Footrest Holder for Motorcycles

The invention relates to a footrest holder for motorcycles.

Motorcycle footrest holders according to the prior art are divided into two parts, each part having a mounting plate from which an arm extends and pivots a gearshift or brake lever on its free end. The end of each arm is slotted and supports a footrest in the slot which can be folded upwardly. The mounting plate is elongated and has two mounting bores in both of its ends with which the mounting plates can be connected to the corresponding plates of the vehicle frame of the motorcycle.

This construction has a disadvantage in that the connection between the mounting plate and the plate on the frame is relatively unstable and that a torque acts on this connection when in use. This is particularly disadvantageous when one of the screws which connect the plates to one another becomes loose. It should be noted that the arms support the gearshift and brake levers.

An object of the present invention is to construct the footrest holder in such a way that a secure connection with the plates on the frame is assured. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention a footrest holder for a motorcycle comprising an arm, two mounting plates for attachment to a vehicle frame of the motorcycle carried by the arm, the arm being formed by a continuous rod and supporting a lever for a gearshift or brake on a free end, the lever being pivotable about a horizontal swivel axis, a footrest extending from the arm in such a way that it can be folded about an axis at right angles to the swivel axis of the lever, one of the plates being movably mountable on the arm, the other plate being firmly attached to the arm.

Embodiments of the invention shall be described in greater detail below with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

The footrest holder shown in FIG. 1 has an arm formed of a continuous rod 1 on which two mounting plates 2, 3 are located. These mounting plates 2, 3 are connected to corresponding mounting plates on the vehicle frame of the motorcycle. The one plate 2 is firmly pressed onto the rod 1, whereas mounting plate 3 is movable along the rod 1 and can be fastened to the rod 1 by means of a clamping screw 4. Due to the movability of mounting plate 3, tolerances in the width of the vehicle frame can be compensated.

Mounting plates 2, 3 are essentially rectangular and have a mounting bore 5 at each of their corner points. This creates a stable mounting base for the rod 1.

On each of its ends, the rod 1 is provided with a tapped bore 6, whereby the wall of the bore 6 on the left is shown partially broken. In this way, a pivot journal 8, having a longitudinal bore and a slotted head 9, can be connected with rod 1 via a screw 7. The left pivot journal 8 carries a gearshift lever 10, whereas the right pivot journal carries a brake lever 11. The bearing bores of levers 10, 11 have an annular slot on each of their ends for receiving sealing rings 12. Furthermore, the bearing bushings of levers 10, 11 are provided with a lubricating nipple (not shown). A spacer washer 13 is provided, in each case, between the ends of the rod and the bearing bushings of levers 10, 11.

Ball joints 14, which can be respectively connected to gearshift rod 15 and to brake rod 16, can be screwed together with the short ends of levers 10, 11. A control rest 17 is connected to each of the long ends of levers 10, 11.

The slots of the head 9 are each used to receive the mounting end 18 of a footrest 19. To support it, the mounting end 18 and the head 9 each has a horizontally extending bore into which a screw bolt 20 can be inserted. In this way, a respective footrest 19 can be horizontally folded down or folded upward. A cup spring 21 is inserted into the slot of the head 9 so that it retains its upper position.

The embodiment of FIG. 2 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that the ends of the rod 1 in FIG. 2 are each provided with a smooth bore instead of the tapped hole 6, into which the pin 22 of a crank head 23 which has a tapped hole is received. Moreover, a cross-bore is provided on the rod ends so that the crank lever 23 can be connected to the respective ends of rod 1 via screw 24. Each crank lever 23 is provided with a bore on its end facing away from the pin 22, via which the pivot journal 8 can be connected by means of a screw 25, which has, in contrast to the embodiment of FIG. 1, a tapped hole and not a through bore.

Instead of a clamping screw 4, the plate 3 can be clamped by a force fit. In this case, the bushing 26 of plate 3 is formed like a slotted adapter bush having a truncated conical outer contour and with an external thread onto which a lock nut having a truncated conical inside contour is screwed, which presses the adapter bush together against the rod 1.