[hillntx]

At our first precision drill practice using the Royal Enfield C5s, we realized most of us were scraping the brake pedal, the left foot peg and for some the exhaust.  We're currently using the EFI silencers and are considering moving to the upturned exhaust to give ourselves some additional clearance.  Does anyone make folding foot pegs or a redesigned rear brake pedal for these bikes?

[Hobbydad]

I scraped my brake lever on the way home yesterday, taking a tight downhill turn at speed. Scared me for a second, until I realized what it was.

[fzr400]

when turning in if your body is inline with the centerline of the bike the bike will require more lean angle.  you may know this already.  if you move you butt and body off the bikes center line towards the way you want to turn will reduce the lean angle needed.  also proper suspension setup will help greatly.

i scraped the same parts around corners but i WAS over leaning the bike for fun. if  i moved my body off of the bikes center line would have greatly reduced the lean angle required..

[prof_stack]

when turning in if your body is inline with the centerline of the bike the bike will require more lean angle.  you may know this already.  if you move you butt and body off the bikes center line towards the way you want to turn will reduce the lean angle needed.  also proper suspension setup will help greatly.

i scraped the same parts around corners but i WAS over leaning the bike for fun. if  i moved my body off of the bikes center line would have greatly reduced the lean angle required..

But I wonder about precision parade work, where the bike is going quite slowly as the team weaves in and out with figure eights.  Would "hanging off" be appropriate for parade work? 

Just asking...

[BRADEY]

This is a big problem on the C5 and was registered very early at various Indian forums, and brought to the notice of the factory engineers as well.

While there is no solution currently for the scraping brake pedal (until factory rear disk brake kits are introduced with the upcoming "Thunderbird 500" model), foldable foot pegs are already available on the current Thunderbird 350. Having said that, there is slight difference in the chassis mounts of the C5, B5 and the TB 350, and may require some machining......

[BrashRooster]

I am rather curious how far you have to lean a C5 to scrape hard parts? Is this much less then a B5? I was on a C5 for about 20 miles and I was trying to get use to the handling compared to the B5 (is a lot like the 1974 Honda CB550 4 on cornering). Even my rebel seemed to corner tighter.  I could see how a C5 would be better for parades and city/suburb riding not that I wouldn't take it through the twisties just at a more subdued pace. My maxim is made for that kinda riding so no big deal I just want a nice cruiser but I am interested in how far your leaning.

[fzr400]

first let me say, im a man of means but no means king of the road.

if they are going slow enough to turn the front wheel were the front is not inline with the back wheel.such a lean angle would be hard to get. except if you are crashing

im just a student of the game and no expert and are not seeing what they are doing.

suspension setup is very important. of course the stock suspension is non adjustable except for rear preload which only affects the first 1 inch of spring movement.
proper spring rate is important if the guy weighs 500lbs and gets on a bike sprung for a 150llbs person. the bike of course lose ground clearance.

also if their doing rapid movements the damping rate is not right causing the suspension to pack down even more.

im just not good at wording things,sorry

[Hobbydad]

I will add that I too was leaning way in, for fun, and I also had my rear shocks at their lowest setting.

I'm a Shriner as well (grew up around it, my mom spent her entire career working at the Zenobia Temple in Toledo), and have seen the guys doing their exhibition riding. Very sharp and precise, with steep angles. I can see the brake lever and footrests hitting, but the exhaust? Wow! For what it's worth, I always wanted one of the go-carts!

[hillntx]

I am rather curious how far you have to lean a C5 to scrape hard parts? 

We were doing alternating right and left 90 degree turns at roughly 15-18mph in a relatively tight area and started to feel something hitting and the bike becoming unstable. With a non-flexing foot peg there isn't much margin between scraping the peg and levering the back wheel off the ground.  I think the biggest issue is that the exhaust runs along the outside of the engine outside of the brake pivot mount and the brake pedal has to duck underneath it.  If the exhaust ran under the edge of the engine case and the brake pivot was moved outward about 1.5 inches the brake pedal would not require the deep bend and wouldn't scrape in tight turns. 

As it is, it's fine for around town riding, but when you get more aggressive it can become an issue.  I can see this being a relatively new issue since the older bikes with the right side shift wouldn't have the problem since the brake pedal arm didn't compete with the exhaust for clearnace and wouldn't require the same deep bend.

[Maturin]

My tool of proper transportation is a G5, and unfortunately there are similar problems with hard parts scratching. First its the brake lever due to it´s enormous diameter, but its somewhat flexible and can move about 2-3cm before it hits the exaust. But due to the scratching sound the driver will probably recognize early that he/she is aproaching the edge.
Much more dangerous are the non-folding footpegs. Provided with thick rubber they´ll bottom out hard and abrupt without leaving much time to react. I experienced that a couple of times, especially since I removed the stock tyres and replaced them with Heidenaus that allow more inclination than the stock Avons.
The only solution is a "hanging-off" riding style, but especially in tight corners or serpentines that is quite hard to do, as you have to move around a lot on your mule.
I´d welcome folding pegs! At least I could blow happily around left corners 

[jartist]

Folding footpegs would be an easy modification.  Redesigning the brake would be more difficult but would probably be worth it for the parade work. Extreme lean angles are necessary for sharp tuns at low speed. Might try higher profile tires first though.

[Ducati Scotty]

I've scraped both pegs and the brake pedal but never the muffler.   The brake pedal bugs me most since its also sticking out so far that I ride with my toe sticking out on that side.  When I get some time I want to do a custom mod.  I plan to cut the existing arm in a vertical plane just outside the muffler.  The weld a flat plate to it to bring it up to height and then another across to be the pedal.  I think this will tuck it in a bit and be better all around.  I've seen the older bikes and their pedals are made of bent plate stock and don't stuck out so far.

You might also want to consider some front end work.  The front end is really soft in these bikes.  New springs would bring it up and make it handle better but even just adding some more preload with a spacer would get you some height for vet little cost.

Scott

[wokka]

With the heavily modded geometry i have, (8 inch swingarm stretch 1/2" lower in the rear, 4" shifted back seating position) this may not have any relevance to the stock bikes.
I constantly scrape pegs and the brake lever, but have adapted my riding style by kicking my heels out slightly giving me advance "warning" that I'm about to touch down.