| Author | Message | ||
     Burrpenick |
'02 Cyclone almost lost it in the garage, thought of trying}}}} vice grips, but decided to inquire before I broke it off. What you say? penick@nettally.com  }}}} | ||
| Spiderman |
It is cast aluminum so vice grips will just snap it off. I have heard of people heating it up to cherry in a vise, and slowly squeezing it in the jaws of the vise to strightin em out. | ||
| Kdan |
I used a piece of galvanized pipe once and it worked great for an emergency roadside repair. I was worried about it breaking too, but I got lucky. | ||
| Whodom |
Did you bend the whole shifter, or just the "pin" with the rubber piece over it that you work with your shoe to shift gears? I can personally attest that this pin can be bent from a ~45 degree bend angle back straight at least one time without breaking. BTW, the pin is available as a separate part from the shifter. | ||
| Oldog |
Spidy said I have heard of people heating it up to cherry in a vise aluminum does not change color when heated it just melts.. heating as Spidy suggests may allow you to straighten it a propane torch prolly wont work, }I have softened aluminum with an acetalene torch [ no ox ] go easy and not on bike | ||
| Burrpenick |
Thanks guys, and yes, it is just the toe extension that is bent. It seems that a couple of the riders have just bent it back into place, but I have not had that kind of luck in the past. WOuld propane and bending be a middle of the road technique to increase my chances of not breaking it off? | ||
| Daves |
Just do yourself a favor and get a new one. | ||
| Oldog |
Burr: take it off of the bike and remove any bushings etc. if the lever is bent. if it's just the toe piece Rem/Rep toe pc was 20$ last time I purchased one | ||
| Bomber |
toe piece is actiually threaded into the shifter -- it's 1/4 X 20, if memory serves -- btw, propane won't heat up aluminum enough to facilitate bending, but MAPP gas sure will -- just a data point for ya | ||
| Whodom |
I dropped my S3 (with updated 2001/2002 shifter) in the motel parking lot at this year's March Badness event (AFTER riding ~300 miles!) and bent the crap out of the toe piece. Man, I sweated what to do about it. I just knew that sucker was going to break in the threads and I'd be spending my whole weekend riding in the GA mountains and 300 miles riding home with a mangled shifter. I took a 12" Crescent wrench and put the hole in the handle end over the piece and GENTLY bent it just a little. I'd tweak it a little and think about it a while, and then tweak it some more. I was too scared to completely straighten it, but I finally got it bent to a reasonably usable position and rode the rest of the weekend without a problem. After I got home, I ordered a replacement from Dave. Once I had that, I figured I'd see if I could completely straighten the toe piece without breaking it. I bent it completely straight without a problem. I'd bet they use relatively soft steel for that piece so it bends easily, which makes it less likely to break from fatigue failure when you bend it back. Propane won't come close to heating the steel enough to do any good. Just take it a little at a time and be careful, and maybe go ahead and get the replacement on order in case you hose it up. | ||
| Easy_rider |
I think Whodom just said he'd loan you his spare while you experimented with yours.... No need to thank me for the translation, Whodom. For that matter, I've got one for an S3 you can borrow if they're the same. Hope to need it someday, though. |
