Bent brake lever ... PICS ADDED!!
#11
05-25-2008 | 01:03 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,149
Likes: 0
From: Sweden
RE: Bent brake lever ...
Ouch, that does not look what one want on a nice bike. If it can be of any support, I dropped my Bird a couple of weeks ago and got similar damage. It is already forgotten :-)
Four years ago I layed my almost brand newSuzuki hard on side on track. Not a single fairing, the gas tank or the exhaust survived. Today it looks better than new; I replaced the ugly stock grey colour with new blue/white/black parts and now it looks the way a GSX R should. It hurts some in the wallet but it is just to be cheapfor some timeand then it will be no cost at all... The cracked fairing can probably be soldered from the inside and then put a thin line of clear warnish on the outside to secure the paint. The mufflers would have been replaced by a full 4-2-1 system anyway, right ?
Four years ago I layed my almost brand newSuzuki hard on side on track. Not a single fairing, the gas tank or the exhaust survived. Today it looks better than new; I replaced the ugly stock grey colour with new blue/white/black parts and now it looks the way a GSX R should. It hurts some in the wallet but it is just to be cheapfor some timeand then it will be no cost at all... The cracked fairing can probably be soldered from the inside and then put a thin line of clear warnish on the outside to secure the paint. The mufflers would have been replaced by a full 4-2-1 system anyway, right ?
#12
05-26-2008 | 09:48 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,127
Likes: 10
From: United Kindgdom
RE: Bent brake lever ...
ORIGINAL: R1000
Ouch, that does not look what one want on a nice bike. If it can be of any support, I dropped my Bird a couple of weeks ago and got similar damage. It is already forgotten :-)
Four years ago I layed my almost brand newSuzuki hard on side on track. Not a single fairing, the gas tank or the exhaust survived. Today it looks better than new; I replaced the ugly stock grey colour with new blue/white/black parts and now it looks the way a GSX R should. It hurts some in the wallet but it is just to be cheapfor some timeand then it will be no cost at all... The cracked fairing can probably be soldered from the inside and then put a thin line of clear warnish on the outside to secure the paint. The mufflers would have been replaced by a full 4-2-1 system anyway, right ?
Ouch, that does not look what one want on a nice bike. If it can be of any support, I dropped my Bird a couple of weeks ago and got similar damage. It is already forgotten :-)
Four years ago I layed my almost brand newSuzuki hard on side on track. Not a single fairing, the gas tank or the exhaust survived. Today it looks better than new; I replaced the ugly stock grey colour with new blue/white/black parts and now it looks the way a GSX R should. It hurts some in the wallet but it is just to be cheapfor some timeand then it will be no cost at all... The cracked fairing can probably be soldered from the inside and then put a thin line of clear warnish on the outside to secure the paint. The mufflers would have been replaced by a full 4-2-1 system anyway, right ?
Thank you ... I can't forget this I just can't lol .. the bike has been like new for ten years and I go and drop it ahhh!! ..
I have a pic the brake lever now I can't find my camera lead ... I may end up buying a new fairing in the end .. I am just so fussy like that ..also by the time I factor in price of repair and new paint and decals it's often as cheap and easier to buy a new panel :-)
Jules
#13
05-26-2008 | 10:14 AM
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,237
Likes: 14
From: Bir Tawil
RE: Bent brake lever ...
The problem with aluminum is that you can’t see by eye how hot it is getting when you are heating it.
Years ago when I was I high school, I had a road bike that I converted to off road. Every time I dropped it I would break a lever. In the school shop we had molding sand (green sand), a small furnace and some aluminum stock. I used a stock lever as a mold and poured my own levers. Looking in the furnace the aluminum would just sit there and with out any advanced warning it would suddenly drop into a liquid pool in the ladle.
If you elect to bend it, I would put it in a vice. If you try bending it mounted to the bike you risk breaking something else.
Years ago when I was I high school, I had a road bike that I converted to off road. Every time I dropped it I would break a lever. In the school shop we had molding sand (green sand), a small furnace and some aluminum stock. I used a stock lever as a mold and poured my own levers. Looking in the furnace the aluminum would just sit there and with out any advanced warning it would suddenly drop into a liquid pool in the ladle.
If you elect to bend it, I would put it in a vice. If you try bending it mounted to the bike you risk breaking something else.
#16
05-27-2008 | 08:59 AM
Redcoat, & Maxwell's Silver Hammer, MVN and curmudgeon
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 11,608
Likes: 5
From: Mud hut, Zululand
RE: Bent brake lever ...
Remove from the bike, place in a vice, put a pipe over the end after heating it, as Dean0 says until the soap goes black, and then gently work it back to its original position in small increments. I've done it a similar way, and whilst not perfect, it worked fine..
#17
05-27-2008 | 10:28 AM
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,149
Likes: 0
From: Sweden
RE: Bent brake lever ...
ORIGINAL: Juliet
Here is my bent lever ... so what do you guys think??
Jules
Here is my bent lever ... so what do you guys think??
Jules
[IMG]local://upfiles/4562/F63807C940474B1C8C86860B0707FE64.jpg[/IMG]
#19
05-27-2008 | 02:36 PM
