May 3, 201412 yr Evening all. Caught the back brake lever on a tree stump the other day whilst at a bit of speed. Result is it's bent out at getting on for 90 degrees to the side of the bike. Fair play though, must be decent alloy, no cracks at all. What's the best way to straighten it?, and at what temperature? Thanks everyone
May 3, 201412 yr I believe if you melt some candle wax on it and then heat it, you can heat it to a temp just until the wax turns black. I may be wrong, so hopefully someone else will advise otherwise, or confirm.
May 3, 201412 yr Candle wax? Does it not just burn? To anneal Aluminium, if you rub soap on it then heat it until the soap turns brown you are at approximately the correct temperature. Hold the temperature until even then cool slowly. Note: If you get it too hot, the soap will go black as the Aluminium melts. This is handy for annealing soft aluminium gaskets etc, not so sure about a brake pedal. In my experience, on the 4RT, if they are not exactly the right shape, they just dont work properly. You can obtain a pattern one quite cheaply, they work well but do crack if bent.
May 3, 201412 yr dmc, without wishing to sound flippant, i suggest you bin the idea of a conventional length pedal - even a pattern one will catch the next tree stump lurking in the section and you'll be splasing the cash again and again My advice is that you contact M Sport or H and R Racing and get one of the special shorty versions each of them produce. Yes, they do cost £100+ but I bet you never break another pedal. I've had one on my 08 4RT since 2008 and we've squeezed through the tightest of stump laden and rock ridged sections together - and not once has the pedal touched a thing. Money well spent IMHO...
May 3, 201412 yr Candle wax? Does it not just burn?To anneal Aluminium, if you rub soap on it then heat it until the soap turns brown you are at approximately the correct temperature. Hold the temperature until even then cool slowly.Note: If you get it too hot, the soap will go black as the Aluminium melts.This is handy for annealing soft aluminium gaskets etc, not so sure about a brake pedal.In my experience, on the 4RT, if they are not exactly the right shape, they just dont work properly. You can obtain a pattern one quite cheaply, they work well but do crack if bent. Doh, Oops, yes, I meant soap. The last time I had to do it was 2001 on a 315 rear brake. Edited May 4, 201412 yr by jj65
March 10, 201511 yr My advice is that you contact M Sport or H and R Racing and get one of the special shorty versions each of them produce. Yes, they do cost £100+ but I bet you never break another pedal. I've had one on my 08 4RT since 2008 and we've squeezed through the tightest of stump laden and rock ridged sections together - and not once has the pedal touched a thing. Money well spent IMHO... I bought one and now find it hard to find the pedal, even with size 11 boots it's a job to get good purchase on it
March 11, 201511 yr dmc, without wishing to sound flippant, i suggest you bin the idea of a conventional length pedal - even a pattern one will catch the next tree stump lurking in the section and you'll be splasing the cash again and again My advice is that you contact M Sport or H and R Racing and get one of the special shorty versions each of them produce. Yes, they do cost £100+ but I bet you never break another pedal. I've had one on my 08 4RT since 2008 and we've squeezed through the tightest of stump laden and rock ridged sections together - and not once has the pedal touched a thing. Money well spent IMHO... Or you could just be tight & fit a Sherco one, does exactly the same job but doesn't bend easily like the crap standard one.
March 11, 201511 yr Someone may come on and tell us all the annealing technicalities and fair enough. When I bent mine though I took it off the bike, mounted it in a vise and gently heated the bend with a butane gas torch whilst applying a bit of pressure on the end. Once it got to a suitable temperature it easily bent a few degrees then stopped. I heated it again and again it bent a few degrees. I repeated probably about 6 or 7 times until it was back where I wanted it. Never had a problem with it afterwards.
March 11, 201511 yr How come I've just replied to a post from May 2014?? johnnyboxer I'll get you... *said in a Dick Dastardly voice*
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