1
Footrests Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:05 pm
sidecar paul
Life time member
I've been playing with footrests lately.
Some years ago I bought some stainless U brackets from 'bins for the outfit, but they don't have the 'bridge' which is the stop to keep the pillion footrest in position. Without it, the footrest flops to about 30* below horizontal when you put your foot on it. You can add washers, about 5mm of them, to the U bracket fixing bolt, but that's not an elegant solution, so for the outfit I made some stainless blocks. For the brackets I've just bought for the solo I've made the stops from acetal block as in the photo:-
As 'bins and 'works don't have the early footrest rubbers, I assume they are NLA, so I looked at how to use the later rubbers on the footrests with the bolt on end weights.
The left rubber is the early type, centre is the later and right is a modified later rubber to suit the early footrests. It's a simple mod, just cut through the rubber into the 'air gap' and create the step.
The end weights then clamp the rubbers in place.
If you're really fussy, you could mill (or file) 1mm from each side of the weights and square out the top radius for a better fit........but we don't know anybody like that......do we?
That sorts out the front footrests, but the pillion rests have another problem. Originally, they have a spring arrangement to hold the footrest in the up or down position. Now, with the later rubbers, the centre hole is not big enough to accomodate this spring assembly, so throw it away and use the springiness of the rubber for keeping the footrest where it should be, as per the later footrests.
The main reason for wanting stainless U brackets is that when moving the footrests up and down with the original fittings, you have mild steel rubbing on mild steel and with the best will in the world, you will never stop things going rusty. So, of course, one needs to make some stainless pressure plates as well. Note that the early pressure plates (left) are a different shape to the later ones.
Another detail that I've done is to drill out the alloy footrest pivot hole to 12mm and fit a bush, which is then clamped between the ears of the U bracket with an 8mm bolt. If (when) the bush seizes in the alloy, it's a simple job to remove the 8mm bolt and take the footrest into the workshop and press it out; unlike when the standard pin seizes and you have to take the whole cumbersome footrest plate off to get it to the press.
So there we have an assembled pillion footrest and all the bits that make up the other one.
I know comberjohn will be thinking "why can't he leave things alone", (maybe he's right) but some of this might be useful to somebody. At least I've eliminated one more source of rust.
I'm now looking at a way of preventing the front footrest pivot pins from seizing. Taking them apart and greasing them every year only works with hindsight and then it's too late!
Paul.
Some years ago I bought some stainless U brackets from 'bins for the outfit, but they don't have the 'bridge' which is the stop to keep the pillion footrest in position. Without it, the footrest flops to about 30* below horizontal when you put your foot on it. You can add washers, about 5mm of them, to the U bracket fixing bolt, but that's not an elegant solution, so for the outfit I made some stainless blocks. For the brackets I've just bought for the solo I've made the stops from acetal block as in the photo:-
As 'bins and 'works don't have the early footrest rubbers, I assume they are NLA, so I looked at how to use the later rubbers on the footrests with the bolt on end weights.
The left rubber is the early type, centre is the later and right is a modified later rubber to suit the early footrests. It's a simple mod, just cut through the rubber into the 'air gap' and create the step.
The end weights then clamp the rubbers in place.
If you're really fussy, you could mill (or file) 1mm from each side of the weights and square out the top radius for a better fit........but we don't know anybody like that......do we?
That sorts out the front footrests, but the pillion rests have another problem. Originally, they have a spring arrangement to hold the footrest in the up or down position. Now, with the later rubbers, the centre hole is not big enough to accomodate this spring assembly, so throw it away and use the springiness of the rubber for keeping the footrest where it should be, as per the later footrests.
The main reason for wanting stainless U brackets is that when moving the footrests up and down with the original fittings, you have mild steel rubbing on mild steel and with the best will in the world, you will never stop things going rusty. So, of course, one needs to make some stainless pressure plates as well. Note that the early pressure plates (left) are a different shape to the later ones.
Another detail that I've done is to drill out the alloy footrest pivot hole to 12mm and fit a bush, which is then clamped between the ears of the U bracket with an 8mm bolt. If (when) the bush seizes in the alloy, it's a simple job to remove the 8mm bolt and take the footrest into the workshop and press it out; unlike when the standard pin seizes and you have to take the whole cumbersome footrest plate off to get it to the press.
So there we have an assembled pillion footrest and all the bits that make up the other one.
I know comberjohn will be thinking "why can't he leave things alone", (maybe he's right) but some of this might be useful to somebody. At least I've eliminated one more source of rust.
I'm now looking at a way of preventing the front footrest pivot pins from seizing. Taking them apart and greasing them every year only works with hindsight and then it's too late!
Paul.
__________________________________________________
'84 K100RS (0014643) (owned since '85), 86 K100RS (0018891) with Martello sidecar (built as an outfit in '88),
'51 Vincent (since '67),'72 Montesa Cota (from new), '87 Honda RS125R NF4 (bought 2015)
....No CARS never ever!
, the sleeving shouldn't be subject to much wear. 
-o: 
