“Ahhhh!” is what I said out loud in my helmet when I raised my boots from the stock pegs on the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike to the Happy Trails Universal Highway pegs for the first time. While squirming on the stock seat is one way to change positions, highway pegs provide a whole new area of my bum to be sitting on.
I have Yamaha Venture for touring the US on highways and byways, and now the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike is taking me to the rest of my motorcycle adventures. I have been slowly working on how to comfortably ride the Ténéré 700 for hundreds or thousands of miles to get to those vistas.
The Happy Trails Universal Highway Pegs are a universal fit, as long as you have a one-inch round bar to attach them to. The billet mounts are made for one-inch bars only. The Yamaha Ténéré 700 OEM front engine guards are one-inch in diameter.
Mounting is as simple as sitting on the floor and threading a few nuts, bolts, and washers in the proper sequence. After installing many aftermarket parts on the Ténéré 700, I have become accustomed to grabbing the threadlocker tube before settling in on the garage floor. I am happy to report that the good folks at Happy Trails have included nylon insert nuts in the kit—a little thing, it shows attention to detail and thoughtfulness of the kit.
On my first three-hour, nonstop ride with them on, I had miles of smiles. My initial impression of simply having highway pegs on the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike is comfortable both for my body position and my bum. So many position changes are possible. Left boot up, right boot up, both up, then change it with feet on the stock pegs.
On my Venture, I just put my feet up and cruise control on, and I am sitting on a pillow-top seat. Riding gas stop to gas stop on a Ténéré 700 requires active participation to maintain the comfort level that doesn’t distract from my enjoyment of the ride itself.
I first mounted the Happy Trails Universal Clamp-On Highway Pegs as low and as far forward as the engine guard tubing would allow. However, that makes the pegs’ “up” position more forward than up. They will be catching on every bush I ride by, so I went out, flipped the mounting plate, and that angled the pegs more up.
Due to the design of my OEM engine guards, the position of the mounts that is most comfortable for me might still catch low bushes on a single track. If I were willing to mount them higher or closer, this would not be an issue. If I know I will be riding single-track trails, I’ll just remove them for that ride. The comfort is worth the little hassle. They definitely have strong positioning detents, so they won’t be unintentionally changing positions.
The Happy Trails Universal Clamp-On Highway Pegs provide me with way more than their $93 MSRP cost in stress relief. Minor annoyances add up on long rides, so having highway pegs will help me be fresher at my destination and less tired at the end of the day. When combined with the other comfort and convenience tweaks I have made on the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike, this will be adding touring to its adventure heart.
