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My 85 vt700 Forward controls

13K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  danteisme 
#1 ·
i've received some messages asking about my home made forward controls. i finally remembered to take some close up pics of mysetup and i'll try to explain what i did the best i can.

step one was buy another set of foot pegs in case i messed up, or they didnt work. that way i wasnt ruining the ones that came with the bike.

then, i ordered the tc bros universal forward control kit. the metal that was included with the kit was not long enough for me, so i bought some more metal and fittings and such from home depot i think.

then came the big step, start hacking. i cut the foot pegs off of their mounts and ground them down so i could weld something flat to them. (please keep in mind this was my first real attempt at welding so they arent too pretty).

next i believe i started cutting the metal i had bought to make my brackets out of. i messed around with some different lengths, and to be honest i think i just went with what didnt seem to ridiculous. then i drilled the holes for where i was going to mount the new foot pegs. next, i welded my brackets to the original foot peg mounts. once i had them tacked up, i connected my foot pegs to see how i liked the fitment. after i was satisfied, i used my mad noob welding skills to make sure they would never come off haha.

then it took me a couple days to figure out how i was going to make it all work with the brake pedal and shift pedal. i hacked the shift lever and changed its orientation. i moved it so it would face down, i then drilled a hole all the way through the shift arm. using pieces from the tc bros universal kit, i cut the linkage so it was the correct length and then connected the shift arm to the new pedal.

the brake side proved a little more challenging. i had to make a spacer for this side due to the brake pedal's location. then i repeated the same steps that i used on shifter side. once i had a good length for the bracket and i had my spacers where they needed to be, i welded the hell out of them. the brake pedal ended up working out just like the shift side. i cut the pedal down, drilled a hole through it and mounted it facing down just like i did on the shift side. i then used the universal kit to make my linkage. after everything seemed like it worked, i made some additional supports for the brackets, rounded off the sharp edges, and gave em a coat of paint. If anyone has any questions, i'll do my best to help!

onto the pics (btw this setup gave me almost 8" forward from the stock locations, a must being 6' or taller)

shift side










brake side(i just realized i need to get a coat of paint on the bracket i cut on this side)











sorry some of the pics are kinda meh, its hard to show all the parts.
 
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#6 ·
Second on the Harbor Freight welder. While it only has two power settings instead of the common four, it really does a good job for under 100 dollars. Just watch your wire speed.

Sent from my PC36100 using Motorcycle App
 
#8 ·
Excellent! I just love DIY stuff :mrgreen: ... Every bike is different, and when parts are simply not available or in my case not built to suit my size/comfort, I say just do it yourself! I spent some time working through trial and error too and managed to get away without welding ... good thing because I don't have a welder and my next door neighbor is a bit sloppy with that :lol: ! But in the end it's worth it and I'm thoroughly enjoying mine, as I'm certain you are too all the while knowing that you've got something others don't! Great work! :D
 
#10 ·
im 6 feet as well, i rode the bike for a year in the stock position and coudnt take it anymore. i have not run into any clearance issues in corners. i am currently investigating a possible clearance issue with teh brake side. i think my lack of a rear brake may be due to i cannot get full extension with the way my setup is now. when i get some free time, i'm going to test with the stock peg/brake lever and see if i'm right.
 
#12 ·
i re-did a portion of my controls. i wasn't getting enough motion in the brake pedal that i had cut. this was really limiting my rear braking (as in i had none). i had another stock brake pedal so i cut this one similar to how i did the one currently on the bike, but i left it about an inch and a half longer. this gave me enough leverage to get more motion out of the brake pedal. i now have rear brakes again. i'll snap a picture later.
 
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