R&G sidestand foot enlarger....not impressed

[basstodave]

I bought the said R&G foot enlarger. I find the FJ-09 sidestand foot a little small, the sidestand itself rather short. I thought the enlarger would in theory make it more stable in softer surfaces. gravel, sandy soil, etc. and more stable when the bike is leaning at a sharp angle on hard surfaces.
The enlarger looks nice. But looks can fool you.
1) I had to file and fiddle for 40 minutes to get the horseshoe top plate to properly align over the sidestand foot. File fit. File fit. file some more, tap with hammer, fit.  The side-stand isn't a finely machined piece of steel. OK. But that's only the beginning.
2) The 3 screws holding the two plates together are only about 5mm long. Well, again, the side-stand isn't finely machined. the top plate doesn't sit over a thin piece of steel. Rather the side-stand foot is unevenly machined (it doesn't need to be  to serve it's purpose anyway), so the top plate of the enlarger on the one side has a gap and the screw isn't long enough. I used another longer bolt for now. Not a nice beveled flush fit like the other two screws. This foot is aluminum. Caution! Only a couple of threads hold this together.
3) I finally get it bolted up and Darn!! The bike leans on the inside of the enlarger with the front end of the enlarger sticking up in the air. WTF? Like a bicyclist with cleated cycling shoes walking like a duck with their toes in the air. They didn't take into account the side-stand foot is bent at an angle so the foot is parallel to the ground when leaned over. The enlarger is about 1/4" thick. It contacts the inside first and now all the weight of the bike is on a very small area of the enlarger when on a hard surface. I guess in a gravel or sand situation it will be OK. But so would a properly designed beveled enlarger.
4) ANNNNNND finally. The back of the enlarger hits the center stand when the side-stand is in the up (riding) position.
 
So, I guess this R&G foot enlarger is a piece of crap. What other conclusion could I possibly draw?
 
It will work somewhat, if I grind some of the rear of the enlarger off. But it pisses me off to charge a customer about $60 and then have to fiddle around to get it to work only so-so.
BTW the R&G radiator guard fits OK but it is likely made in China and costs way too much for what it is. Not liking R&G too much right now.
Revzilla did refund me.
 
 

[magpie]

I agree Over priced crap sent mine back

[motomanmiller]

I've always been impressed and happy with AltRider enlarged foot, hopefully they come out with one soon.

[bikertash]

I deiced to get a extender due to the small foot print and I quite often need to park the bike in fields or muddy places.  
 
I found this one on ebay, it is for the normal MT-09 but fits the tracers just fine.  it was a little fiddly to put on but gives you a nice big footprint and look nice as well

[basstodave]

I deiced to get a extender due to the small foot print and I quite often need to park the bike in fields or muddy places.   
I found this one on ebay, it is for the normal MT-09 but fits the tracers just fine.  it was a little fiddly to put on but gives you a nice big footprint and look nice as well

 I called my dealer in the USA and not available here. Soon enough I imagine someone will machine a nice one for the FJ.