Putting my foot down! New Pegs for the Ninja Race Bike.

The other day at the kart track, while I was working on form and body position, I got some great lean angle. I was able to rail through the turns and the bike feel like it was locked on target like a missile. My knee pucks were smoking from the abuse so I ever so gently ratcheted up the action. In doing so I gave myself a good scare. Read on to see what I did to fix the issue.

Here is the culprit. While deep into a turn they call 'Little Monza', I hit both my knee puck and my right peg feeler. The turn is a banked, sweeping, double apex right hander that exits onto a small chicane. Midway through the turn while looking for my exit apex, I tilted over and heard a nasty sound and felt a bump that made me pop up and kill my exit drive. The rest of the day I was mindful of getting too far over and worked to keep the bike more upright, while I got my body more off to the side.

I got home and started thinking through the problem. Obviously the peg feelers are way too long. In the pic above I measured from the ground to the top of the stock foot peg. There aren't many options for pre-gen ('87-'07) Ninja 250 rear sets. There aren't many options for pre-gen Ninja 250 race parts of any kind for that matter. I measured 15.5 inches to the top of the peg. I wanted to make sure that any replacement peg I got was at least this high, preferably higher for a sportier race crouch.

The more important measurement is the ground-to-peg feeler distance as seen here. These feelers are quite long and the 2 inch difference from the top of the peg to the bottom of the feeler explains why I had issues hitting it while deep into the turn. This became the second spec any new pegs would have to meet. I would need new pegs that are higher than 13.5 inches from the ground to the peg.

I picked these up from eBay. They were listed to fit the Ninja 250 and only $12 and change plus shipping. They were going to be shipped from California so I new I would have them quickly. A click of the mouse and an exchange of funds had them on my doorstep in two days with standard shipping. At first glance I don't think I'll get any extra height for my boots with these. They also look a little narrow and a bit slick as the knurled section is shiny and smooth. They didn't come with any hardware or instructions, but that hasn't stopped me yet.

I pulled the stock pegs off. I will take the feelers off and throw them in the parts box for on-track spares. The stock mounting hardware fit the new pegs just fine. The OEM stuff was covered in old Lithium grease that actually made the tolerances very precise between the pin and pin holes of the peg. A bath before assembly was in order to make things clean and neat.

My little Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaner came in handy once again. Over lunch I threw them in a solution of hot water and Pin Sol and hit the button. The unit has a three minute timer for each cycle. I did three or four cycles and wiped everything down with a clean rag. I had to do some test fitting and found my first and only issue. The peg was just a bit too big where it meets the OEM rear set mounting area. This caused the pin to be out of alignment by just enough that I couldn't get them to fit. Having more material than not enough is an easy fix so out came the grinder.

A few minutes and some Aluminum dust later they fit just enough. They are still too tight and consequently cannot pivot. I'll have to be mindful of that on the track as it means I could pole vault myself off the bike if I get low enough to start grinding on them. That shouldn't be a problem. I measured the ground-to-bottom of the peg distance and got 14.5 inches with the ground-to-top of peg distance being the same 15.5 inches as the OEM pegs. This extra inch will translate to another few degrees of lean angle out on the track. Besides what guy doesn't want another inch or so.

Here is the final product. I slipped my race boots on and gave the pegs a try in the shop. I like them. They are narrower than stock, but the feel solid and are easy for me to get my boot into the right position. On the left side of the bike I adjusted the shift lever down a few degrees. I was missing some first-to-second gear shifts at the track last Monday. I can't wait to try them out at speed!

I am working on the Ninja's suspension and have a similar peg project planned for the Yamaha FZ1. I am also working on a secret project that is in its embryonic stages at the moment. There is plenty to see and now you can follow me on Instagram at: My Motorbike Obsessions if that is your thing. I'm still getting used to Instagram so be gentle with me.

Thanks for looking,

Blue