt in, adjust shifter and brake pedals, adjust brake sensor, and that's it. Must be a 5th gen only thing.

Mike

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OK Chuck, here is a little more info on the sidestand mod, and how I accomplished it. The brake pedal mod is covered in detail in my 1st post, basically involves shortening the brake rod and removing the jam nut to make more room to adjust the brake pedal downwards.

As always, you must ensure your own safety and be certain that your brake performance is reliable and functioning 100%. [/disclaimer]

gallery_554_564_53187.jpg

Picture007

gallery_554_564_15909.jpg

Picture008

Hope that helps.

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Thanks Veefer but I DID understand that much from your first very well written & illustrated post. Doing it that way is beyond my capabilities though. And I think it would be easier & cheaper to pay someone to put a bead of weld or weld something in that same area to accomplish the same thing your bolt does.

One thing I am able to do is simply put a thick layer of electrical tape on the stand where it contacts the peg block which I'm considering doing at this point. That way,at least, it won't be metal to metal & they won't mar each other up.

With the brake pedal, I believe I understand how to take it apart to remove one of the nuts on the rod. But I can't quite picture how that will provide more adjustment for the pedal to be lowered though. It seems to me it would have the opposite effect. But I'm rather simple minded these days. It's probably one of those things which once I have it apart it will make perfect sense.

Can you confirm for me though that these blocks are NOT identical to each other? In other words, one will only fit on the right side & the other will only fit on the left side.

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As always, Rob, very informative, great pics, and well written. I give it 4.5 William and Kate's out of 5!

Yes I agree... I'm always impressed with Rob's level of help and if he ever returns to Laguna Seca I owe him dinner at Bubba Gumps and a test hop on you know who...

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