Are peg feelers a bad idea?

[pookamatic]

I've scraped the peg feelers a total of 2 times. One of those times, it scared the sh-t out of me, and I pulled up and rode onto (thankfully) soft grass.

http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-general-discussion/46476-so-i-uh-colored-outside-lines-today.html

I hear a lot of people take them off. I've been hesitant to do so because, well, they were put there for a purpose, right? To warn you of imminent doom, that's why they're there. But is it counterproductive?

That "you're writing checks your body can't cash" warning ends up being an overload and can potentially CAUSE the very situation the system was designed to prevent!

So the simple solution is to just remove them, right? But then, how do you know you're getting too close? Sure, you can talk center stand scrape, stock peg scrape, but it's always the same scenario. The lower you go, the less you want to hear and feel "CCCRRRSHSHHSGHGHGHGH DANGER TO THE MANIFOLD!!!" in that situation.

I'm not saying I'm there all that much... just curious what people's opinions are

 

[Water Bear]

I think the moral of your story is 'don't panic when you feel the peg feelers touch down.' I am a panicky person, and I've learned that it's bad because it leads to poor decision making.

If you have no feelers of any kind, then you have no source of information regarding how close you are to your bike's physical limits. More information is always better; One just needs to respond to it properly, in my opinion.

Having said all that wonderful crap, my bike came without feelers so call me a hypocrite. :spank:

 

[stink989]

Feelers are good they let you know you are nearing the edge of the tyre. I quiet often scrap mine but don't have much pressure on the peg on the inside of the turn.

 

[ped]

First of all you're not anywhere near max lean if you touch a peg feeler down. Those things due to their shape can wreck you really easy. I almost had it happen a few times. Scraping pegs and even the kickstand is perfectly doable too but they're not a little nub to get hung up on a crack in the pavement.

your indication of a bikes lean limits are traction feedback. If you're riding with the delusion that a peg feeler (or peg itself) is somehow your "limit" then you haven't begun to learn how to ride. Many different road conditions, air temperatures,tire compounds, etc dictate what is a limit. Not some silly peg feeler, chicken strip or whatever.

Here's a pic of a near peg scrape on street tires. I not only have setback plates but also modified them for R6 rearsets. Trust me, you're not at any limit getting a peg feeler down.

 

[ctbandit]

With proper body position you shouldn't really ever be touching the feelers down anyway.

 

[MattR302]

I took mine off because my boots kept getting hooked on them at stops.

 

[Lefty]

Without peg feelers and scraping the pegs you still have a bunch of grip left on your tires...

 

[paperpirate]

taken one off after i somehow managed to beak the right hand one
like everyone else has said its up to you how comfortable you are on taking the bike over, if it feels grippy still then go some more next time

 

[fastar1]

A bike can lose grip before even hitting the feelers, or it can stay glued to the road after grinding them down to nothing. The feelers aren't an indication of anything to do with grip. I have no idea what they're for, I always take mine out.