Hitchcocks Forum

Needing some kind soul with a tape measure and a moment of their time:-
I fear that the rear brake pedal on my new (to me) 07reg 350 Bullet Classic (RH gear shift) has been neatly modified to suit a boot much smaller than my delicate size 11's.
The front edge of the pedal rubber is only 4.5" in front of the footrest and is so low that to brake I have to adopt a ballet dancers "points" position which is hardly practical for a 67 year old, slightly arthritic male!
..and No, can't pivot the footrest backwards else to match it the other side rest contacts the gearbox!)

Can anyone please take a straight line measurement from the centre of the lever pivot to the front edge of the pedal rubber.

I can check that for you when I get Home from work about 6 if no one else has before then.

On my Classic 500 the measurement is about 14 inches from pivot centre to front of pedal. The front edge is only about 5 inches from the front of the footrest. The pedal height is easily adjusted and this may help a bit, but the pivot will always be quite a long way back from the footrest - good for leverage but maybe not the best design in the world!

This is a common problem on traditional "English styled" motorcycles. My Nortons, BSA's and Ariel all demonstrate the same problem. You should be able to adjust the height I would have thought to reduce the ballet dancer stance, but there a number of alternative solutions. (1) Do nothong and just put up with it. (2) Buy a spare brake pedal, cut off the foot pad and weld an extension to place the pad under your size 11's......however doing this will increase the distance from pivot to foot pad and thus seriously increase brake pedal travel. (3) Buy another bike! (4) As a last resort and not necessarily the most practical solution.....get a foot transplant!!! LOL. Is the rear brake on the Enfield rod or cable operated? Remember I do not have an Enfield. If it is a cable then you may never solve the problem. Commando rear brakes are cable operated and whilst the rear brake works it never feels as though it is due to lack of feedback. HTH.

Simple as this, you need to adjust the pedal on the left hand side, and then adjust the brake rod, and remember no too tight because when you sit on it and go over bumps the brake tightens up in the same manner the chain tightens up

Thank you folks:-
1). 14" for pedal length and 5" for overhang is correct for me too!
2). Never remember this problem on the 500, which I sold last year?
3). Brake is rod operated - will investigate application of hacksaw/heat/die to shorten.
Can't remember if it is [possible to change the untensioned "at rest" angle of the rear brake operating arm at the hub end?
4). Yes you can pivot the footrests but, as stated, once beyond a very small rearwards movement of the RH rest the gearbox gets in the way and the only way then is to accept the LH footrest being out of line with the RH rest ..and I'm not sure I fancy that.

---------you could also try the mod. on the rear adjuster to make it "fully floating" which helps the overall braking action anyway.

The footpegs have nothing to do with the brake pedal adjustment unless the brake lever is coming up against the underside of the footpeg rubber and if this is the case you will have to cut a section out of the rubber if you want it higher. Otherwise it requires adjustment on the brake lever stop screw

OK - problem solved and thank you to all concerned....and fairly typically for a Bullet, in my experience, the solution came in various parts:-

1). Wound pedal stop full in to raise pedal to upward limit.
2). Non standard small "bottle" silencer has been fitted - does a lovely job but the downpipe needed a little tweek to the forward lug.
3). Discovered that RH footrest had been mis-bored/stamped, so that the star shaped hole was way, way off centre. Got around to fitting the new one from our hosts...... solved that problem!
These two mods' Allowing small but vital rotation of pegs.
4). Standard pedal rubber replaced by rectangle made from three layers of marine deck covering epoxied together.