Bike went over.. damaged part - Bent Rear Brake Level RC36

Damm bike went over this morning while on the side stand.. long story. Its a 95 VFR 750FS RC36

Broke the right mirror and banana´d the right brake lever, both of which are available at David Silver, but the rear brake lever is also very bent, and that is now a discontinued part.. so my question is

Best Way to straighten the rear brake lever ?
I assume its alloy ... heat and straighten with a hammer?
Suggestions please

Thanks

 

Pretty sure it's mild steel. Magnet will tell you.

Quick and dirty: Slide a closed ended wrench over the knurled outer portion and manipulate it where you want. Done it for people in parking lots all the time.

Better: Remove from bike, add a little heat in a vise and manipulate where you want. Finish with some satin silver spray paint.

Did it bend in and gouge your frame?

 

Thanks, no luckily its more twisted in and over but stopped short of the frame! needs a tweak clockwise and down I think. still useable just a bit awkward.. the right mirror was totalled though, and the front brake lever is pretty banana'd but David Silver has both of those parts in stock, so could have been worse, with no side plugs the fairing came off pretty much scot free, just some minor scratches that will as they say " buff out" lol
When I have to get off in my road again to open or close my gates, its centre stand from now on!

 

Are they? I thought they were aluminium‍♂️ and when you say open wrench (spanner lol) do you mean one of these? presumably nearest fit to the lever ? or an adjustable spanner.. sorry wrench

 

Steel. Don't I see a crescent shaped impression on the frame just inboard of the brake pedal?

If you remove the pedal, grind that excess off of the inside so it can't happen again.

I didn't say open, I said CLOSED. Or use a small metal tube that just fits over the knurled end.

 

brake lever can be straightened alot after removal using a big hammer and just ONE hard blow but not too hard.

 

OK its done now but until you drop it three times, I don't believe you qualify for an entry onto Randy's elite "you dropped it how many times" list.

https://vfrworld.com/threads/you-dropped-it-how-many-time.44298/

As you can see with 40 pages of content perhaps if nothing else this demonstrates the value of fitting decent quality R&G frame sliders which mount right through the frame in place of the engine support bolt. These are plenty strong enough to minimise damage during a typical tip over or low speed drop as they are actually designed to minimise damage incurred during typical racing incidents - low sides etc . Obviously nothing will prevent significant damage after high side impacts or where the bike goes cartwheeling into a crash barrier.

As for the bent levers - if you have access to basic tools and a vice then I suggest you take your time, remove the damaged parts from the bike and using a vice slowly straighten things out. Just use some soft timber on the faces of the vice to avoid leaving marks on the lever.

Even if you manage to get it looking right, don't forget to carefully inspect for cracks, weakspots etc and be prepared to replace if necessary. You don't want a straightened lever to simply snap off months later whilst out rding.

Once it is back straight, you may want to release and then retighten the mirror and lever mountings just enough so that they are adequately secure for normal use, but with a very firm push will give, so that if the bike falls over, the mirror or lever mounting can pivot harmlessly out of the way, rather than bend or snap off.

Obviously dealerships pretty much nail those suckers in place when selling bikes as that increases the chance of follow on sales replacing broken levers.

Meantime if you are lookiing for another solution to opening that dratted gate Goggle comes up with this -


Take Care ATGATT


SkiMad

 

Do people actually still use their rear bakes - if the wheel is in the air it doesn't seem to do anything......

 

That is TOO funny!!!!!! I love cute gadgets!

 

get serious, pete, only track experts lift the rear wheel and not on the street. 70/30 is still useful.