If you are new to motorcycling, someday as you become more comfortable in the saddle you will be about half way through a curve when you will hear a scraping noise which will be accompanied by a shuddering vibration through one of the footpegs/footboards.
If you are like most people, you will immediately get a clenched feeling in the pit of your stomach – snap the throttle closed and try to get the bike upright by shifting your weight away from the dragging peg. Worse, you may try to brake in mid corner.
All of these are not only incorrect, but dangerous.
Closing the throttle and leaning away from the peg that is scraping along the pavement will LOWER the bike on its suspension and cause the lean angle to INCREASE, not decrease. Braking will cause the bike’s weight to shift to the front suspension, lowering the front end and pushing the footpeg further into the ground. Since you are already using a bunch of your available traction just in cornering, braking may also cause one or both tires to slide out from under you, resulting in your scraping a lot more than just a footpeg.
There are three things you can do when you hear/feel a peg scrape to solve the problem:
(1) Since you should have already been accelerating through the turn you can gradually roll on the throttle to raise the bike on its suspension;
(2) You can shift your weight toward the dragging footpeg (which will make the bike stand up a bit to offset your weight shift); and
(3) You can widen your turn, if possible, by countersteering away from the downward side.
If you can’t widen the turn, it is better to ride through the turn even with a peg scraping than to try to stand the bike up and brake. The footpeg will lift up on its pivot, and most motorcycles have several more degrees of lean between dragging a footpeg and scraping the frame or something that will lift the wheels off the ground.
Think about it – and ride safe Don Oldaker – Safety Officer