charlos
5/31/2007 4:06:55 AM
after my trackday, i realized i needed way more ground clearance, and replacement rearsets for the stock parts, which not only were dragged all over the asphalt, but led to me washing out my front tire and a subsequent lowside.
sportbike track gear sells valter moto rearsets w/ shift rod, shifter, and brake pedal for $215, and it seemed like a good value. it brings the rearsets back 28mm and up 25mm, iirc, which should give me more room to lean. And, for much less than woodcrafts or other rearset brands, i thought i'd give it a shot.
first impressions:
the rearsets really do move the position up and back. since i've been logging way more miles on the street bike (07 675) i can't say that the new peg position is overly uncomfortable, since the daytona's got much more aggressive body position, but it does feel much better (from a track perspective). The rearsets are pretty simple, as they're not adjustable, nor do they have any fancy carbon fiber, or even any heel guards, but you get what you pay for. The shift rod is a heim joint and a reverse threaded rod so that it'll screw into the stock shifter piece, and has 2 attachment points. I'm shifting GP (w/ no front sprocket cover), so there isn't a ton of extra space for the shift rod to go, which means i can only use the lower attachment point. Also, the shift rod is too long and puts the shifter too low for use with my stiff A* SMX+ boots (hard to get my toes under the shifter), so i had to do some modifications to the shift rod to get the pedal up high enough (by cutting off about 3/8" of the threaded portion). The right rearset is pretty much identical, except that it has a place for rear MC to bolt to the rearset. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to mount the stock rear brake light switch (which doesn't matter to me, since i don't have a brake light anymore), so street riders will have to figure out something to retain the functionality of the switch with the rear pedal. My main beef with these rearsets is that the rear heim joint (which accepts the threaded rod on the MC) is made of plastic, and looks like a cheap piece of hardware. Also, with the way the brake lever assembly, joint, and MC all go together, there's a bit of eccentricity in the motion of the MC. it's not inline with the centerline of the threaded rod, so when you actuate the rear brake, it moves upwards as well as inwards--not a good thing considering the joint is made of plastic. Again, you get what you pay for; but the consolation is that i don't really use the rear brake very much, nor with much force, so i don't think it'll be much of an issue until there's a crash. luckily, i turn right much better than i do left :P
install:
install was pretty straightforward, and for people with regular shifting, i think it'll be fine in terms of adjustability and no need to dremel off that 3/8". there are no other weird surprises or other necessary modifications to get these rearsets to work. again, figuring out the rear brake light would be the biggest issue for these things, but for track riders, a non-issue. even with street riders, i'll venture to guess that 99% of people stop with the front brake (and thereby lighting up the brake light) so i'm not sure it'll be a huge issue.
all in all, i'm happy with these rearsets, but we'll see how much of an improvement they'll make at Streets of Willow on 6/15. might be totally lacking in bling, but for the cost, i ain't complaining. pics later.
