Abstract:
An adapter kit for motorcycles, particularly touring motorcycles moves the operator&#39;s foot pad forwardly and downwardly to increase the included angle between the upper leg and lower leg at the knee, as well as the angle at the ankle for operating the respective brake and shift controls. The kit includes adapter brackets to move the foot pads forwardly and downwardly relative to the position of the footpad as originally assembled. The kit also includes modified linkages to maintain a correct relationship between the respective control levers and the footpads. The linkage for the shift lever is modified to provide a pivot to accommodate the change in location, and yet maintain easily operated shifting.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/608,242 that was filed on Mar. 8, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to an adapter kit for motorcycles to move the footrest pads on both sides of the motorcycle downwardly and forwardly to increase the included angle between the upper leg and lower leg at the knee for more comfort during a motorcycle ride while maintaining the relationship between the foot pad and the respective control for the brake and the gear shifter on each side of the motorcycle. 
     Existing motorcycles are standardized with footrest pads on each side of the motorcycle with the brake pedal on the right hand side of the motorcycle and the shift lever on the left hand side. In the large touring model motorcycles, such as, but not limited to, the Honda G1800 Goldwing, the footrests are positioned relative to the operator seat so that the leg of a rider, particularly a rider with relatively long legs have a reduced included angle between the upper leg and the lower leg at the knee. Due to the reduced included angle between the upper leg and the lower leg at the knee, during long rides and touring the rider can feel discomfort in both the knee and ankle. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure relates to an adapter kit for motorcycles, particularly touring motorcycles that move the operator&#39;s foot pad forwardly and downwardly to increase the included angle between the upper leg and lower leg at the knee, as well as the angle at the ankle for operating the respective brake and shift controls. The kit includes adapter brackets to move the foot pads forwardly and downwardly relative to the position of the footpad as originally assembled. The kit also includes modified linkages to maintain a correct relationship between the respective control levers and the footpads. The linkage for the shift lever is modified to provide a pivot to accommodate the change in location, and yet maintain easily operated shifting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of an existing touring motorcycle showing a typical position of an operator&#39;s leg. 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the motorcycle of claim  1  with the right side portion of the kit of the present disclosure installed. 
         FIG. 3  is a side perspective view of the adapter of the present disclosure installed on a brake linkage of the right hand side of the motorcycle. 
         FIG. 4  is a top perspective view of the installation of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a view of the adapter and linkage of  FIG. 3  removed from the motorcycle. 
         FIG. 6  is a view of the adapter of  FIG. 5  from the opposite side of the adapter. 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the shift lever adapter on the left hand side of the motorcycle. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the adapter portion of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is a view of the adapter and shift lever linkage shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8  removed from the motorcycle. 
         FIG. 10  is a top plan view of the shift lever adapter of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the shift linkage connected to a lever on the transmission shifting shaft. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In  FIG. 1 , a motorcycle  10  is illustrated fragmentarily, and the standard seat  12  of this touring motorcycle is shown supporting a rider  14 . The rider&#39;s leg  16  is extending forwardly and downwardly so that a shoe  18  of the rider is supported on a foot pad shown at  26  in  FIG. 3 , with the front of the heel of the shoe against the foot pad  26 . The included angle β between the upper leg  16 A and the lower leg  16 B is illustrated as at  22 , extending between lines representing the center line of the upper and lower legs. This representation is of the factory installed position of the foot pad  26 , and the included angle β of the leg can be seen along with a position of the knee cap relative to the motorcycle as represented by the symbol α.  FIG. 1  illustrates the right hand side or brake pedal side of the motorcycle  10 , but the left hand side or shift lever side has the foot pad positioned at the same location relative to the seat  12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a motorcycle  20  of the same make and model as that shown in  FIG. 1  also includes the seat  12 , with a rider  14  in position on the seat. The rider&#39;s leg  16  in this instance includes an upper portion  16 A and lower portion  16 B, positioned on a foot pad  26  of the adapter kit of the present device, showing that the foot pad  26  has been moved using the adapter kit of the present disclosure to move the foot pad essentially 3 inches forwardly and 1 inch downwardly, along with moving the brake pedal and the linkage to the brake actuating arm the same amount to maintain a relationship between the foot pad and the pad  28  of the brake pedal. While the adapter kit is illustrated moving the foot pad about 3 inches forwardly and about 1 inch downwardly, the adapter kit can be designed to move the foot pads any desired distance from the factory mounted foot pad position. 
     The included angle β of the leg  16  between the upper leg  16 A and lower leg  16 B that is indicated with the double arrow  28  is increased by in the range of 6 to 8 degrees from that shown and indicated with double arrows  22  in  FIG. 1 , and results in much greater comfort for long distance rides on a touring type motorcycle. While a change in the angle β is illustrated as being between about 6 degrees and 8 degrees, the adapter kit can be utilized to change the angle β to be between 4 degrees and 15 degrees. The angle will change with the length of the rider&#39;s legs, but the change makes a significant difference in comfort for long rides. Also the knee cap is lowered relative to the motorcycle as illustrated by the lines defined by the symbol α. 
     Utilizing the adaptor kit, the ankle is in a more natural position where the foot is substantially flat or parallel to ground as illustrated in  FIG. 2  relative to the position of the ankle in  FIG. 1  where the toe is lower than the heal of the foot. Allowing the ankle to be in a natural relaxed position over long rides also reduces the amount of fatigue and pain in the ankle. 
     The kit assembly, for mounting the foot pad at  26  to the position shown in  FIG. 2  is illustrated in  FIGS. 3-6 . The standard mounting flange  30  of the conventional factory delivered motorcycle is shown, and the foot pad  26  is mounted on this flange  30  in the same manner as assembled in the factory. Additionally, the brake pad arm  32  that has the pad  28  at the outer end thereof is mounted in the same position on the flange  30  about a pivot bolt  34 , which is clamped in place with a clamp having legs that define a bore that is constricted to secure the brake arm  32  to the pivot bolt  34 . 
     The brake actuating shaft  36  that is standard on the motorcycle  20  also has a standard arm  38 , with a link  40  between an arm  42  that is actuated by the brake arm movement. This will result in actuating the brake when the brake arm  32  is depressed. A length of the link  40  can be manipulated through a threaded engagement of a first part of the link  40  with a second part of the link  40  to adjust the sensitivity of the brake relative to the movement of the brake arm  32 . 
     In order to move the foot pad  26  downwardly and forwardly a desired amount, an adapter bracket  44  is utilized, and is made to have openings near an upper rear side that will permit mounting the adapter bracket  44  in the same bolt holes as the standard flange  30 . These bolt holes are shown at  46 . The standard original flange  30  is then bolted with bolts  48  in the end suitable threaded openings in the adapter bracket  44 . 
       FIG. 4  shows the adapter plate mounted on the side of the motorcycle  20 , and it spaces the foot pad  26  and the brake pedal  28  outwardly slightly, but moves it, again, forwardly 3 inches, and downwardly 1 inch in the desired location. However, the present disclosure is not limited to moving the foot pad  26  and the brake pedal  28  forwardly 3 inches and downwardly 1 inch relative to the factory installed location of the foot pad  26  and the brake pedal  28 . 
       FIGS. 7-11  illustrates the left side of the motorcycle  20  with the adapter kit of the present disclosure installed. The adapter kit moves the foot pad  50  for the left side and the gear shift peg  62  of the motorcycle  20  downwardly 1 inch, and forwardly 3 inches, as well as moving it outwardly from its original mounting at the factory. While moving the foot pad  50  and the gear shift downwardly 1 inch, and forwardly 3 inches is disclosed, the adapter kit can be used to move the gear shift peg  62  and the foot pad different distances. Moving the gear shift peg  62  requires a change in the shift lever linkage, which was operated by a foot through a lever directly attached to the transmission gear shifter shaft. 
     The gear shift adapter kit includes the adapter plate  52  that in turn mounts a standard foot pad support flange  54  used on the standard factory delivered motorcycle, and the flange  54  mounting hole are indicated at  56  and used for mounting the adapter plate  52  in position. The adapter bracket  52  spaces the mounting flange  54  for the foot pad  50  outwardly sideways, and the mounting flange  54  is mounted to the adapter bracket  52  with bolts  58  that thread into provided holes in the adapter bracket  52 . Utilizing the adapter bracket  52  causes the foot pad  50  to be spaced about three inches forwardly and one inch down so that the angle of the leg of the rider is as shown in  FIG. 2 , but for the left leg. 
     In order to accommodate shifting, a linkage  60  is provided for mounting components of the shift lever. These include the foot operated peg  62  mounted on the end of an arm  64  that is pivotally mounted on a pivot bolt  66 . The foot pad  50  is then spaced about 3 inches forwardly and 1 inch The pivot bolt  66  threads into an existing hole on the motorcycle, and the linkage has a hub  68  that pivots on the pivot bolt  66 . An arm  70  is connected to the hub  68  which acts as a lever arm to which a link  72  is pivotally mounted with a pivot pin  74  to the lever  70 . The link  72  extends forwardly, and has an offset or laterally extending portion  78  that mounts an adjustable link  80  which in turns mounts onto a standard lever  82 . The lever  82  includes a clamp that connects to the shifter shaft of the transmission  82 A (see  FIG. 11 ) for permitting the shifting of gears in the standard manner. 
     The lowering and moving forward of the foot supports  26  and  50  from the factory positions relives stress in the leg and knee joint, as well as the ankle joint of a rider. The parts can be supplied as a kit comprising an adapter plate  44  and  52  that has a first set of holes in the plate near an upper and reward side that receive fasteners to mount the adapter plate with the fastener in the original foot support mounting plate threaded holes, and which has a second set of holes located downwardly and forwardly from the first set and which receive fasteners from the holes in the foot support, so the foot support is downwardly and forwardly from the factory position. In addition the kit includes modified linkage for the foot operated control to operate the motorcycle control shafts for the brake and gear shift which move the actuators downwardly and forwardly to position the actuators by the relocated foot supports for operation. In the case of the brake controls, the brake lever can be mounted directly to the adapter plate and the gear shift linkage can be pivoted on the motorcycle frame of engine block and coupled to the gear shift control shaft on the motorcycle transmission. 
     The disclosure includes using the kit for a method of reducing stress in the leg of a rider of a motorcycle in the form in which the motorcycle comes from the factory. The method is to relocate the foot supports from the factory position downwardly and forwardly relative to the seat and to provide modified linkage that permits operation f the foot controls associated with the respective foot support, namely the brake and the gear shift. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.