Toe dragging

[Redfish Hunter]

Gixxerjasen, you are just so damn smart!

I agree with you and Hotrodzilla that on the street it should not be necessary to upshift for exactly the reasons you give. With the monster torque of the FJR, you don't really need all of those gears in the twisties. I was only letting the OP know that he was not alone in his dilemma, that it happens to others. Of course, the racetrack is not "real world".

 

[Auburn]

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.

GUNNY! +1 definitely the right thing to do

 

[gixxerjasen]

And most of those racetrack guys have the balls of their feet on the pegs except when they are shifting. They worry more about dragging elbow than toes! :dribble:

BTW, I believe it was the Moto2 race this past weekend that had an excellent 1000fps shot of the lead four riders coming round a corner showing almost all of them with their elbow scraping the curbing. Fantastic stuff!

 

[900gc]

I have to say I've never dragged an elbow (except when crashing) but I have decked my rear sets a few times on the track which was about 55 + deg. lean. I rode a '79 BMW R100RS for 100k miles years ago and those had solid mounted foot pegs. A long time "Airhead" rider told me to hang my toes off to use them as lean indicators as the pegs were unforgiving hitting the deck. Still today I sometimes do it both intentionally and unintentionally but I get my foot out from under the shifter though.

 

[azitlies]

And most of those racetrack guys have the balls of their feet on the pegs except when they are shifting. They worry more about dragging elbow than toes! :dribble:

BTW, I believe it was the Moto2 race this past weekend that had an excellent 1000fps shot of the lead four riders coming round a corner showing almost all of them with their elbow scraping the curbing. Fantastic stuff!

Gotta agree with that...

Like the prior racer now track helper in the Faster DVD said... balls.

 

[NCSurveyor]

Not to demean anyone finding the need to shift mid-curve, such as a compound or spiral that changes dramatically as lots of entrance/exit ramps do, but I find my feet getting pinched between my pegs and frame when I corner as well. Maybe it's because I went from my GSX750e where the rear wheel slide was routine to the AE, where the rear wheel slide is now routine in certain corners. I have to use the edge of my boot to barely feel the pave before the peg sliders start rubbing, pegs bend in and said feet are subsequently squished. A slightly higher peg, 1/2 to 1" would help me. Maybe thats why my BT023's only get 3k .

 

[NCSurveyor]

Not to mention, this isn't a 250# machine with clip-ons below the tank, as you will also see on the DVR, it's a 650# machine with bars well above the tank and elbows well above the hands. Good in principle, no doubt, but apples and oranges I believe. Balls of feet, yes. Proper shifting, yes, if you can and you should have enough motor to do whatever. I still have to take my feet completely off if the peg sometimes to keep them out of the way.

 

[Cerebus]

I have a story about this one.

When I bought my FJR 2 yrs ago, a friend of mine at work who also owned an FJR that he totaled gave me this advise. Keep the balls of your foot on the pegs when going through curves.

The reason for this advice is because he totaled his bike when when his toe got caught in between the peg and the road when leaned over. To make it through the rest of the curve, he had to lean more but could not because of his foot being drug on the asphalt. He had to stand the bike up in the curve which caused him to run wide and total his bike.

This was not as important on my previous 03' ZX-6rr but on the FJR it is VERY important. Even sometimes when I have the ball of my foot on the peg, I'm still scraping boot before peg.

 

[carlson_mn]

Get them toes up. Feet scrape so easily on the FJR I basically ride all the time with only my toes on the pegs, and my heels tucked into the passenger peg brackets... pretty comfy actually.

It's not hard to scrape pegs either but it is a large lean difference from lazy toe scraping to peg scraping.

 

[Barry 07 FJR1300AE]

I never had that problem with my AE.

+1 My finger has never touched the ground!!! Love the AE!

 

[dbx]

I never had that problem with my AE.

+1 My finger has never touched the ground!!! Love the AE!

+1 Love the AE, especially when cornering.

It may well be "wrong", but one of my favorite things to do is to rip through a shift or two while leaned far over in a sweeper. I try not to ride 10/10 on the street, which coupled with the buttery smoothness of AE shifts in general, makes for a very enjoyable (and safe) cornering experience.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Finally we got a semi-dry day today so I was on the FJR on the way to work and played around with foot positions. Man, it's amazing how much your toes want to stick out when they aren't on the pegs. I can see how it could be a problem. I'll keep them back when cornering for sure!

 

[gbelleville]

I switched from a VStar to a Connie, and when I banged my boot on the ground the first time I knew a sport-touring bike was right for me

 

[kolonial72]

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:

Yeah, we can always depend on 'Zilla to give us words of wisdom on some subjects.

I have about a quarter inch (that's a guess) of chicken strip on either side of my rear tire, and I pretty much never touch a toe to the pavement. Sometimes the peg scraper indicator thingy touches down, but my toe only touches once or twice in a set of tires. I don't know how much lean angle the outer 1/4" of rubber is worth, but maybe I'm not going fast enough in the twisties?