Pegs on deck

[dgo1212]

My pegs on my 125 Vara have a habit of hitting the deck when leaning in the dry (possibly in the wet too but I'm a bit of a pussy when it comes to leaning in wet), I can't help but think this could be dangerous? Would getting the knee down stop me leaning far enough to scrape the pegs or is the bike too high to get the knee down (will the pegs hit before the knee).

Is it likely that the pegs could actually dig into the road and sling me off or am I worrying about nothing?

[salty21]

just hang off a bit, dont have to go knee down unless you want to.
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04 NSR 125(sold) ---- 03 CBR 600rr(sold) ----90 pan euro ST1100 '' ----02 CG 125
94 CB400 Super Four ---- 2000 VTR SP1 (sold) ---- 08 ninja p8f(sold, meh) ----05 CBR600rr

[mr.kris]

ahh i rember teaching u knee down salty that was a fun day! just wheelies to teach you and ur sorted!
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TS50X---CM125---MZ150---Z250---RS125---ZXR250---BANDIT600---TRX850---TL1000S---CBF600---ZX6R---BANDIT1200S---CG125---VFR800---CBR1000F---CG125---CG125---CB900F---CB900F---CG125---TUONO1000R---KLR600---GSX1300R HAYABUSA---VFR400NC30---BANDIT1200---CG125

HAYABUSA now in use!

[dgo1212]

[Noxious89123]

Getting your knee down is unimportant, but you do need to learn to shift your body about a bit more. If you move your body towards the inside of the corner, you can keep the bike more upright for the same corner radius. You don't have to go mad though, and knee down certainly isn't neccesary to get a bike more cornering speed and/or ground clearance!

It's really easy to deck the pegs out if you're leaning the bike but sitting bolt upright. And yes, it could cause problems if they catch and upset the bike mid-corner.
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[Pete247]

I'd not bother with knee down mate but if you lean off the bike more with your upper body you may get more corner speed for less bike lean. If you are grounding out the pegs you must be pretty close to the edge of your tyres too so I'd not really want to be leaning the bike any further.

[Fairies attack]

Pegs down???

2 up on Pernig's XJ750 maxim, I managed to get the exhaust down and lift the back wheel. He was riding my bike and said it looked cool, with a shower of sparks shooting out from the bike.
I was totally out of control and about to stand the bike up and go head long into a field, but managed to pull it off.

Slam can vouch that on a CB125, I can get the pegs down going in a straight line, just weaving from one side to the other. It isn't hard to do it infact. I do it all the time on the CB going round roundabouts. For a laugh with Slam following me because he reccons it looks cool.

I even snapped the hero blob on my GT getting the pegs down on the A157 2 up going from Louth to Willingham Woods.

[G]

If you're getting your pegs down, you should be fine to get your knee down.

But this alone (same body position but leg out) won't stop you getting your pegs down.
As others have said, it's the act of hanging off that means your bike stays more upright, you can then stick your knee out further if you want. Getting your knee down is useful to gauge your lean angle.

There has been enough of cases of people getting pegs down and it catching. Also, it means if for some reason you end up needing to lean more, it's very likely the bike will pivot on the peg and lift the rear wheel up.
A knee slider both has a bigger contact patch and is not directly connected to the bike etc - so is a more sensible thing to be on the road - however doesn't 'need' to be.

Consider your suspension. I know the varadero is a pretty low and very heavy bike for an off-road styled 125. So if you're heavier than average, the cheap suspension is probably struggling quite a lot.
Consider some stiffer springs all round.