Did a search and there is a lot of chatter out in internetland but no answer that works for me so far. A lot of tall guys (like me) have asked the same question - "Can I lower my footboards?" The answer has been "move them out, forward, forward controls, highway pegs, tallboy seat, do stretching, etc". Most folks say to lower will cause scraping. That basically makes sense. But, here's my thoughts/questions on that -

A Street/Road Glide is about an inch lower than an Ultra. Has Harley raised those footboards to accommodate the lowered stance or are they simply an inch closer to the ground than on an Ultra? If they haven't raised the footboards on the S/R Glides why is it so bad to lower them on an Ultra if it yields basically the same results as a stock S/R Glide? Am I looking at this wrong?

If one moves the footboards outward (by use of adapters), doesn't that also put them closer to the ground when leaning into a corner causing them to scrape earlier than stock positioning?

How does moving the footboard forward (using adaptors) help? My feet are already pushed up into the lowers and hanging off the front of the footboard. Moving it forward wouldn't change my foot position at all.

The footboards are hinged. Is it really that big a deal to scrape anyway? Maybe a little startling the first time or so, but I wouldn't think it would really upset the balance.

I'm thinking that a footboard with two changes - lower profile (not so clunky/thick) and a hair narrower than stock, set an inch lower would put my knees below (or closer anyway) my hip joint and still not scrape any worse than a S/R Glide or Ultra with wider footboards.

FYI - I'm looking at "tall" seat options to help but most don't allow for the adjustable backrest which saves my back.

Insights appreciated.

 

All I can tell ya is that my 01 FLHR is adjustable and as low as they can go. I am constantly scraping the brackets in the twisties and there is plenty of steel left and only shows signs of being scraped, not excessively worn.

 

Ok - there's another point - they were adjustable before, but not now. I wonder where my fixed height (2011 Ultra) is relative to your lowest position? My guess would be that the 2011 fixed position is equivalent to your highest position to keep them from scraping. I could certainly be wrong, but I'll bet it wouldn't be the first times lawyers designed certain parts of our bikes to be "safer".

 

I think I read about yaffe lowering a set on a customer bike . Its chris's ride ,a black street glide with huge 22" apes. It was a coverbike on american bagger a month or 2 ago but the bike is on baggernation.com. I think the ownerwas like 6'8" or somethin

 

If you were to lower the back end of your bike by 1 inch, your floorboards would only be lowered by barely a fraction of an inch. So the Street/Road Glide analogy won't work.

Have you looked at something like this? http://www.ironacesspeedshop.com/pro...ighway-peg.cfm They mount under your boards, and can be tucked away when not in use.

 

I'm 6'4'' , and thinking about to buy another set of brackets and just cut an inch of or either get an gas-axe to bend them down a bit .... installed a set of Kury's 1''forward'1'' wider....and it helped .....

Also installed a Solo Brawler, which helps pretty much for comfy position ...gets yer *** a wee bit more to the aft..

It's a battle in between looks and comfort......

 

That makes sense. I thought the S/R Glides were lowered for and aft. Thanks for the info.

On the fold outs - I considered them, but tried the position and it didn't really help me too much. I'll get some highway pegs for the straight shots, but I need to find some relief for around town when I'm on the controls a lot.

I'm probably going to get a Kuryakyn extended shifter to at least help for down shifts which require the most foot movement for me. I have to pull my foot back out of the lowers to then get on top of the shifter. The extended shift lever might put my (big) boots in conflict with the lowers when the vent is open. I'll just have to play with it.