Seal Floorboards and Braking

[srwilli]

I have had the Seal floorboards installed on my 2012 RT Limited for almost a year and must say right up front I really enjoy them. They allow foot movement and help the comfort on long rides. That being said I do have an issue that I hope someone can help. While returning from my trip to New Orleans, I had to do a hard brake due to a slowdown of traffic. I was not able to engage the anti-lock brakes, and buried the pedal down to the floorboard. My bike only has 8 K miles, but just in case I have taken it to the dealer to have the brakes checked and everything was fine. Contacted John regarding a possible solution by increasing the size of the spacer, he told me that he was not aware of this problem and that a larger spacer was not available. This is not a complaint, I like the floorboards, and want to keep them, but I also want to be able to do an emergency stop. I am looking for recommendations on how to resolve this issue. If anyone else has experienced this and solved it please tell me what you did. John recommended that I put extra washers between the pedal and the spacer, which I have tried but it does not raise the pedal enough to allow an emergency stop.

Thanks in Advance

 

[Spyder_Cowgirl]

I have had the Seal floorboards installed on my 2012 RT Limited for almost a year and must say right up front I really enjoy them. They allow foot movement and help the comfort on long rides. That being said I do have an issue that I hope someone can help. While returning from my trip to New Orleans, I had to do a hard brake due to a slowdown of traffic. I was not able to engage the anti-lock brakes, and buried the pedal down to the floorboard. My bike only has 8 K miles, but just in case I have taken it to the dealer to have the brakes checked and everything was fine. Contacted John regarding a possible solution by increasing the size of the spacer, he told me that he was not aware of this problem and that a larger spacer was not available. This is not a complaint, I like the floorboards, and want to keep them, but I also want to be able to do an emergency stop. I am looking for recommendations on how to resolve this issue. If anyone else has experienced this and solved it please tell me what you did. John recommended that I put extra washers between the pedal and the spacer, which I have tried but it does not raise the pedal enough to allow an emergency stop.

Thanks in Advance

Had similar problem after taking the three wheeled safety class .... where the brakes were used frequently and with much hard braking. The brakes were fine, but the pedal travel had increased to the point where the rubber top of the pedal was contacting the edge of the cutout in the seal floorboard. I too contacted John and he suggested adding some washers with a longer screw to create a larger spacer. About that time, there were some posts about some 2013's with factory floorboards that needed a small trim of the rubber to clear the factory board. This is what we ended up doing with mine .... trimmed the rubber in order to allow it to fall into the cutout in the floorboard. Also, since the brakes squealed like a banshee, I had them replaced with units from BajaRon and had some brake quiet applied as well. Replacement of the brake pads raised the pedal a fraction and trimming the rubber made sure that it will always clear the board.

Best Regards .... Ann

 

[Pennyrick]

Made my own spacer

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?52207-Brake-Pedal&p=617905#post617905

Here is a link to a thread I posted some time back.

I had a local machine shop make me an aluminum spacer... that does the trick.

 

[Plyrod38]

I have the same situation. I PM'd John Anderson (Seal Floorboards) and he told me to put some washers under the spacer block and go to the hardware store and get longer bolts.
I am not happy with that reply. You would think he would man up and come up with a better resolution so we cal all "Ride in Comfort----Safely".

 

[ARtraveler]

Blocks and spacer washers do work. They raise the pedal up high enough that you should not have problems with bottoming out the pedal on the floorboard.

Did that with both :spyder2:'s with seals. PS. John really is a good person. The three or so times I contacted him personally, he gave me good information.

 

[Plyrod38]

Blocks and spacer washers do work. They raise the pedal up high enough that you should not have problems with bottoming out the pedal on the floorboard.

Did that with both :spyder2:'s with seals. PS. John really is a good person. The three or so times I contacted him personally, he gave me good information.

I agree John is a good and cordial person. I just feel that if his product is showing a deficiency, he should stand up and provide us with a fix without having to go to a hardware store remedy. He didn't provide these floorboards for free.

 

[Cruzr Joe]

I agree John is a good and cordial person. I just feel that if his product is showing a deficiency, he should stand up and provide us with a fix without having to go to a hardware store remedy. He didn't provide these floorboards for free.

There is no difference between his floorboards and the other after market floorboards that i am aware of (regarding this specific situation). The extra spacing should be handled by which ever company you purchased them from.

Cruzr Joe

 

[Ride Master]

Adjustment

I have had the Seal floorboards installed on my 2012 RT Limited for almost a year and must say right up front I really enjoy them. They allow foot movement and help the comfort on long rides. That being said I do have an issue that I hope someone can help. While returning from my trip to New Orleans, I had to do a hard brake due to a slowdown of traffic. I was not able to engage the anti-lock brakes, and buried the pedal down to the floorboard. My bike only has 8 K miles, but just in case I have taken it to the dealer to have the brakes checked and everything was fine. Contacted John regarding a possible solution by increasing the size of the spacer, he told me that he was not aware of this problem and that a larger spacer was not available. This is not a complaint, I like the floorboards, and want to keep them, but I also want to be able to do an emergency stop. I am looking for recommendations on how to resolve this issue. If anyone else has experienced this and solved it please tell me what you did. John recommended that I put extra washers between the pedal and the spacer, which I have tried but it does not raise the pedal enough to allow an emergency stop.

Thanks in Advance

I have the Seal Pups and love them. I am able to execute a hard stop. Last month I noticed the pedal travel had increased and was a bit soft. The dealer did some sort of adjustment or fluid change that corrected it.

 

[napper39]

when i had seals on my 2010 rs i had the same proublem and i went to the hardware store and found a thick spacer, that did the trick.:thumbup::chat:

 

[Bob Denman]

Perhaps if some of you contacted Joh with your concerns; he'd see that this is an "issue" that won't go away. I'm pretty darn sure that he'd find a way to have a solution available for everyone.:thumbup:
...And I'm ashamed to admit that i've never owned any of his products; but I've talked to him, and believe him to be a very honest man. :clap:

 

[ARtraveler]

I have been under the impression that all new Sealfloorboards come with the spacer blocks. I ordered mine separately from John because I received boards without spacers.

If you bought used--your probably on your own. If you bought new, I would recommend talking with John.

When I sold my deluxe ones recently, I included the spacers with them.

 

[srwilli]

I thought I was clear in my original post. I did talk to John. He said that the spacer block I received was the only size provided, and then recommended that I put washers between the spacer and the pedal. I did that, three for each bolt, it did not raise the pedal enough. Once again, I am not complaining, just looking for a solution that someone has discovered. So far, going to a machine shop and having another spacer made seems like the best suggestion. If John had told me he could make another larger spacer but I would have to pay for it, I would have done that, I guess trying the washers was an inexpensive suggestion. Still need a spacer. I have also enlarged the cut out on the floorboard so that when the pedal goes below the board it doesn't get stuck.

 

[ARtraveler]

I thought I was clear in my original post. I did talk to John. He said that the spacer block I received was the only size provided, and then recommended that I put washers between the spacer and the pedal. I did that, three for each bolt, it did not raise the pedal enough. Once again, I am not complaining, just looking for a solution that someone has discovered. So far, going to a machine shop and having another spacer made seems like the best suggestion. If John had told me he could make another larger spacer but I would have to pay for it, I would have done that, I guess trying the washers was an inexpensive suggestion. Still need a spacer. I have also enlarged the cut out on the floorboard so that when the pedal goes below the board it doesn't get stuck.

Sorry, I did overlook the part about the spacer. Is it possible your brakes need adjusting? That could result in to much travel of the brake pedal. I do realize that you need to get the issue solved. When you need to stop hard and fast, you cannot afford to have the pedal bottoming out and not giving you a full stop. I have had to make one panic stop, and the set up worked for me without bottoming out. Sounds like further investigation is needed. Please keep us informed, I am also interested is seeing that your problem is solved.

 

[Bob Denman]

:agree: Have you checked your brake fluid reservoirs? If they're a bit low; that affects the pedal quite a bit! :yikes:

 

[sassoman]

We put Weboard brand floor boards on our RT and I can verify that if you need to panic stop,there is plenty of room for pedal travel.We were on our way to to Tn. this weekend and had the bad timing of going through Atlanta at rush hour.We were pulling our trailer that was loaded and two up when a car panic stopped in front of us and I had to use all of the braking power to get it stopped. There was no problem with the floorboards getting in the way of the brake pedal and believe me ,I was standing on it.

 

[DR Buck]

There is also linkage adjustment that will allow you to raise thepedal somewhat.​

 

[srwilli]

I took the bike to the dealer last week and the brakes checked fine. I will look in the maint manual for the linkage adjustment

 

[Bob Denman]

There is also linkage adjustment that will allow you to raise thepedal somewhat.​

Can you give us some more information on that? :dontknow:

 

[DR Buck]

Can you give us some more information on that? :dontknow:

Its an adjustment behind the lower casting. Not easy to get to, but is In the service manual.

 

[srwilli]

I have not been able to locate the adjustment you mention in the service manual. If you can provide a page number I would greatly appreciate it. I have only found the Master Cylinder adjustment that requires a jig and is performed if you remove the pedal.

Thks


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