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[Kocho]

When I test rode the 2014 S and SR I mainly fit OK on them, except the foot brake pedal was way too high and uncomfortable to reach for me. The reason is I'm 6'4" with huge feet and long legs. This puts my knees way forward, my shins are angled forward a lot, and that creates a pretty acute angle between my shin and feet at my ankle when I have to use the brake - it requires a lot of flex and effort to lift my toes up and over the foot brake. In contrast, the foot brake on the FX felt great and where it should be - felt natural to step on it, because my legs were not as much bent in the knees and my shins were less angled forward compared to how I had to sit on the S/SR.

So my question is, are there easy/standard ways to modify the foot brake for a tall person to be comfortable using it? I'm thinking of somehow turning it clockwise (i.e., down) from its default position by maybe 30 degrees and/or lowering it relative to the foot pegs.

[evtricity]

The ground clearance for the pegs on the S and SR is pretty low already so I wouldn't recommend lowering the brake pedal. Many owners have successfully fitted LHRB as I've done and it gives you better useability and feel than a foot brake offers

[Lipo423]

I would also suggest you to replace the spring -as I did- for a softer one (see photo)
I have never understood why Zero installed a hard -dirt type- spring on a road bike...

After that, surprisingly you will get better braking power 

[Kocho]

Good point on the clearance, plus I'm already used to having a LHRB on my Vectrix.

And good to know about the softer spring option.

I'll test ride the '16 models to see if I still feel the same. And check out the DS, which I did not have a chance to ride last time. Being tall (or short) is a challenge on situations where good fit makes a difference - my Vectrix is rather uncomfortable for me (crammed in several ways, unless I ride it from the hump between the front and the passenger seat, where it feels great!)

The ground clearance for the pegs on the S and SR is pretty low already so I wouldn't recommend lowering the brake pedal. Many owners have successfully fitted LHRB as I've done and it gives you better useability and feel than a foot brake offers

[Killroy]

I'm a short 5'6" rider and I think the rear brake pedal would be better lower also. 

I held a flat piece of cardboard up to the bike lining up the tires to simulate ridiculous lean angle for the street.

It looks like my peg and my small foot would drag first and the brake could go down 1 inch.  This assumes that you are not braking at max lean angle, which I don't recommend.   

I would rather have a Left Hand Brake Lever (LHBL) and if anyone has any recommendations or links to the full mod, that would be great! 

If you are really leaning that hard on a zero, you should adopt a "hanging off" body position to limit the lean angel of your bike.

[WoadRaider]

Anyone come up with a way to lower the rear brake pedal? I took it off today trying to figure it out but from what I can see the bolt is too long to allow for the change in angle. Only way I can think of is to cut the bolt (bad idea) or file out a section of the pedal's arm in which the bolt can recess.

[Killroy]

Anyone come up with a way to lower the rear brake pedal? I took it off today trying to figure it out but from what I can see the bolt is too long to allow for the change in angle. Only way I can think of is to cut the bolt (bad idea) or file out a section of the pedal's arm in which the bolt can recess.

So you loosened the lock nut to screw in the threaded shaft of the piston into the bracket, but it bottomed out so that you could not lower the brake lever?

I think you could lower it without any dragging it.  IT looks like the pegs would drag first.

[WoadRaider]

I was able to get all three nuts on the shaft loose. The top one only seems to go up so far (it seemed to already be as high up on the thread as it could be when I got to it), and then it's just spinning, or the threaded shaft is spinning. I don't know much about this braking system; I hope I wasn't stripping anything or messing with positioning/alignment with all of the twisting I was doing. The second nut was the first one I tried to adjust, but even when I butt it up against the top nut (to raise the back of the pedal and lower the front), which is only a slight/moderate height adjustment, the bottom of the shaft blocks the pedal arm from either attaching to the bracket/cylinder on the shaft or lining up with the attachment point on the frame. I'm gonna try widening the lower hole on the pedal arm (that the spring hooks on) and see if I can get it to work by switching the function of two pedal arm attachment points.

[rayivers]

On my FX, I loosened the two master-cylinder bolts, pressed down on the brake pedal hard, then held it there while I retightened them.  This lowered the pedal tip about 1/4" which helped a bit.  I don't know if the SR MC mounting holes have the same amount of slop as the FX, but it's simple to try.

Ray

[Killroy]

I lowered my rear brake pedal by the following steps:

1. use masking tape to mark current height of brake pedal
2. refer to Lipo423's photo above and loosen lock nut, which is almost out of view in the photo
3. rotate threaded shaft so that pedal is at desired height
4. tighten lock nut
5. use large piece of cardboard pressed against the tires to simulate the road when the motorcycle is leaning to ensure the brake pedal does not drag before the peg. 

[WoadRaider]

So, I went ahead and widened (with a 1/4 drill bit) the lower spring attachment hole (so I could connect the brake at that point) and was able to successfully re-attach the pedal in the position I wanted. I like this set up so much more; I can rest my foot on the frame without worrying about activating the brake, the brake is much easier to put pressure on/easier to find (not that you don't get used to where brakes are quickly anyway) and it doesn't seem like it's too low to where it would hit the ground in a sharp turn (unless maybe you are doing those crazy racing turns where the knee is on the ground) but I'll try the cardboard trick/test and post if it does hit the ground in any of my turns. I recommend that anyone who is dissatisfied with the brake pedal consider this simple mod; even if you would rather raise it, have it further out, or have it further forward (although you can do all of those to some extent it might not be enough for some) you should try this to see how you like it. I was going to replace the spring with a longer/softer one, but it doesn't even seem to need it, the brake pedal already bounces back into place just as well as if it had a spring on it.

To Killroy:
I could only lower it a very slight amount before the threaded shaft ran into the pedal arm, someone mentioned that you could get a bit more range by using force but I don't want to brake/stress anything if I don't have to and it probably wouldn't have been enough.

[MrDude_1]

(unless maybe you are doing those crazy racing turns where the knee is on the ground)

You might call it crazy, but the alternative to hanging off the bike is to make the bike lean even more.
You dont have to be racing, or even going very fast, to do it either... You just have to have the need to turn the bike that hard or fast... A car stopping in your path and suddenly requiring you to make a right hand turn comes to mind for me. stupid drivers pull out infront of you, then see you, and slam on their brakes... stopping in your path. lol.

[rayivers]

someone mentioned that you could get a bit more range by using force

Hopefully you're not referring to my post, which mentioned pushing down hard on the brake pedal by hand (wrench in the other hand ready to tighten the bolts, obviously). I wasn't suggesting trying to stress or 'brake' anything, just move the MC firmly into a new position that would give a little more foot room at the pedal tip, since you'd apparently used up all your conventional adjustment range already.

So now your actuator rod enters the master cylinder at an angle, rather than straight in as every MC master cylinder I've ever seen does it?  I'd highly recommend NOT doing that.

Ray

[WoadRaider]

You might call it crazy, but the alternative to hanging off the bike is to make the bike lean even more.

Meh, I only call it crazy because I've never had to do it before and it looks almost as crazy (as in spectacular) as a sustained wheelie (although less crazy than standing on the bike). I've had foot pegs scrape the ground but that isn't (as far as I can conceptualize) anywhere near those angles; and that has only happened on very sharp turns; I wouldn't be going fast enough (or turning long enough) to feel comfortable shifting body position dramatically.
I really don't know, but I would think that changing your body position doesn't turn the bike faster/sharper unless it also leans the motorcycle. So it might make sense to be in that extreme position in order to get a more stable/controlled lean but it doesn't make sense, at least how I understand it right now, that you can lean the bike less and turn just as sharp or more sharply.

You dont have to be racing, or even going very fast, to do it either... You just have to have the need to turn the bike that hard or fast... A car stopping in your path and suddenly requiring you to make a right hand turn comes to mind for me.

Such a turn would take you off the road, almost perpendicular to the road, so you better hope you are at an intersection or there's a field or something. If I were to do it on these hilly roads I'd go off into the ravine or into the cliff. And if you are going slow enough you will just tip over, even going 10-20mph.

Hopefully you're not referring to my post, which mentioned pushing down hard on the brake pedal by hand (wrench in the other hand ready to tighten the bolts, obviously). I wasn't suggesting trying to stress or 'brake' anything, just move the MC firmly into a new position that would give a little more foot room at the pedal tip, since you'd apparently used up all your conventional adjustment range already.

I figured that's what you meant, but it seemed to me that I'd either be angling the rod in the other direction or just making it so that the brake is forced permanently into the activated position. There is really very little room for adjustment and I got the bike from the dealer with the pedal almost as low as it would go (because the end of the actuator rod blocks the pedal arm from going any higher).

So now your actuator rod enters the master cylinder at an angle, rather than straight in as every MC master cylinder I've ever seen does it?  I'd highly recommend NOT doing that.

That's correct, but it doesn't seem to bend at all and the change in angle isn't drastic. It still activates the brake just the same; in fact it works beautifully so far, better than before, somehow it's easier to just stomp on the pedal. I figure even if the brake does fail, I have two more.

[MrDude_1]

Such a turn would take you off the road, almost perpendicular to the road, so you better hope you are at an intersection or there's a field or something. If I were to do it on these hilly roads I'd go off into the ravine or into the cliff. And if you are going slow enough you will just tip over, even going 10-20mph.

I would imagine if someone is pulling out infront of you, you're at an intersection.
That example was just personal experience. Car pulls out without seeing me. They see me when they're across my half of the road. Driver panics and slams brakes. I cannot stop completely in time, so I slow, let off the brake, and throttle into a hard right right.... onto the same street she just pulled out from.

Theres no need for having your knee down on the street... but knowing proper body position is important. If you're touching your peg but not moving on the bike, you're giving up precious traction that could save your life.