arg. Storing the bike for winter, and damn the luck my bike tipped over a bit while I was moving it. It leaned into the wall, but there was enough weight to bend the clutch lever. Aside from that (and rotating the clutch lever assembly around on the bar a little bit) that was it for damage. whew!
Does anybody have a clutch lever (2001, if it matters) kicking around? I figure I'll try and bend it back in the spring once I need to ride it again (hopefully without having to remove it from the bike), but the metal looks pretty thick so I'm not sure how that will go.
Time and effort to bend back not worth it. Source another one from here or the bay. Cheap and easy.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m38.l1313&_nkw=gs+500+clutch+lever&_sacat=See-All-Categories
Mine got bent last year when I dropped the bike in the garage. Tried to bend it back and it snapped off. Replacements are fairly cheap and easy to change out
AND cheap aluminum tends to lose it when bent forward and back even only once.
Quote from: johnny ro on October 26, 2009, 04:18:53 PM
AND cheap aluminum tends to lose it when bent forward and back even only once.
Doesn't matter if it's cheap or expensive - the important part being that it's cast. As such, 1 bend is too many, and two is two too many, and somewhere in there it will break. Nature of the material.
you can bend it back no problem if you got an oxy-torch. thats how a bend everything i mess up or custom fab. But if you dont have a way to get it hot, then youll be the lucky guy on earth to not snap it.
thanks for the tips! I have a torch so I might try it for fun, but for the cost I'll probably get an ebay one anyway for the next time it leans against the wall :cheers:
if you temper it by torching it and bending it back, it looses any heat treatment and or age hardening that the lever may have undergone (if any). However that being said it will be more ductile, and next time say in an accident.... maybe bend into your hand?
just replace it, they are cheap enough; keep it as a spare in your travel pack in case you are on a trip and it snaps