I'm not saying yes...
...but I'm not saying no, either. I
may have a passenger footpeg solution. Or not: even if this works - I have to do some experiments with a passenger to confirm - there are some very severe limitations on this idea.
First of all, this is not mjm50cal's footpeg solution. I never intended it to be; this is to Mike's passenger footpegs what the UFPs are to emtwo's and RamberDan's driver footpegs, 90% of the functionality but able to be installed with little skill and minimal tools in a couple of minutes. No sawing, no welding, no modifications to the scooter, but on the other hand, you shouldn't be standing up on them and jumping up and down either.
Secondly, and this is a heartbreaker, this is an option
only for /500/Fuoco owners. I was terribly disappointed to learn the the /500 does not share the same passenger riser design as the rest of the MP3 line, because once I took apart the floorboard riser I saw instantly that it was absurd to ever think that a footpeg could be safely attached to it: the diamondplate screws to a piece of plastic, which screws to a piece of plastic, which except for one screw attaches to yet another piece of plastic. As you'll see, what is under that removable riser is key to my idea. Removing the diamondplate (B24's picture above) shows a bunch of what appear to be beefy screws but as was pointed out they don't attach to anything solid. And as I was warned, there is a hidden upside-down tapping screw underneath, but I immediately saw that it served no functional purpose and just ripped the riser off, leaving a chunk of plastic attached to the screw (Figure 1, inboard). I eventually removed that screw with a pair of pliers. EDIT: Old As Dirt tells me that the underlying setup is the same between the models, so maybe there's hope?
I tried mounting a UFP/XT between the two forward speednuts (Figure 2) and angled over the inboard speednut (Figure 3). The problem was that the /XT is far enough forward that it jams me in the calf when standing in the driver's seat. Ironically, last year's UFP/LT was a perfect fit in this regard (Figure 4) - of course, I only have the one left bracket remaining from last year! I found that by the judicious use of the different kind of screws I had just removed while dismantling the riser, I could box in the bracket and make it very resistant to moving even though only one screw really holds it down (Figure 5). The real trick to this is that the bracket happens to also be pressed against several off-axis surfaces: the upward arc contacts the plastic ridge in front of the passenger floorboard, and the peg ear rests on the outboard side of that ridge. That gives a lot of reinforcement!
Even so, the bumper is of no use because the peg holes are forward of the riser, so there is still some noticeable flex. Furthermore, even though I have that rear screw going directly into the "frame," it's really still just that U-channel that I warn people against bending by putting all their weight on with the driver's pegs. This therefore may not wind up being a "full foot" solution. However, I found that putting the heel on the floorboard and the toe on the peg places my foot at the perfect height and angle (Figure 6).
Okay, so what's next?
Obviously I need to try this out with a passenger. I am going to use this as an excuse to order a pair of those Rivco pegs everybody's been raving about, but ultimately I suspect that this position will call for a short peg - not because of lean clearance, of which there is plenty, but to dissuade passengers from putting anything but their toes on them. But we'll see.
This could be done
right now with UFP/LTs - and possibly UFP/3s, but I am not sure about the flex (if you are a /500 owner with UFP/3s, by all means try this out - you've been looking for an excuse to buy those new UFP/XTs for up front anyway, right?). Maybe I'll wind up finding somebody who'd trade me their /LTs for a brand-new /XT? (Talk about
ironic!)
But longer term, I have in my mind a bracket designed specifically for this purpose, a "UPP," as it were (sorry Ken, somebody already thought of that before). Wider to cover most of the floorboard area and to allow screwing down to all three anchor points. The arc turned into a sharp bend to match the floorboard ridge. The peg ear moved back a little to install a bumper and eliminate flex (and perhaps take the full-foot weight of the passenger) and have the entire ridge width to stabilize it.
Is there a market, especially considering that /250s /300s /400s are out? I can certainly design it, but these are going to be more expensive that the UFP under the best of circumstances because there's going to be much more metal. I've managed to hold down the price of UFPs while continuing to incorporate improvements because I've kept ordering them in larger and larger quantities, but before they were known to fit models other than the /500 I only sold 18 of them in an
entire year. And that was for
driver's pegs, for which there was presumably a lot more demand than for passengers.
Would you pay $150? $200? What do you think?
⚠️ Last edited by rjeffb on UTC; edited 2 times
