Toe dragging

[Fyrfyghtr]

Me and my big foot. Atleast it's not in my mouth as usual.

When I am in the twisties coming up thru the gears my left boot being under the shifter will drag. Now I bet that if my toe finds small pothole it will hurt. I dont think there is a peg lowering kit installed, the pegs look stock to me. It's probably just these 13s that I am wearing.

 

[user 28803]

Probably, lol. Thursday evening I did the same thing and i realized my left foot was pointed down/out more than usual for some strange reason. And my pegs are definitely stock. I was a bit surprised.

 

[SacramentoMike]

There are a number of steps in preparing for a curve, as taught by the Lee Parks "Total Control" riding clinics. Step ONE, paraphrasing, is to move your inside foot back with the ball of your foot on the peg. Never drag the toe again.

 

[user 28803]

Yup, definitely the right thing to do. I've got the book but haven't finished reading it (will do and soon).

 

[madmike2]

There are a number of steps in preparing for a curve, as taught by the Lee Parks "Total Control" riding clinics. Step ONE, paraphrasing, is to move your inside foot back with the ball of your foot on the peg. Never drag the toe again.

Yup!!!

You'll have more control of your bike and more ground clearance with the foot position mentioned by Mike (via Lee Parks).

Or slow down so you won't have to lean as far. :blink:

Since it's been the personal experience of many here. Especially those of us with normal shoe sizes (12-14) rather than the "petite" sizes other owners have.

 

[Smooth14u2]

There are a number of steps in preparing for a curve, as taught by the Lee Parks "Total Control" riding clinics. Step ONE, paraphrasing, is to move your inside foot back with the ball of your foot on the peg. Never drag the toe again.

Yup, Yup :clapping:

 

[ULEWZ]

Set rear lever on hard and get shorter (5/8 in.) dogbones from distribution Jester and you will not drag again.

 

[graler]

Its probably too late but we could bind your feet and move you down a couple of sizes. I think it is more effective as you grow but you didn't involve us soon enough.

Joe

 

[SacramentoMike]

Set rear lever on hard and get shorter (5/8 in.) dogbones from distribution Jester and you will not drag again.

Edited for simplification purposes. Ties in well with Graler's post:

Its probably too late but we could bind your feet and move you down a couple of sizes. I think it is more effective as you grow but you didn't involve us soon enough.

Seriously, one of the old timers here hit a jackrabbit on the highway some years back. Folded his foot back and damn near broke it. He swore he'd ride with only the balls of his feet on the pegs after that. Not sure if he did, though. Where ya been, Toe?

 

[user 28803]

Ouch! <--- both to foot binding and to kicking jackrabbits

Keeping the ball of the foot (balls of the feet? :blink: ) on the pegs unless shifting sounds like a good plan!

 

[madmike2]

Yebbut....soooo many of us brought our cruiser or touring rider bad habits with us.

@ Mike, Bob has been riding his FJR less and his pedal-bike more.

I see him on F.B. every so often.

 

[MojaveFJR]

There are a number of steps in preparing for a curve, as taught by the Lee Parks "Total Control" riding clinics. Step ONE, paraphrasing, is to move your inside foot back with the ball of your foot on the peg. Never drag the toe again.

Might have been discussed already, other than as stated this places the weight of your body more on the footpegs so that while you are in the twisties it easier to manuever the bike from side to side.

When going into the turns, both of my feet are back on a the ball. All your braking and shifting should be complete prior to entering any corner.

 

[user 28803]

When going into the turns, both of my feet are back on a the ball. All your braking and shifting should be complete prior to entering any corner.

Oh yeah, no doubt about that!

 

[HotRodZilla]

You shouldn't be shifting mid-turn anyway. Part of prepping for the curve is being in the correct gear. You shouldn't shift until after you break the apex and pin the throttle...And not until the front tire touches back down.

 

[user 28803]

You shouldn't be shifting mid-turn anyway. Part of prepping for the curve is being in the correct gear. You shouldn't shift until after you break the apex and pin the throttle...And not until the front tire touches back down.

:thumbsup:

 

[Redfish Hunter]

This is why most road race machines run a "racetrack" shift pattern and the order is reversed. 1st is at the top and you push down to shift up a gear. Sometimes it is necessary to upshift before the exit of the curve.

 

[azitlies]

Once saw an odd video of an FJR rider going through Deals Gap. He was shifting 2 or 3 times up and down between just about every corner. RPM's would go up about 1k and he'd shift, then another 1k and he'd shift, etc etc etc.

Guess it's controversial, but I think of these bikes as performance machines, not a car I have to baby so that it will last forever or something? Heck I would just put it in 3rd most of the time use the torque when going slow run it up to almost red line in the straights. No reason to be doing all that shifting imho.

 

[PanAmerican]

I never had that problem with my AE.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Yebbut....soooo many of us brought our cruiser or touring rider bad habits with us.

@ Mike, Bob has been riding his FJR less and his pedal-bike more.

I see him on F.B. every so often.

Should have started on sport bikes and brought the ball of the foot technique with you. But as stated previously, we weren't' involved early enough to correct this.

This is why most road race machines run a "racetrack" shift pattern and the order is reversed. 1st is at the top and you push down to shift up a gear. Sometimes it is necessary to upshift before the exit of the curve.

Indeed, however that's on a race bike with a tight powerband in heavy competition where every hundredth of a second counts. Shifting too late on one turn can lose you .05 seconds each lap accounting to 1.5 seconds by the end of the race. That could mean the difference between being on the podium or not. The FJR thankfully is much fatter on the powerband and not in a race so we should all be able to torque through just about any corner if we've got the correct gear selected before the turn.

In fact, at Keith Code's California Superbike School, they start you off focusing on setting your turn in point and concentrating on the turn and setting your speed. First drill you aren't allowed to shift at all or brake, just run third gear all the way around the track. Seems crazy at first but if you aren't trying to blast down the straights and are focusing on entry speed you don't need your brakes, and oddly enough, every bike on the track managed to navigate all the turns in third gear. By the end of the day you are braking and shifting with no problem. However, I found with my TLR and it's fat powerband that I could navigate the twisty roads without ever shifting gears and have a fun time. I'm not fighting for a win by a tenth of a second so it all works well on the street.

Point is, if you are turning, get the ball of your foot on the peg, it doesn't need to be under the shifter. Also make sure you are pulling the ball of your foot inward too. I've seen folks complain of this and their feet sit heel in and toes out with the foot hanging off the edge of the peg, but they didn't realize it. Pull your foot back and in and you'll be dragging hard parts before you drag your toe.