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Introduction
I cannot find any other reason for a gear shift lever to get bent except for a blunt force applied onto it and this is exactly what happened to my motorcycle's gear shifter.
While riding my Yummy i had a little accident and my front tire lost grip on the road and my motorcycle slipped onto its left side, dragging itself along with me a few meters forward. The left slider that was meant to protect the motorcycle's left fairings and basically the entrity of the left side of it – got broken when it came in contact with the road, leaving the gear lever to be next in line to absorb the hit and come in contact with the asphalt.
The connection between the gear shifter and the gearbox was severed and the motorcycle had to be towed to the garage to be fixed. Unfortunately the mechanic did not notice that the gear shift leg lever was bent and i have only noticed it when i was already driving it, attiributing that to me using my snickers. Eventually i had to either do it myself to go back to the mechanic.
In this article i will demonstrate how to fix a bent motorcycle gear shift foot lever.
Preparation:
I have cleaned and cleared the floor i was about to work on and positioned my motorcycle on it. Made sure it was dry and there were no items that could reduce friction of the motorcycle with the underneeth floor, like leafs for example.
Assesment:
as it can be seen, the gear lever is positioned too close to the motorcycle's body. The underlaying fairing also interferes with its operation. Due to this problematic position i had to move my foot right and up/down in a sharper angle in order to shift gears. This action alone made it very difficult riding the motorcycle, add to that the obstruction of the underlaying plastic fairing and you get a very unpleasant and dangerous riding experience.
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Step 1 – Heating up the Gear Lever:
bending the lever back when it's at a room temperature prooved undoable unless i had some powerful equipment for the job. I don't have a blow torch so the only viable option left was to use a heat gun. I heated the lever for about 10 minutes before trying to bend it back again. The heat was directed to the stem of the gear lever which is the actual bend part of the lever.
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Step 2 – Assuming Position:
Assume a firm position next to the motorcycle and make sure your body is not slipping away from it.
Step 3 – Bending the Lever:
Use one hand to bend the lever itself and the other to counteract it. Apply force with gradual intensity that could be initiated with a kinetic pull as much as the narrow gap between the lever and the body of the motorcyle allow.
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Final Result:
It could cleary be seen that the lever's edge is positioned farther away from the motorcycle's body and there is now a vertical gap between the gear lever's edge and the underlaying plastic fairing :
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Cons:
- Adds to the overall metal fatigue of the lever.
Pros:
- Saves the hassle of going to a mechanic.
A Failed Attempt:
This is before i realized that a metal bar is more likely to get bent if applying force at its tip:
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Summary:
It was quite a surprise for me that this method actualy worked and i was able to bend the lever back. I believe the heat gun was the key for that. This is not a long term solution though since i am very much concered about metal fatigue in the future and a possible snapping of the lever in the middle of riding the motorcycle. So in the near future this lever will fore sure be replaced by a new one
