We had met accidentally and, although I was attracted to her, I figured I would be safe from getting into a relationship, or even going on any meaningful dates for that matter by asking her questions I was sure she would say no to. Things such as "Ummm, do you wanna go on a motorcycle ride?" Ooops she says she loves motorcycles, ok up the stakes. "Hey do wanna take ten days off and ride to New Mexico?" Dang, yes again. Well, after things continued in this vein for some time there was really only one thing to do....Marry Her.
What does this have to do with Ghetto Garage you ask! Am I digressing from my subject matter?
The answers are, bear with me and yes, but for a reason.
In the early years of our relationship, circa 2005-2008, we rode everywhere together at a moments notice. Sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles at a pop. Then a lowside crash on the Angeles Crest highway in which she was thrown from the bike and landed on her knees brought our riding together to a slow and painful demise.
It was not the crash itself that did all the damage but it did exacerbate some previous conditions which caused any kind of riding to become increasingly painful, until it got to the point a year or so ago where the idea of even getting on the motorcycle became, for all practical purposes, an impossibility.
Enter BMWeerman and his bright ideas. I was under the grandiose impression that I could invent some kind of footpegs that would allow her a greater range of motion for her feet and knees while riding and absorb more of the vibration of the motorcycle.
During this last winter I spent a great deal of time while business was slow in the shop devising various and and ill-conceived prototypes to see what I could do to get her back on the bike. Although several of these "inventions" were briefly implemented and photographed they were all such dismal failures that I choose not to reveal them in the interest of not incriminating myself!
What did eventually surface was an amazingly simple solution brought to my attention by one of the customers in our shop.
And, that simple solution was....
Wait for it.....
Foam pipe insulation______________________________________________________
Note on the left side of the motorcycle a single layer of foam was wrapped around a BMW stock peg
which already has a layer of rubber padding on the top.
On the right side of the motorcycle I used a slightly longer after-market peg and double wrapped it
with the pipe insulation. This created a bit more freedom for the Wrench Wench to adjust her foot, and therefore her knee position.
The results...
Overall the results were extremely positive allowing the Wrench Wench to take a ride of almost 150 miles with only slight discomfort felt at the end of the journey. The other conclusion that was reached was that the stock peg, with its existing rubber coating was reported to be more comfortable than the bare after market peg with two layers of insulation.
Future tests....
For the future we are considering other types of shock absorbing materials to try and various ways to mount them. Keep your eyes on these pages for more results to come.
