Bending levers

[sharky]

I want to try and bend the clutch lever (cable op) on wifeys bike for her. 'er lil' hands can't reach properley and,yes, they are the adjustable span dog leg type type.
I'm gonna pick one up at the wreckers tomoro and was just wundrin if there are any tips ? Is it best to heat it first ? Should I then reheat and quench ? Bend cold then heat'n'quench ?????

[pommie02]

do you want to bend her fingers or the levers ?

I don't know if you can bend them safely, but a company used to sell levers for just this purpose a some years ago. Don't remember anything else about them, maybe somebody else does.
You could also take the lever to a wreckers and see if there's a match that will give you the same result.

[fimpBIKES]

what bike?

if its like the new ones with a microswitch that only lets u start with the clutch in
then it will cause problems cos u wont be able to move the clutch lever far enough (think degrees of rotation rather than distance)


also, is she a 2 fingerer or a whole hander??
(oh man, set up of the year? someone slam-fukkin-dunk this one, BRING IT HOME!)

[Hillsy]

I'm with Chalky on this one - I don't think you can safely bend them without breaking / stressing them.
However, if anything will work, it will be heating and bending (the lever, that is).

Just bypass the cutout switch, problem solved. But good point, if they're bent too far then they might not activate the brake/clutch correctly.

Sorry Fimp but I'm way too much of a gentleman to take advantage of that comment

:D

[Hillsy]

That West Syd Chop email's really freaked you out eh Chalky [?][:0][?]

It did actually, for a second there I thought my antics last Xmas had caught up with me, and that shit would cop me more than just a damned good beating.

[B)]

[fimpBIKES]

awwww

[Large]

Maybe the wife needs something bigger in her hands on a regular basis to build them up a bit;)

:D

You're a real sensitive caring fuck ain't ya Fump.

Believe me the laugh was worth it.

[fimpBIKES]

actually, i was gonna say that if she only 2 fingerers and u bend the lever she will be crushing the outside ones

but thats ok, you cant help that are a dirty fukker [:P]

[chopaweeza]

Because I used to buy/fix/sell alot of bikes I generally used to straighten rather than buy new. The way I used to prep them was to make sure that all the paint , lacquer & grease was removed first . Then I would pre-heat my oven to 180 degrees and put the lever in there for 10-20 minutes depending on the extent of the bend. This anneals the lever making it unlikely to crack when being bent. To bend the lever I would apply a block of wood and firm pressure on it. If the lever starts to resist bending put it back in the oven again to soften it up before finishing bending. I've used that technique dozens of time and only broken a few because I didn't follow the above procedure and rushed things.

Good to know Chopa

[DaveK5]

Like chop says it can be done...btw a good indicator of the correct temp if your heating the lever with gas is to mark the ally with a cake of soap prior to heating...as soon as it turns black you can bend the it.
I use the same technique with ally sheet.

[chopaweeza]

The soap trick works well but now I don't bother as you know by the resistance pressure. I usually mix up a cake or chuck on a roast when I anneal alloy so I have the oven still at heat if it needs a second annealing. Also works on foot pegs, foot pedals and most other aluminium parts. I got a nice set of rear sets from a swapmeet that had bent mounts/pedals for $20 . I heated & straightened them and resold them 2 weeks later for $240 . Only took 80 minutes to fix them.

[sharky]

Cheers Wayne...thats the info I wanted. I'll give it a go.

[Jockney Rebel]

i used to bend a lot of ally bar and what dave/ chop says is the go russ soap heat bend

[Zed14]

cheap cunts just get her a new set custom made. then she will be using more than her fingers to pay you back.