QuestionI have a 94 Wide Glide and I recently decided to replace / upgrade the stock foot pegs. I was curious about the comfort level of a standard diameter peg versus the large oversize diameter pegs sometimes seen in the mid peg position which is where the controls are. I asked my dealer and also a local after market source I use for used parts. The first question I got from both of my dealers was if if I had forward controls. Why would I get such a question and why is it relavent? Both of my dealers know I have a stock bike so what other choice can there be? If it is not "forward" what is it. Is there a Wide Glide option that moves the position of the shifter and brake further back. To confuse the matter, I always considered the "forward" foot peg to be the highway pegs located on the engine guard which has nothing to do with the forward controls. Can you clarify the terminology that appears to be somewhat inconsistant, and answer my basic question of comfort depending on the peg size and is there even a difference.
Thanks.
AnswerHi Rick,
I recently sold a bike with highway pegs (the kind on the engine guard) and one guy got all upset with me because he thought my ad said "forward controls".
I said, no, it said "highway pegs". He says "well, that's the same thing as forward controls!" So I explained to him that no, they were indeed very different. It is a point of confusion for many riders.
The "forward controls" thing started about 10 years ago when people started to modify Japanese cruisers by moving the footpegs, brake and shift levers farther forward to give the bikes a more "stretched out" riding posture (more like a Harley).
Seeing this trend, motorcycle makers- and I mean all of them - started using the "forward controls" buzz words in their ads as if it was some great new discovery they had made.
"Forward controls" just means the shifter and brake pedal are forward of the engine. The bike I sold (an old Yamaha Virago) had the footpegs, shifter and brake pedal right under the seat. This is usually known as the "normal" or "standard" position. And like you say, I had another set of pegs- but no controls- mounted on engine crashbars so I could be comfortable on a long ride. Typically, these are called "highway pegs".
Going one step further, sportbikes use what is called "rearset controls", typically located just behind the seat, resulting in the balled-up riding position typical of a sportbike. Typically, that arrangement is just called "rearsets".
Your Wide Glide has forward controls as stock, no maybes about it. It's amazing to me that an employee at a Harley dealer (if that is where you went) would not know that.
As for replacing the pegs with something bigger/different, that is a non-issue. Some people say that a bigger peg is more comfortable, and that may be true (it would certainly spread out the pressure on the foot). Give it a go if the stock peg is hurting your foot.
But as you say, the terminology is somewhat inconsistant, mostly due to marketers using the hot new "forward controls" term when they might just mean "highway pegs" or pretty much anything footpeg related.
Hope that helps,
Bill Roberson
