There
appears to be only one company that makes a lowering kit
for the R1100RT. Its called Verholen, and they are in Germany.
However, they do have a comprehensive web page for information
and ordering.
Jerry
Cook jcook@capcity.com
had some correspondence with Monica at VerHolen and shared
it with the list:
Jerry
asked: "You have a product on the web that adjusts
the DRIVER FOOTPEGS by 40mm foot rest fastening panel changes
foot position by 40 mm for BMW R1100 R, R1100 RS, R1100
RT, R1100 GS and R850R. Is this LOWER? closer to the ground?.
Deepening = Lowering?
This
item is not clear to me Your English is good thank you very
much Do you accept VISA and MASTERCARD ???"
Monica
Replied:
"Dear
Mr.Cook, Yes its lower. Its nearer to the ground. We accept
Visa- or Eurocard. I need your card number. and dates of
validity. The R 1100 RT is ready in February. Are you a
dealer? We also send these parts to private persons. I hope
you enjoy. Sincerely Monika Verholen"
Jerry
responded: "Thank you I will forward your information
to our mailing lists and a few dealers e-mail and web site
information. One last question. We have discussed the possibility
of the foot pegs being too low and contacting the ground
in a hard turn. Will the pegs touch the ground? The riders
need to know before they purchase."
Monica
Replied: "In extreme situation and if you ride with
a pillion rider it is possible to come to the ground. But
normally you will get no problems with that. We don’t
know anyone who had problems with that. If you are not satisfy
with our parts after trying them and they are not damaged
you can send us them back. To your burdens. Hope to had
helped you, Monika Verholen"
Manuel
Helzel <mhelzel@csolve.net>
of Penetang Ontario Canada. actually bought the Verholen
lowering kit and posted the following report:
"I
reported briefly on my experience with the Verholen footrest
lowering kit a couple of days ago. Ordering was easy with
visa from Verholen’s website, and my order, sent by
parcel post, arrived ten days after I placed the order,
installation (done by my dealer) was easy and fit was superb.
I have some more info.
First
I have been able to go out on a couple of further rides
(el nino has given us record breaking weather in Ontario
the last few days). I like the footrests even better than
before. With my seat in the lowest position I now have as
much (or almost as much) leg room as with the seat in the
highest position before. This makes this the best seating
position for me with lots of leg room, together with a superclose
reach to the ground - almost cruiser like. Makes for really
easy maneuvering in the garage etc.
Even
though the foot rests are directly below and a little bit
outboard from their previous position, braking and gear
shifting are not negatively affected. (Verholen provides
the necessary parts to adjust gear and brake levers). Braking
feels exactly as it did before. Gear shifting seems significantly
different, the foot peg to gear lever distance is slightly
decreased, and it took me a little while to adjust to the
new position. At first I missed the odd shift, and it seemed
that I had to twist my ankle awkwardly (I broke my left
ankle years ago and have somewhat limited movement in it).
Now that I have adjusted to the new position, I much prefer
it and shifting is as good or better than before I installed
the Verholen set.
In
my previous post, I had mentioned that there seemed to be
no way to install the footrest return spring. Roger Deal
has informed me that he drilled a hole in the Verholen part
in order to install it. I installed the kit without the
return spring. This does not seem to create any real problem.
On one occasion, when I was paddling the bike out of the
garage, I pushed the foot rest back and it did not return
by itself. I felt this readily and I easily pushed it back
into its correct position with my foot as I was starting
out - almost a reflex reaction even though I had never done
it before, or since. Otherwise, no ill effects. I e-mailed
Verholen about this, and as usual, I had an almost immediate
reply.
He
feels that it works well without the spring, that he has
sold it like this from the beginning, and that the footrest
returns easily without the spring as long as the footpeg
bolt is greased. He is correct; even without having greased
the bolt, my foot rest returns by itself without the spring,
except when it has been fully pushed back. Verholen said
that he had only one complaint about this from a person
who said that his pant leg caught the footpeg, when it didn’t
return. He reports that other long term customers have not
experienced any problems like this. However; he will make
provisions in the next edition of the footrest kit for a
nut which will allow installation of the spring, so that
everybody will be happy. As I indicated, I see this as a
very minor problem, and have no hesitation riding my bike
as is. This may be more of a concern if one were riding
on the track, but then one would probably not use a footrest
lowering kit anyway.
I
had a couple of requests for the Verholen website address.
It is: http://www.verholen.de/
Monica Verholen’s e-mail address is: <mail@verholen.de>
The
site is trilingual, and quite slick. There are many additional
parts shown to improve the new 1200s as well as the older
oilheads. The site also includes brief descriptions of the
installation of the parts. People who have seen the installed
kit comment on how much it looks as if it were part of the
bike. For what it’s worth my wife thinks it looks great.
You
may be able to surmise that I am very happy with my purchase
and would recommend it to anybody who wants/needs more leg
room. Together with barbacks I had installed at the same
time as the Verholen kit, my bike has been transformed into
a much more comfortable and manageable machine, with the
only possible drawback being that now I put a little more
weight on the seat, since I support less of it with my wrists
and legs. The bike also feels a little less sporting; I
guess that’s the flip side of being more comfortable.
I have no connection to Verholen other than being a happy
customer."
John
P. Neet <jpneet@inland.net>>
says "I have not had any trouble grounding the pegs,
but a very aggressive rider might. Because of the length
of my legs, I have a tendency to ride with my toes pointing
down. I never grounded my toes on the old footpegs, but
I do have to bring my inside foot parallel to the ground
on tight and/or rapidly traversed corners. I would recommend
installing the Verholen shift lever kit (to compensate for
the lower position of your left foot) and the oversize foot
brake lever cover (because it works well and you can find
the brake pedal more easily) as well."
