I am fine sitting upright with my feet on the pegs or standing all day on a backcountry route. But, if I am doing over 60 mph for several hours on pavement aboard the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike, I want to be comfortable. Comfortable to me is legs out on highway pegs, arms outstretched, and back slouched. However, highway pegs are mounted outside the protective crash bar cocoon and subject to 500-pound slams, at least with me at the helm. Truth be told, I have dropped the Ténéré more than 10 times while enjoying scenic off-road trails. Because I know there will be more drops in this Ténéré’s future, I went looking for strong and compact highway pegs and found the AltRider Universal Highway Foot Pegs.
AltRider’s Universal Highway Foot Pegs are held in place by 1.25-inch-wide cast 304-stainless-steel clamps. The pegs are CNC-machined billet aluminum with deep knurling for traction, plus an awesome-looking laser etched logo that shows when in the up position. This setup is designed to be rugged enough to withstand the rigors of off-road mishaps.
AltRider designed the mounts to have 24 potential clamp and clevis positions to allow the pegs to be secured in 15-degree increments completely around their axis. You can line them up horizontally or vertically or practically any angle in between. These micro-adjustments allow you to line up the retracted pegs to other lines on the motorcycle, or make it easier to find the best position to open or close them with your toes while riding. Highway pegs need to stay stowed when not in use, and remain in place when you want them. AltRider built-in ball detents for both the up and down positions. You won’t find these pegs flopping around, yet they are easy to move fully up or down with your toe.
The one adjustment that is not possible is perpendicular to the motorcycle itself. If the crash bar tube you are mounting to is angled in or out from parallel with the motorcycle, the AltRider Universal Highway Foot Pegs will also angle in or out. The outside of the peg angling toward the rider a bit is a good thing. However, if the outside of the pegs are angled away from the rider, that can make it difficult to keep your boots on the pegs.
When you are measuring the diameter of the tube you will be mounting the clamps to, check to see if it is parallel to the bike. If the only place you can find to mount the clamps would have the pegs angled away from you, these might not be a good fit for those crash bars. My AltRider Universal Highway Foot Pegs do angle slightly outward with my current crash bars, but the deep knurling produces excellent grip on my boots.
You will need to precisely measure the tube you plan to attach it to. The standards are 7/8-, 1-, 1 1/8- and 1.25-inches (22, 25, 27, and 31.75mm). The standard kit has a rubber “gasket” for gap fill for 22mm and 27mm tube diameters.
Because the cast steel mounts are so strong, you can really crank down on the M6 bolts into their Nylock nuts, squeezing the rubber gasket until the pegs won’t rotate. I used a micrometer to measure the diameter of my mounting tube, and it was 21.5mm rather than 22mm. I discussed this AltRider’s readily available and highly knowledgeable customer service team. They suggested I use a second, thin rubber gasket to fill that extra 0.5mm gap from industry-standard. The extra rubber thickness allowed the clamps to cinch tight.
Following the directions in AltRider’s informative installation video, I had the Universal Highway Foot Pegs installed in about 20 minutes. The second side goes faster than the first, as I tried various positions for the set pin. The steel tube clamps are secured with M6 bolts with Nylock nuts. The clevis and pegs are bolted into their steel mounts, and AltRider conveniently provides a small tube of Loctite Threadlocker Blue 242 to keep them secure.
The installation is easily handled by a first-timer using just M5 and M3 hex keys. You will need to torque the clamps down hard, so don’t be shy about using some muscle—just muscle, no breaker bars required.
Getting out on the freeway, I used my toes to lower the pegs into the down position. I had test-fit my riding position in the garage, but there is no substitute for real riding to test ergonomics. The first thing I checked was to see how the slight angle outward of the pegs worked. The friction created by the strong knurling kept my boots solidly on the pegs. I was worried I would have to use inward muscle pressure, which would have been a dealbreaker, but that didn’t happen.
Next, I put my calf on the pegs for a full, outstretched leg position. That position also turned out to be comfortable and solid. Again, the knurling really helped keep my legs from moving around, even with the 70 mph direct force wind hitting the bottom of my boots.
The ball detents do a solid job of keeping the pegs up or down. I rode over some rough terrain and did some curb jumping. They stayed in the selected up or down position, with no perceivable rattling.
July 2022 Update:
I had a run-in with a U-turning ATV that instantly broke a lot of expensive front-end parts on the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike. The Ténéré immediately went down, landing hard on the folded-up AltRider Universal Highway Peg. I was going about 25 mph, and my dash cam showed the Ténéré hitting and pivoting. The right-side Highway Peg and mount took the entire impact of a 450-pound motorcycle slamming down on hardpack gravel.
When I got the bike home, I noticed that the peg was stuck in the stored position and wouldn’t budge. I grabbed my can of WD-40 and gave a short burst between the peg and the mount, freeing the peg. There are scratches on the end of the mount and the underside of the peg, but they could have been there from several other “drops”. A big shout out to AltRider for its robust Highway Peg and Mount.
Although I got the AltRider Universal Highway Foot Pegs for the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike, they can be mounted to most crash bars or frame members on any type of motorcycle. They can also be mounted as passenger pegs. These pegs and mounts are stout, and the kind of accessory that we find ourselves transferring from one bike to another as time passes. AltRider pegs are exactly what I needed to allow me to change knee and leg positions on my long-distance pavement rides. They range in price from $189 to $197, and come in silver or black.
AltRider Universal Highway Foot Pegs Review [Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project] Photo Gallery
