Passenger Footpegs Stuck in up position

[Danno]

I'm sure there is very simple answer here and I'll feel like an idiot shortly.

 

However, my passenger footpegs have been in the upright and locked position since I purchased the bike. I can't seem to figure out how to drop them into the usable position. The owner's manual is of no help. For the time being this serves as a great excuse why I can't take my girlfriend out riding but I'm sounding very lame lately.

[belfastguzzi]

Wowee, fantastic. At last! A different and original topic is posted in the tech thread!

Ring out, ye bells.

 

What sort of oil should he use to lubricate them there things????

[belfastguzzi]

ok, ok

if they really can't be persuaded down

perhaps someone (who only rode solo) has deliberately fitted them the wrong way, so that they don't drop down from vibration.

I'd need to look to check, but from memory I think that this might be possible.

In that case, you just need to take the pin out and refit them the correct way (swap sides) so that they can hinge. (And put the pin back in.) It's a pin and circlip, isn't it? Sorry if I've got that wrong. In which case I'll delete the post.

 

In the up position, as they are, is the base of the peg, on the outside face, flat and square, or is it curved at the bottom? The curved side needs to be on the inside for the peg to hinge down.

[savagehenry]

My wife stopped riding as soon as we had our first child, so my rear seat cowl never comes off, and my passenger pegs are stuck in the UP position also. They used to work when I bought it a year and a half ago. Figures...These damn Moto Guzzi's ARE unreliable. Now I'm gonna have to go riding to forget that my bike doesn't work!!!

...I fixed 'em by IGNORING them, not even a cadidate for bodge pts. ...and good luck with yours, I'd try pulling the pivot pin and greasing it, if I gave a shit enough to try.

[raz]

I had one stuck because an under-sized ball wedged with the end of the spring. Just disassemble them (take care not to lose springs and balls), check, lube, reassemble.

[mdude]

Whatever you do, dont use brute force. Use a bigger hammer.

[belfastguzzi]

Use a bigger hammer.

Hmmm. As they are locked upright, two hammers could provide the answer, one for each side. cable tie the hammer head to the upright peg so that the hammer shaft protrudes horizontally to form a footrest.

 

Yeh.

I'd do that.

[Guest frankdugo]

first time i tried to put them down-----would not budge. a little juice& mallet,wallah

[gstallons]

Remove the whole assy. from the bike. There's a clip that holds the pin in place.Remove it,tap out the pin and watch things fly. find all those parts, spray a dry film graphite on them. Reassemble and have a place for your "putty tat" to rest her feet.

[slug]

I found that the reason the pegs get locked in the upright position is that the spring loaded ball gets a groove worn in it where it makes contact with the hole in the little lock plate (ball metal is softer than the plate metal + wear from dirt). The groove prevents the ball from rolling out easily when you try to put the peg down. Once the groove is there, you'll have to replace the ball since it'll lock up again...

 

On my last V11 I replaced the balls with some stray ball bearings (probably from one of my three torched rear wheel bearings ). You can also get loose bearings from Home Despot/Lowes/Whatever in their fastener section. They're generally harder than the ones that come on the bike. And as stated before, use a dry lube when you put everything back together, since grease can attract dirt.

[Skeeve]

And as stated before, use a dry lube when you put everything back together, since grease can attract dirt.

 

Ah, but use enough grease and the dirt will stay on the outside of the moving parts, and meanwhile, it fights corrosion too [which no dry lube can do.]

 

Actually, I'm more likely to take the dry lube answer myself, I just like playing Devil's advocate...

[badmotogoozer]

I had the same problem from new. I got one of the "greaseless" V11s. What I learned:

 

Don't force it, you will do damage. I did.

Take it apart and clean the rust/crud off the spring and ball, lube with trailer bearing grease or white lithium, and reassemble.

Fixed for good.

 

cheers,

[rwake]

8 years later:  One of mine was stuck in the up position, the other stiff. I was able to remove the circlip at the bottom of the pin with a small hook tool without removing the muffler. There are 2 through holes in the peg; one for the pivot pin and the other for the spring and ball. The ball is at the bottom (be ready to catch it), as is the thicker of the 2 steel wear plates (with the second hole for the ball to engage) which slide out with the peg. I cleaned the parts of the stuck one with mineral spirits and reassembled after lubing lightly with wheel bearing grease. It works great. I hadn't forced it so nothing was damaged. The ball hole in the stiff one was deformed such that the ball could not fully retract, causing a groove in the lower wear plate. I tapped out the ball with a punch and trued up the hole with a quarter inch drill bit, which was very slightly undersized, but sufficient for the spring and ball to move freely. I filed down the displaced metal by the groove in the plate and put it back together. Because of the groove, the ball doesn't engage as "crisply" in the up position, but I doubt that anyone else would notice.

  Ditto on fighting the impulse to force a stuck peg down. Both appeared to have been assembled dry originally.

 Edit: I noticed that the "up" side of the lower wear plate, where the spring loaded ball rides, must have been the "down" side when the 2 holes were punched, as, there was a slight exit burr around the holes. I used a ball-nose bit in my drill press to remove the burr and leave a slight chamfer. Perhaps that sharp edge caused the groove in the ball mentioned above by slug. Both balls in my rear pegs looked alright, but they have not been used at all in the 6 years I've owned it. But I'm ready now if I ever find a passenger.