Handicap foot peg ideas

[wayzalot]

Hi it been a while since I have been on HTT but I think this is the right spot for great ideas.  My 23 year old son is dating a 20 year old little angel.  She was in a ATV accident a few years back and is paralized from the waste down.  Here is my question.  They have been riding the nightster sportster around and I think it is safe and a great way to forget about her siduation but I am worried her feet will bounce off the pegs and get run over or burn her legg or something.  I am looking for ideas for some sort of stirrup type application.  I would not want to tie the feet to the pegs incase ... you know.   When they head out the driveway I see the biggest smile on that little angels face and the look of "I thought I could never have this much fun ever again." So cool.  Please offer any ideas.

[Dennis The Menace]

Cool that she wants to get out and ride.  I thought about this a bit in the past for my daughter who is disabled (though not paralyzed).

I thought that a thin velcro strap that can go around the shoe/boot and the peg or footboard would work.  It would allow the shoe to swivel out if needed, but as long as its thin would not hod the shoe firm in a crash.  I was thinking about 1/2 inch width or less, and only about 1 inch of overlap of the velcro.  Any more surface area may be too much.  The trick is to find balance of enough versus too much holding strength.

Anyway, you might try it.  I never did, since I got rid of my Ultra and my daughter doesnt have much problem keeping her feet on the floorboards now.  But, she doesnt ride much with me either.

HTH

Dennis

[ThumperDeuce]

You may be able to adapt a clipless bicycle pedal to replace the passenger foot pegs.

http://www.bicyclesouth.com/clipless.htm

[Ptroc]

Clipless Pedals like Thump said.  There are also toe straps that can be used.  Maybe a little safer then the clipless now I think about it.

P

[RK103]

Make a foot board slightly larger than her shoe and add a rail or rim around it so it sticks up above it a 1/2" or so.

[codyshop]

You may be able to adapt a clipless bicycle pedal to replace the passenger foot pegs.

http://www.bicyclesouth.com/clipless.htm

This exactly.  I've got clipless pedals made by Mavic on my road bike and while they hold, they pop off with the slightest "wrong" movement.   Check you local bicycle shop that specializes in road bikes.  Mountain bike versions are a little too unforgiving.  You might also look into some kind of cross-country skiing binding, but I think the special shoes might be a little warm for summer riding.  Ray

[mark61]

The velcro idea seems good too. Make some elastic bands for around her shoes and put the soft side on them and the other around the pegs. Easy enough to slip the bands off and on. You can get everything you need at Wal-mart.
mark61

[ricochet]

I made stirups for the rear pegs of my rigid when the kids were small.  My pegs were those ISO type.  I removed the through bolt, used a piece of old leather belt with holes and brass canvas grommets on both ends and stuck the ends aside the inner and outer rubber pads of the ISO pegs then put the bolt back through.  Great for their piece of mind and helps for leaverage for holding on and balancing.  No cost and looked professionally done.

ricochet

[codyshop]

Another issue you might want to address is this one:  we had a customer whose wife had MS and was in the same situtation.  She couldn't hold her knees in and at higway speeds she would splay from the wind.  They took basic cheap chaps and he had velcro sewn to the outside of his thighs and she had the other part of the velcro sewn to the inside of hers and the two of them stuck together  What they also had done (which I thought was damned brilliant) was to bolt a pair of cheap Walmart mens sandals (Teva knock-offs) in a size 14 or something to her floorboards and they became these huge bindings that she could put her boots into.  Ray

[Evo160K]

Do snow skis have something that lets the foot release in a fall?  Obviously I'm not a skier.