Bending brake lever

[Ed Sidders]

Installed a pair of footpeg lowering bloks on my 07 FJR..To be comfortable the brake lever needs to be bent out a inch or so...I think the material is a heat treated aluminum casting..Has anyone had any luck reshaping the lever or does it break as I expect it to when trying to bend?? Thanks Ed

 

[RadioHowie]

Since you WANT to bend it, it will snap like an old woman's hip.

If you DIDN'T want to bend it, it would twist like a sapling in a hurricane if you brush up against it.

One of life's MANY mysteries.

 

[2fjr]

I would not trust it much if it did bend but not break. Aluminum does not much like that action. I have modified brake pedals of this type by using a dremel or band saw to remove a small slice of pie out of the side I wanted to bend towards. Then tweak it to your liking and have it welded. A good welder will have no problem making it as strong as it was before. Cost should be around $20 to weld it.

 

[garauld]

You can use a torch and heat it good and it will bend quite readily. Keep in mind, it will be weaker than original.

 

[kamal]

You can use a torch and heat it good and it will bend quite readily. Keep in mind, it will be weaker than original.

+1.

Worked for me recently after a 'gravel adventure'.

 

[Chuck35]

I'd suggest getting a set of cheap pizzao (sp) knock off's from ebay before the attempt. I have a set I am quite happy with, although the installation was more work than I had planned.

 

[RadioHowie]

Don't think those Pazzo levers will do much good to replace the rear brake lever....

 

[Chuck35]

Don't think those Pazzo levers will do much good to replace the rear brake lever....

 

[Ed Sidders]

Thanks for the suggestions...Thinking about heating ,bending and then re-heat treating.....I need to do a bit of research on that. I have a small oven with thermostat that will hold about 600 deg f...

 

[FJRay]

I bent mine without heat years ago with no problems.

 

[pcarnut]

Late to this thread but I'l add this for posterity at least. Used to dirt bike ride which of course lead to many curled up clutch and brake levers. Tried many times to carefully/gently straighten them out with no success, they always snapped off immediately. One day took a different approach, put the lever in a vise, applied just a very small amount of heat from a propane torch and gave it a couple of moderate whacks with a hammer or leather mallet and the lever straightened out with no problem. Since then I've used this method many times with good results.

If you think about it makes sense since it got bent into a pretzel with a sudden impact and so reversing this works best. Do not heat to get it smoking hot, only enough to warm it up a little.