SMLE

So I was headed North on Eubank and turning East on Menaul.

Mistake 1; I hit the turn too fast.
Mistake 2: I thought there were 3 lanes East bound when there were only 2. Half way into the turn I realized I was headed for a median curb.
Mea Maxima Culpa.

Well I did not roll off the throttle or hit the brakes. I just pushed harder on the right handle bar and leaned the Rebel over to almost peg dragging angle. I managed to tighten my turn and not bust my backside doing it.
I learned I do not ever want to do that again. Also learned that I have at least somewhat decent reflexes as far as adjusting to sudden changes in a corner. If I had rolled off or braked, I'd have low-sided myself for sure.

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Fridgitator

Glad you made it through without mishap.

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'09 Rebel 250

Loud ties save lives.

JunkyardDog

What you do need to do is practice dragging the pegs on your Rebel, if the pegs are still in the stock location. Before relocating mine, I dragged them several times. I also drag the pegs on my Vulcan 750 and Ninja 500 on a regular basis. A motorcycle will lean over a lot farther than you think it will. Many riders around here have crashed on curvy mountain roads because they went into a curve to fast, didn't lean over far enough, and ran right off the road.

Don't try to drag the pegs all at once, just keep practicing on curves, leaning over a little farther each time. Take all the time you need. When taking a left curve, push the bars to the right. The bike will just fall into the curve. That is called "countersteering". Eventually you will hear that very satisfying sound of the pegs dragging, and know how far over you can lean it if you get into such a situation again. On a cruiser, I wouldn't push it past where the pegs drag, at least not by much. Sportbikes can practically be ridden on their sidewalls, but the Rebel is not a sportbike, and does not have sportbike steering geometry or a sportbike riding position where you can hang off the bike on the inside of the turn.

I also suggest reading Keith Codes "A Twist of the Wrist", and "The Soft Science of Roadracing Motorcycles" While these, especially the latter, is aimed more at sportbike riders, the information applies pretty much to all motorcycles.

If you are not dragging the stock pegs, you are not using your motorcycle to it's full potential. That doesn't mean you should go around dragging the pegs all the time, but you should be able to if you need to.

If you have relocated the pegs like I did, don't even try to use the pegs to gauge how far you can lean over. Moving the pegs changes the handling characteristics of the motorcycle.

It takes time and practice, but you will eventually find the safe limit to how far you can lean over without crashing. If you crash, you know you went too far, but the pain isn't worth it.


One of these days I'd love to go to Keith Codes California Superbike School, or something similar. But I just don't have the money. Jerry.

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SMLE

I have drug the pegs a few times. Once in the MSF ERC. So I have a pretty good idea of just how far I can push the little Reb. That helped me save my bacon last night.

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JunkyardDog

Once you get comfortable dragging the pegs, that ability will get you out of all kinds of situations. Jerry.

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Rebelais

JYD,

Would you say that this is also true of the large (oversized) EGs? I've read on this forum or elsewhere that they can cause the front tire to lift when they touch, and that things go bad from there, but can I learn how much lean I've got from having them touch from time to time, or is that just asking for trouble?

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1987 Rebel

jeffcoolm

in my few months of experence iv had a few hairy ones myself. And my little reb has impressed me every time, nice to know i can drop the pegs if I need too.

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JunkyardDog

I don't recommend dragging anything that doesn't move. Stock pegs pivot on pins, and will move upward when they touch the road. If it's solid, it can indeed lift the bike right off the road. I drug the big heavy metal crossbrace the footpegs attach to on an Intruder 800 once. That thing is solid. I straightened up real quick. Some other things that can drag if you just keep pushing it are the sidestand, the exhaust system, and on bikes that have one, the centerstand. These parts have no give to them, and will send you sliding down the road in a hurry. I just happen to know that the stock pegs on a Rebel touch before anything else. Jerry.

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flitecontrol

Depends on how fast you are going and how hard they touch. Mine drug at slow speed and there was no control problem, but wouldn't want to do that at speed. Probably going to remove them eventually. Don't want to be dragging them if I get into a situation where I need all the lean I can get.

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I'm keepin' all the left over parts. I'm gonna use 'em to build another bike!

2001 Rebel 250, 1989 Vulcan 750
Putting your bike info in your signature helps others help you!

GearJammer

I might get lambasted for saying this, but I feel a sense of responsibility considering that this being a Rebel forum, there's a LOT of new riders with limited riding experience under their belt.

Is the subject of "peg-scraping", especially the ENCOURAGEMENT of peg-scraping an appropriate subject ? No offense, Jerry, I've read a lot of your posts and there's no question that you yourself are very knowledgeable in both wrenchin' and ridin' skills and I most definitely don't mean to embarrass you. I also firmly believe that you have only the BEST of intentions in wanting to pass along that type of knowledge.

But to encourage peg-scraping where a good portion of the readers are literally just learning to ride could get people KILLED.........I dunno, man, something about this doesn't seem cool......My .02 is that riders should develop their basic riding skills and get those nailed down before jumping into something that could land their names in the obits.......We've all lost friends over the years due to motorcycle related accidents. Do we really want to encourage something that could very possibly add to those statistics ???

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"Ridin' Ain't A Hobby, It's A Lifestyle"

1986 450 Rebel