After doing some research, I decided to add some Buell footpegs to my 2002 VFR. After installing the pegs, my first impressions were very good. I can definitely feel a difference in my knees and the bike's overall feel seems less aggressive. I'm very happy with my choice. The Buell pegs are about an inch lower than stock.
If you've been thinking about adding Buell footpegs but you can't decide to take the plunge, hopefully this little write-up will help you out. I know I was hesitant to buy the pegs because I wasn't sure what needed to be done to make the Buell footpegs fit. And to make things more difficult, nobody's posted any pictures yet of how to install the footpegs. Well, let's see if we can do something about that. :D
I believe the footpegs I used are for the Buell XB9S. The part numbers are N0520.1AD and N0521.1AD. The total cost was about $34 or so.
Now, the pegs are not a? perfect fit. As you can see in the first picture, they are shaped differently.
Also, you'll notice that the pegs are too tall.
The solution: grind the excess away! You can use a Dremel, but would take quite a bit of time (3 grinding bits and 3 hours to be exact). You could probably also use a regular file to shave down the pegs too (might be even faster than the Dremal actually. Of course, if you have a real grinder, this should only take a few minutes.
Now, the stock bolts and mounting holes are 8mm. The Buell footpegs holes are 7/16 (You can see the difference in the first picture). So, you'll need to find some bushings/sleeves to fill in the gap. You have a few different options here. The easiest way would probably be to find a bushing with a 8mm inside diameter and, using power drill increase the diameter of the Buell footget to fit the bushing. Here are some before and after pictures:
Right Peg Before.JPG
Right Peg After.JPEG
Left Peg Before.JPG
Left Peg After.JPG
Left Peg 2 Before.JPG
Left Peg 2 After.JPG
The Buell footpegs sit about an inch lower. As you can see in the next picture, the feelers on the Buell footpeg and VFR footpeg extended down to roughly the same height. Since I don't grind my pegs when I ride (I usually lean off the bike when I go around corners), I shouldn't have any ground clearance problems at all.
All that's left to do now is adjust the shifter and brake lever and we're ready to ride. The shifter is super easy to adjust. The brake lever is another matter. Since I'm not exactly sure how to adjust the brake lever and it looks like it could be messy, I left the brake lever alone (for now). Otherwise, this mod was pretty simple and straightfoward. Just be patient when grinding down the pegs, and everything should be fine. It took me about 6 hours total to install the new footpegs (using a Dremal), so it's quite possible it'll take you less time.? :P
As others noted in the original thread, a grinder or file is the best way to go. I used a Dremal and it took me hours to grind away enough metal. Others used a grinder or file and managed to grind down the pegs in only a few minutes.