Another brake pedal mod (freebie)

[danimal2]

I have been looking at the beautiful scoot works brake pedal or possibly buying a Drifter pedal and started brain storming today while driving around at work. Thought I could come up with something that may not be as pretty, but not altogether ugly and still as functional as the other possibilities. I have a hard time justifying $180 for a brake pedal.

I had used gadget's trick to spline the pedal up a notch, but it put it right over my foot and it took two very deliberate motions to get on the pedal. This had me concerned and I needed something else before I got myself hurt. Not to take away from that mod. It's free and better than the stock setup.

The problem it seemed was more an issue of how wide the pedal was whether it be in the stock position or a notch higher. I thought about just cutting it down and doing away with the rubber pad, but figured that would look terrible.

Here's what I ended up doing.

This is a view from the pilot's seat. You can see almost the entire floorboard is free and clear now.



I cut the pedal in half. Moved the cut off piece to the top and welded it back on. The screw hole that keeps the pad on still ends up in the proper location to put the pad back on and install the screw. I suck at welding and just have a $100 Chinese flux core welder, but you can't even see the weld when it's done. Whether it looks good or not, it's hidden unless you literally crawl under the bike to look for it. It's also not a structural or critical weld. That factory weld stays where it is so even if your weld breaks it won't affect your ability to stop.

Here's a quick diagram of the thing. This honestly took me 30 minutes to do, including the welding. The hardest part was getting that friggin spring back on the brake pedal. probably 10 minutes just for that.



Couple more angles. I splined it back to it's stock location and it ended up being just right. I think this is going to work out pretty good. It feels real good when you go for the brake. It's right there. Much quicker to get to and I got my floorboard back. Other than the lines in the rubber pad running the wrong way it doesn't look half bad.

Oh yeah..............did I mention it's FREE!

[Netnorske]

Nice work! That does look very functional and like you say....you get a lot of floorboard back. So easy schoeney could do it..... ;).

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Really nice job you did and it does look good.

[nomadtom69]

I know a 1500 drifter brake pedal will swap out and move the pedal forward How about the 800 drifter are they the same one or are they different

[dakota7557]

Looks good, and appears functional...Great Job...Thanks for taking the time to photograph it...Thinking about doing that myself...It's refreshing to see someone think outside the box...Jody

[danimal2]

Originally Posted by dakota7557

Looks good, and appears functional...Great Job...Thanks for taking the time to photograph it...Thinking about doing that myself...It's refreshing to see someone think outside the box...Jody

Oh oh! There's a box?

I took the bike out for a short ride last night. I have to re-learn my braking. It's a totally different motion than before. So far I like it, but going to take a nice long ride today to practice with it and really see how well it works.

I'll let you know how it goes. I'll put up pros as well as cons after the ride. Hate to see someone else do it and be disappointed in the results.

Dan

Originally Posted by nomadtom69

I know a 1500 drifter brake pedal will swap out and move the pedal forward How about the 800 drifter are they the same one or are they different

That's a good question. I always assumed that it was the 1500, but could be wrong.

Update: Looks like they're different part numbers.

1500 Drifter: 43001A 43001-1412 LEVER-BRAKE,PEDAL $72.47

800 Drifter: 43001 43001-1408 LEVER-BRAKE,PEDAL $64.95

Pictured below are the two photos of the Drifter pedal as compared to the stock Nomad. I studyied these two photos and wondered whether or not it would really make much of a difference. Is the 1.5" enough to get it out of the way. Also read here somewhere that a guy changed his to the drifter pedal, then later got the Scootworks. Couldn't figure out why the first one didn't do the trick. That's over $200 just to get your brake pedal where it needs to be and get your floorboard back. Here's the two photos from Gadget's page. In the first one it doesn't look that much longer, in the second one it does. Optical illusion apparently.

Figured I'd give this mod a shot and if it didn't work out and screwed up my stocker, I could try the Drifter pedal or break out the wallet for the Scootworks one.

Love the Kuryakyn and Scootworks stuff, but it's pretty pricy. Have a number of hobbies and none of them are cheap (mostly motorsports stuff). Need to get by as inexpensively as possible. If I have to leave off a few frills to keep a hobby going..........
I will.

[ray2]

Looks good and the price is right.

[sly]

Nice job, looks great too

[nomadtom69]

My problem I do not have the equipment to do the mod and I hate to go to buddys house and ask him to do it everyone in neighborhood bothers him.

[danimal2]

Swing on by Tom. I'll weld it up for ya.

[wheelie]

Great idea, let us know how you like it.

[danimal2]

First, thanks to those of you who read the post and thought it was a good idea.

I said I'd post up pros and cons and here goes.

Pros

1. You have lots of footboard now.

Cons

1. It's a bit awkward to be honest. I rode the bike 250+ miles today. Never missed a brake, but your foot ends up kind of half on and half off the pedal. I have aftermarket pipes and the heat shield prevents you from positioning your heel/foot to hit the pedal squarley. You kind of have to contort/twist your foot to hit it with the full sole.

I thought at first it was something I could get used to, but I think it needs some work.

I'm considering giving it a little bend in both areas that are already bent to position the pedal away from the bike a bit. Maybe just and inch further away. Unfortunately this is putting it right back where I had just moved it from by doing the mod and taking up some floorboard space again. Also concerned that the chrome will crack when trying to bend it.

Long and short of it is.........it's better than having the pedal over the top of your foot and having to get out from under then press down, but still not what I had hoped for.

It's the best it's been since I've had the bike but still not quite there.

If the bend idea doesn't work I guess I'll just bite the bullet and buy the real deal.

[poppy]

Nice thread...thanks for the ride report.

[shadow]

this may sound like a dumb ? but cant you just move the floorboard out from the frame a little bit? i have not had an issue with room myself so i have never looked before and my bike is not where i can go look at it right now.

[danimal2]

Originally Posted by shadow

i have not had an issue with room myself so i have never looked before and my bike is not where i can go look at it right now.

Really? You can fit your whole foot comfortably on the floorboard? I'm not cracking wise here. It's a legitimate question. What size shoe/boot do you wear?

Most of us can't. That's why they're able to sell us fancy schmancy $180 brake pedals. Or why we buy Drifter pedals. Or try our own shade tree stuff like my mod here. The brake pedal takes up at least 1/4 of the floorboard when in it's stock position unless you have really tiny feet. It's lessened if you spline it up, but then it's difficult to get to.

I rode it again tonight and without making any changes it was more comfortable. Maybe just because I'm getting used to it. I think with the two bends in it, it'll work pretty good. It's not going to take much.