The photo above is me 2 yrs ago with my old paint job, from photo shoot gallery called Joy of Harley Davidson by http://www.pegasusphoto.com.
When I started customizing my bike, I went with the “It’s all about the looks” theme. It is lowered about 3.5 inches lower than stock. It has a low profile seat, no windshield, no fairing, and forward controls. I do really love the look, and understand I gave up a great deal of riding comfort for this look. I can deal with the lack of comfort that my low profile seat provides to me, and I can deal with the winds resistance that having no windshield or fairing provides. I actually like it and prefer it that way. I like being “in the wind” as they say, but my thighs tend to disagree.
My forward controls put me in a riding position that I love. The look is right for me and it is very comfortable on short rides, and or lower speeds. However, when I ride on the freeway at higher speeds and do any long distance riding, I can get some pretty tired thighs. I’m regularly fighting the wind’s urge to spread my legs apart farther than the stance of the bike already puts them naturally, and fighting gravity as well. Due to my opinion that footboards don’t fit the look of my bike, they are out of the running as far a solution for me. On longer, faster rides, I often times find myself putting the passenger foot pegs down, sticking my feet back there and riding crotch rocket style to give myself a break, but this is not a good solution, because the second I switch back to forward position my legs get tired again. So, I was thinking about going with stirrups. I’m wondering, do stirrups really help that much, or do all you forward control riders all fight the same battle as me and just deal with it?
Any one out there who uses stirrups, and has got an answer for me would be greatly appreciated.
Mr. Motorcycle
8 comments:
Well, I can't say anything about stirrups, but I definitely have an opinion on the forward controls.
My '04 Sportster came with forward controls because it's a Custom. I have long legs, so that's what I wanted. But, just like you said, on longer rides it starts getting uncomfortable. I never used the passenger pegs, but what I would do is push my ass back on to the bitch seat just to straighten my legs out. It wasn't my thighs, it was my knees that were locking up.
Since my bike's been in the shop all winter, I decided to take advantage of the time by doing some mods. I added an engine guard and some highway pegs to give me another place to put my feet. I also replaced my regular footpegs with Kuryakyn ISO Mini-Boards. I haven't ridden her with the new gear yet, so I can't give a report on how I like the changes yet, but when I do, I will.
You said foot boards don't fit the look of your bike. Have you considered the mini-boards at all? There are a lot of different styles of mini-boards that look good on a Sportster in my opinion, where the full sized boards from a bagger would look out of place.
Whatever way you do it, I think you need another place to put your feet if you are going to ride any distances.
Hey Joker,
I'll look into those mini boards. In the meantime let me know how they work for you.
I too push myself back to the rear seat to stretch the legs one in a while.
Thanks.
I can't speak to any personal experience with forward controls, but my hubby (road captain) always said that he felt like the forward controls on his 1200C made him feel like he didn't really have the control he wanted. And it drove him crazy when the wind would blow up his pant legs! He always says he loves how on my Hugger you sit right up on top of everything.
I definitely can relate to your legs cramping up on long rides, especially when riding bitch! :(
When you cruise with your legs out front you feel like you own the world. It's not something that can be explained. Tall guys have no choice as Harleys are usually pretty cramped when it comes to leg room. On the other hand, mid controls offer superior handling over forward controls. You need to have alternate foot positions in order to shake off that cramping and stiffening. I have cruise pegs to stretch out when I need to. I feel bad for passengers with limited foot positions available as Diana (Mrs RC) mentions in her post.
I used to do the passenger peg thing also on my 1200C.
One of the advantages of forward controls is that they are not in your way when pushing your bike around in the parking lot with your feet. My pant cuffs sometimes get caught on the mid controls on the way to putting my feet down at stop signs and stop lights. This can get dangerous as my foot is caught on something and not on the ground where it should be.
Mrs. & Mr. Road Captain. Thanks for the reply on the foot peg issues. Sounds like I'm S.O.L. without my mid controls. I have none, so I'm left with passenger pegs, and forwards only. I may look into getting some just for that long haul reason.
I do find it funny that so far no one has been able to geve me a tried and true solution to the problem, other than mid controls. I just talked to a buddy the other day and he said it does not bother him to ride with forward controls the whold time. He said his legs don't get tired.
I wanna know what hes smokin.
Just found your blog and appreciate the forward control post ... I have a deuce that I wanted to put forwards on .... not sure I want to know ... I am noticing even on my streetglide that longer trips are hurting this "old frame"
One Harley Rider,
I'm glad you found my site. Thanks for visiting, and stop by again.
I'll be sure to check out your blog.
As for not putting forward controls on. I can't imagine not having them either. I want to find comfort "with" them. I think having mid foot pegs, and forward controls might just be the answer. Or possibly stirrups.
Nobody has commented back to me about using stirrups though. Stirrups anyone?!?!
I'm hoping maybe you have contacts that have used them. Maybe you can help spread the word about this and get an answer.
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