Maintenance-free rail guides for adjustment of footrest on a motorcycle

Profile

• What was needed: drylin W profile rail guides
• Requirements: Use in aggressive environmental conditions such as salts, dirt and water; reliable and maintenance-free operation
• Industry: Motorcycle
• Success for the customer: The drylin rail system enables continuous maintenance-free operation, as it also works without problems in aggressive weather-related ambient conditions; as the system is exceptionally low-profile, it could be installed without any problems; an automatic adjustment mechanism is already being planned

Problem

For motorbikes, the seating position is fixed and therefore cannot be individually adjusted to the rider's body size. This very often leads to muscular tension in the hands, the back, the neck and especially in the leg area. The MV Motorrad Technik GmbH wanted to help the rider with this problem and therefore developed a foot rest that can be adjusted to the rider's dimensions in a hydraulic or mechanical way. 
For the linear bearing system required for this, they were looking for a solution that would work without problems even under aggressive environmental conditions such as salts, dirt and water, which can affect the components located further down when riding a motorbike. The aim was to enable a maintenance-free function of the foot-rest mechanism. It was also important that the system could be integrated quickly and easily into the existing structures, taking up as little space as possible.

Solution

The design engineer finally decided to install a drylin W double rail system, which now makes it easy to adjust the foot rest. At the push of a button or using a knurled wheel, the rider can adjust the foot rest up to 60 mm upwards or downwards via a lead screw drive and thus select the correct position. This allows for either a more relaxed ride or more lean angle clearance in road racing or, for example, mountain riding.
The special feature of the drylin rail system is that it can withstand aggressive media, i.e. salts, dirt and grime as well as water, permanently without any problems and without endangering the maintenance-free function of the adjustment mechanism. As the visually attractive and friction-locked double rail system is very flat, it was easy to install and no changes had to be made to the motorbike.
It is already planned that in a later version the foot rest will be able to adjust automatically.