Rearsets
Posted: 30 Jan 2020 11:38
77 sport , with std footrests ( further back than strada with linkage for gearchange )
Looking to fit rearsets , but the usual tarozzi always seemed like an afterthought to me , nice to ride with , but kickstarting problems and material strength plus price didn’t appeal .
Thought I could make a better set , so spent a while with cardboard and scissors roughing out positions but it didn’t look right .
I like the original footrests and the fact that they are adjustable with the toothed pivot .
after spending far too long trying to file the 32 20degree teeth on a piece of steel ,i thought I would Advertise for a set of footrests and cut off the toothed pivots and fabricate something to weld on the stubs .
Luckily I got offered a pair of strada footrest ( thank you , MarkB)
And they were in good condition , a fair bit longer than sport ones ,
So , I offered the left one up to the bike in a reversed position , wow , that’s exactly where I need , slowly depressed the kickstart and it cleared ! no rubber on , fitted the rubber and it just touched .
Removing the rubber I cut 15mm of the footrest and assisted the rubber back on with a mallet , well clear !
It is tight against the armour front pipe , I think just touching is a fairer description rather than tight , easy to sort with a little easing in the vice.
Hopes up, I looked to the gear change side and that footrest , reversed , was perfect .
I removed the linkage and the gear-lever , the gearchange clamp and gear lever Are same dia so I tacked welded the lever to the outside edge of the clamp and tried it , touch too long for my size 11 , so , removed the rubber and cut the end off , shortened the lever by 20mm and rewelded it .
It may be that a strada lever may fit without welding ?
Committed now , I needed to sort the rear brake lever
Do I make a complete new arrangement ? Or shorten the existing ?
I decided to shorten the lever drastically.
Background to this decision, my rear brake has always been very good , in fact too good and would lock easily and it took a conscious effort in an emergency To resist stamping too hard especially at low speeds .
I shortened the lever by 10cm I made the cut near the pivot at an angle so the lever would come out at an angle , welded up and tweaked the footpad out a touch with Stilsons .
Out to test . My bike ( like many) was a pig to engage neutral and my 2nd to 3rd change up needed to be slow and deliberate . So far gear-changing is much more positive and neutral is my new found friend ! The pattern is reversed and this may help with actual changing
Rear brake position is good and braking is still strong , it takes more effort but feels far better , as it was ,it felt like a hydraulic brake and panic stomps caused lockup’s , now it can still lock but has far more feel up to that point.
I still need to test the rear brake at sunny early morning speeds but in town and country roads it’s a big improvement despite its lack of leverage .
To me it looks like the footrests were meant to be reversed , I have not seen this before or heard of this being done , have I missed something ?
( I am not a big fan of the internet or social media so it may be quite normal )
Access to swing arm greaser is unobstructed and no lifting of footrests plus it uses Morini parts.
Update :
Although adequate in the town , when ridden as it should be the amount of force required to use the rear brake when multiple bends are encountered causes the body to tense and spoils the flow , so, reluctantly I had to rethink the rear brake arrangement
I welded a boss on the top of footrest hanger towards the rubber and made a new lever incorporating the original foot pedal .
Space is tight but whole thing comes off with the footrest with one bolt . same pivot and cable just shortened the inner
Now the leverage is almost the same as original , just a touch less mechanical advantage which works out well.
Next issue is rear brake stop light switch ... ( I will make do with the front one for now)
Looking to fit rearsets , but the usual tarozzi always seemed like an afterthought to me , nice to ride with , but kickstarting problems and material strength plus price didn’t appeal .
Thought I could make a better set , so spent a while with cardboard and scissors roughing out positions but it didn’t look right .
I like the original footrests and the fact that they are adjustable with the toothed pivot .
after spending far too long trying to file the 32 20degree teeth on a piece of steel ,i thought I would Advertise for a set of footrests and cut off the toothed pivots and fabricate something to weld on the stubs .
Luckily I got offered a pair of strada footrest ( thank you , MarkB)
And they were in good condition , a fair bit longer than sport ones ,
So , I offered the left one up to the bike in a reversed position , wow , that’s exactly where I need , slowly depressed the kickstart and it cleared ! no rubber on , fitted the rubber and it just touched .
Removing the rubber I cut 15mm of the footrest and assisted the rubber back on with a mallet , well clear !
It is tight against the armour front pipe , I think just touching is a fairer description rather than tight , easy to sort with a little easing in the vice.
Hopes up, I looked to the gear change side and that footrest , reversed , was perfect .
I removed the linkage and the gear-lever , the gearchange clamp and gear lever Are same dia so I tacked welded the lever to the outside edge of the clamp and tried it , touch too long for my size 11 , so , removed the rubber and cut the end off , shortened the lever by 20mm and rewelded it .
It may be that a strada lever may fit without welding ?
Committed now , I needed to sort the rear brake lever
Do I make a complete new arrangement ? Or shorten the existing ?
I decided to shorten the lever drastically.
Background to this decision, my rear brake has always been very good , in fact too good and would lock easily and it took a conscious effort in an emergency To resist stamping too hard especially at low speeds .
I shortened the lever by 10cm I made the cut near the pivot at an angle so the lever would come out at an angle , welded up and tweaked the footpad out a touch with Stilsons .
Out to test . My bike ( like many) was a pig to engage neutral and my 2nd to 3rd change up needed to be slow and deliberate . So far gear-changing is much more positive and neutral is my new found friend ! The pattern is reversed and this may help with actual changing
Rear brake position is good and braking is still strong , it takes more effort but feels far better , as it was ,it felt like a hydraulic brake and panic stomps caused lockup’s , now it can still lock but has far more feel up to that point.
I still need to test the rear brake at sunny early morning speeds but in town and country roads it’s a big improvement despite its lack of leverage .
To me it looks like the footrests were meant to be reversed , I have not seen this before or heard of this being done , have I missed something ?
( I am not a big fan of the internet or social media so it may be quite normal )
Access to swing arm greaser is unobstructed and no lifting of footrests plus it uses Morini parts.
Update :
Although adequate in the town , when ridden as it should be the amount of force required to use the rear brake when multiple bends are encountered causes the body to tense and spoils the flow , so, reluctantly I had to rethink the rear brake arrangement
I welded a boss on the top of footrest hanger towards the rubber and made a new lever incorporating the original foot pedal .
Space is tight but whole thing comes off with the footrest with one bolt . same pivot and cable just shortened the inner
Now the leverage is almost the same as original , just a touch less mechanical advantage which works out well.
Next issue is rear brake stop light switch ... ( I will make do with the front one for now)