Triumphrat

shoggot

Wanting some extra lean (I hit my pegs with some regularity), I started investigating rearsets. I ordered a set from Omar's Rearsets, as a result, since they were the only place I could find a set made for the TB.

And they're... functional, to a degree. I now know that the added height & back of the rearsets suits me; but the sets themselves...

They're made by Raask, in Sweden. AFAICT, they're cast from a low-grade, soft aluminum. The actual levers / arms (both of 'em) have about 1.5mm alignment errors from the mold; the shaft hole seems to have been bored (roughly) after the casting, and is practically abrasive. The entire thing was dipped into some silver paint, which did little to mask the cast alignment errors.

The pegs themselves are roughly in the same shape as the levers; misalignment in the casting, cheap metal, zero definition on the cast-in 'knurling'.

The fit of lever over shaft is tight; there's no bearings, or even bushings to be found. The fit is generally sloppy, and the steel parts hooking everything together seem to be plain mild steel, possibly case-hardened - no stainless, no anodizing, no coating. If I left 'em on, I'm certain I'd see healthy rust shortly.

The mounting plates, at least, seem well made, are coated in some apparently durable black coating, and fit the bike. They also have "Raask" cast into their sides, why they'd want to advertise given the rest of the product, I couldn't say.

So while I was pleased at the foot / leg positioning and added clearance, the rearsets themselves are now binned (with the exception of the mounting plates, which I may need to hack up, see below).

I've ordered a set of 'fits-any-bike' rearsets from narsurin (ebay seller), and at least by the pictures, they're at least closer to what I want; they have nothing with mounting holes 52mm on center, so nothing will bolt up easily, but even if they did, the bike wouldn't allow it to fit. The mount points on the TB are roughly horizontal, everything else seems to do vertical; but I think by swapping the mounting plates right-to-left and mounting them backwards from normal, it should work passably; I'll have to plug the holes and re-drill, as the ones I ordered are 50mm on center. At worst, I'll hack up something using the Raask mount plates in conjunction with the new ones.

At a minimum, the new ones are CNC-milled, so there shouldn't be obvious crap seamlines; and the auction wasn't clear if these were bearinged or bushed, but decidedly one or the other; also, adjustable.

So I suppose I could say avoid Raask products? Or just that you get what you pay for, but that's inaccurate; I spent as much on the Raask product as several well-reviewed rearsets. My main takeaway is to check for reviews, now; had I done so earlier, I would've noticed that the Raask rearsets are almost universally panned.

bueller

I am looking for rear sets for my legend for the same reason and would love to see a photo when your finished.I was thinking of adapting something off a jap sports bike or making some adjustable drop links to alter the ride height.Raask is now off the shopping list.

ClassiclyMobile

I also have Raask rearsets on my Legend. Had them for about seven years. One of the first mods I made. Don't think they look bad at all. The turnbuckles do rust eventually but are cheap to replace and hardly noticeable. Shifts perfectly. No slack or slop. Could never go back to stock position.

shoggot

They actually have a blurb on their site (and in the packaging) which says that the finish has changed recently; perhaps they were better made seven years ago?

The actual plates were decent, and fit the retro styling of the tbird well; it's mainly the pegs and actual levers that I have issues with.

faffi

There was a time when I was young when Raask was the rearsets to have.

I have just ordered a set for my 1995 Thunderbird and hope they are not nearly as shoddy as explained here. The site does say they now have a new design with the mounting brackets painted in black epoxy. Brass is supposedly used in all moving parts as bearings and Uni-Ball is used in the gear linkage. I will know in a week or two how they look in real life when my father-in-law brings the set back with him from Sweden.

shoggot

The brackets on mine were black epoxy coated; however, there were no bronze (or brass) bearings, everything rotating was simple low-grade aluminum on aluminum, with steel washers and assorted hardware. (not stainless)

I've since gotten the narsurin parts in the mail (roughly 1/3rd the price of the raask bits); the aluminum seems to be higher grade, they're machined instead of cast, and the rotating bits work on ball bearings (not sealed, admittedly, but at least well covered. Mechanically, they're quite nice. Finish-wise, tooling marks are visible on the backs, but the fronts (visible bits) are all well finished. The pegs (non-tilting) are well made and nicely knurled.

That said, they're not made for this bike, and I had to chuck the stock mounting plates they come with, and am having a set machined to fit on the bike.

I'm questioning whether I can use the original rear master cylinder or whether I'll have to switch to the one supplied with the rearsets; time will tell. I'm still a few weeks from picking up the mounting plates.

faffi

Hm, false advertizing is illegal in Sweden, so if they say they have brass and do not, they could be in trouble. Time will show when I have them in my hand. If they don't develop slop over the years, I don't care about the material used. But if they wear out rapidly, Sivert at Raask will hear from me soon enough.

faffi

I am now in the process of installing the Raasks to my Daybird, and I must say that what used to be a high quality brand has now turned into some pi$$ poor crap.

First, the accompanying bolts are not strong enough to withstand the specified torque settings - the stretch.

Worse, the aluminium parts are not polished - they are PAINTED 'chrome' Really ugly. And the adjuster rod for the gear shifter has the same threads at both ends, meaning you have to take the thing off for adjustments. Furthermore, the footpeg is only hold by a bolt with nothing to prevent it from turning other than (poor) friction. Worse, you need to bolt the pegs on before putting the brackets to the bike, making it nigh on impossible to get them perfectly adjusted.

I cannot recommend these to anybody.

Oh, and no sign of brass bearings - or any kind of bearings.

WoodsieIII

I sold mine to some poor unsuspecting french bloke a couple of years ago. I lost a fair bit of dough on them. I thought they were crap. I hope they failed on him. He reckoned they were great.

__________________
I believe there is no such thing as accidents. When I ride I must leave enough room for others stupid mistakes, added to that is enough room to make my own.

faffi

You're a cruel man, woodsie; first you take their money, then you hope they fail