If you’re so short you or your partner can’t reach the pillion pegs, Alaskan riders Rich and Rosanne Gressett have a great motorcycle hack for you.
Back in Alaska, they have modified the rear pillion floorboards on their Harley tourer with a bracket that makes them higher to accommodate “pocket rocket” Rosanne’s 152.4cm (5’) stature.
But that’s not the ingenious hack.
They are on the same motorcycle tour of Tuscany and Umbria as us with Hear the Road Motorcycle Tours and couldn’t bring their pillion floorboards all the way from Anchorage.
So Rich had some pieces of lightweight and water-resistant cedar lying around which he has fashioned into floorboard boosters.
They have rubber grip on the top and velcro straps that wrap around the floorboards to provide a higher position so Rosanne doesn’t get sore legs from her dangling feet.
I would have thought a thick piece of rubber would be better, but Rich says it is too heavy and wouldn’t give the Rosanne the firm footing she needs to climb aboard.
Can you hack it?
Don’t you just love it when a simple hack like this works!
Rich says the only problem is that the left side won’t fold up with the booster on because of the extruding Harley engine casing.
Still, it’s a great idea for travellers with short pillions.
The Alaskan teachers say they might go into the floorboard booster business when they retire.
We wish them the best of luck with their smart invention.
Do you have any smart motorcycle hacks you’d like to share? Send your hacks and photos to us via email.