IMS Core MX Footpegs

What it is

• IMS's newest footpeg offering.
• Comes in "Standard" or "Sharp" designs.

IMS’s newest product is the CORE MX footpeg. Made out of stainless steel, they are designed to provide a great amount of grip without costing a fortune. The oversized base features a new wall design that provides optimal surface area while keeping the weight down. A patented design is claimed to prevent mud from packing in between the teeth to ensure maximum traction at all times. To provide a better appearance, they have a raw works-style finish and have undergone a certified heat treating - homogenizing - annealing process. They are available in two tooth designs: Standard and Sharp. Lastly, they were built here in the U.S.A. and have a lifetime warranty.

How it works

• Offer an increase in grip over stock foot pegs.
• Allow for more control over the motorcycle.
• Provide a little more comfort.
• Sharp ones will tear up your boot soles.

The stock pegs on our test bike, a 2017 YZ250F, are a great set of pegs. They are pretty wide and offer a good amount of grip so we knew it would be tough to make a better set of pegs. Despite the difficulty of this task, IMS was able to improve upon the stock footpegs. If your pegs are on the small side, they will be a huge improvement. With two different styles available, we tested both, with the sharp on a KTM 500 EXC and also on a KX450F.

Although the IMS standard pegs aren’t as severe as the sharp pegs, they really don’t lack in grip in any way. You wouldn’t even feel this until you try the sharp ones, as we’ll explain later. We never had a problem with our feet slipping off the peg or moving around when we wanted it planted, it is a step up in grip from even the excellent stock Yamaha or Kawasaki peg. In the same way, it was still easy to move our feet back and forth to utilize the rear brake and shifter. They also provide a little more comfort when standing and increase the control you have over the bike, especially when riding through rough high-speed terrain. Also, the IMS standard pegs didn’t tear up the soles of our boots which remains very important unless you want to be replacing your soles more often than not.

The CORE footpegs really stand out if you like to ride on your toes rather than on the arches of your feet.  With the stock pegs, our feet would slip forward slightly and eventually onto the arches of our feet if we weren’t careful. With the IMS pegs; however, we almost never experienced this, even when going down steep hills or in hard braking. This also gives you more control over the bike and makes it easier to ride when in rougher conditions.

Onto the sharp peg and here you almost feel you are mounting a set of knives to your motorcycle. These pegs have very tiny points that are sharp and they do dig into your boots. They make even the standard peg feel “slippery” as your foot will  not slide at all even with minimal weight pushing down. The only way to describe it would be to standing on a regular footpeg with a lugged sole boot where the lugs get locked up on the cleats of the peg. To move your foot you have to physically lift it up and re-position it. You can feel how rubbery your boot sole is when you try and twist without lifting.

In reality the sharp peg was a good or a bad thing. Or both. In the beginning if you are not accustomed to the grip it takes some getting use to. Then you start to expect this grip and you can be a little less concerned with how connected your feet are or push the bike that much farther while not having your feet exactly planted like they should be. They can and will save you in some crazy instances. There is a reason a lot of pros run razor sharp pegs. The other major downside is that these pegs will rip the soles of any boot apart. So unless you have a boot sponsor or you are planning on getting fast enough to have one shortly, be warned.

Mounting the pegs can be a little difficult but it isn’t any fault of the pegs. Inserting the pin can be a struggle with the tension of the spring. But after a few attempts and moving the peg up and down in the mount, we were able to get it to work. Once on, we haven’t experienced any problems. Also, as a result of their tooth design that is claimed to prevent mud from building up between the teeth, we never experienced any excessive dirt or mud packing in between the teeth.

Overall, the IMS CORE MX footpegs are a great upgrade to any bike. They provide added control because you should really be muscling the bike through the footpegs. The pricing for these high end pegs is pretty reasonable at $159. They are a little less expensive than most other foot pegs but they aren’t sacrificing the quality of the peg to lower the price. We haven’t found any durability issues and we don’t expect to see any either.

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