Bending a Clutch Lever

Baza 07

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Hi all following my “Stiff Clutch” post and before I buy a new two fingered lever I was wondering if anyone has tried bending the original with heat,I’ve watched the old Tube videos, and wondered if it would work on my bike 🤔
Cheers Baza
 

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To anneal the aluminium to work it, you will need to heat it to around 320 degrees C this varies depending on the alloy composition.
I have often done this with ally car wheels to straighten dings, but need to heat them anyway prior to welding cracks.
I would not bother messing with a clutch lever as the adjuster on the Chinese ones is a lot better, they are cheap and available in long and short versions.
 
This is my idea, would bending the lever this far effect the clutch operation 🤔
 

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you are missing the main aspect of what BMW did

for the clutch to operate safely and for the longevity of the box and clutch plate - it needs to move (separating the pressure plate from the flywheel) by x mm, if you don't have the full operation of the slave cyl you are compromising this separation. Leading to wear and or dangerous operation

the ONLY way to manage this correctly (with a closer lever to the bars) - will be to substantially increase the lever pressure - thus getting same slave cyl movement with shorter lever movement (by using a different master / slave cyl set up)

this is why the stubby joke aftermarket levers are so rubbish -
the shape and feel of the lever is compromised
the weight is usually higher, as the lever ratio is shortened
often the pull distance is lower - resulting in the main points in the paragraph above

what you want is not achievable - breaking the lever is foolish
 
To anneal the aluminium to work it, you will need to heat it to around 320 degrees C this varies depending on the alloy composition.
I have often done this with ally car wheels to straighten dings, but need to heat them anyway prior to welding cracks.
I would not bother messing with a clutch lever as the adjuster on the Chinese ones is a lot better, they are cheap and available in long and short versions.
Would I be able to adjust the Chinese ones to the distance in my photo 🤔
Thanks for your help 👍
 
you are missing the main aspect of what BMW did

for the clutch to operate safely and for the longevity of the box and clutch plate - it needs to move (separating the pressure plate from the flywheel) by x mm, if you don't have the full operation of the slave cyl you are compromising this separation. Leading to wear and or dangerous operation

the ONLY way to manage this correctly (with a closer lever to the bars) - will be to substantially increase the lever pressure - thus getting same slave cyl movement with shorter lever movement (by using a different master / slave cyl set up)

this is why the stubby joke aftermarket levers are so rubbish -
the shape and feel of the lever is compromised
the weight is usually higher, as the lever ratio is shortened
often the pull distance is lower - resulting in the main points in the paragraph above

what you want is not achievable - breaking the lever is foolish
Hmmm that’s pissed on my bonfire 🤦‍♂️🤣
Thanks for your advice, there’s more to this bloody lever than I thought 🙄
Cheers Baza
 
I have used the Chinese lever with no separation issues and changed the last OEM clutch plate at 93K miles and it was still well within the service limit.
If it wont engage neutral easily then the clutch is not disengaging / separating properly , poor adjustment or warped plate.
 
I have used the Chinese lever with no separation issues and changed the last OEM clutch plate at 93K miles and it was still well within the service limit.
If it wont engage neutral easily then the clutch is not disengaging / separating properly , poor adjustment or warped plate.
To be honest I like the look of these Chinese levers, last Q Mistacat did you find controlling the clutch with the new lever far easier than the original 🤔
Cheers Baza
 
To be honest I like the look of these Chinese levers, last Q Mistacat did you find controlling the clutch with the new lever far easier than the original 🤔
Cheers Baza
Everyone is different, I take XXL gloves .
I appreciate the difficult job the designers have in getting the ergonomics near to suit as many folk as possible.
Having built many vehicles from the ground up (Cars, Trikes & Bikes) over the past 50 years I understand just how hard it is, especially when building for someone else.
I have altered every part of the ergonomics on my GS to exactly fit myself. To someone else it would probably feel horrible.
All I can say is try it they are only a few quid from China and if it does not work out sell it on here and it will suit someone.
 
Everyone is different, I take XXL gloves .
I appreciate the difficult job the designers have in getting the ergonomics near to suit as many folk as possible.
Having built many vehicles from the ground up (Cars, Trikes & Bikes) over the past 50 years I understand just how hard it is, especially when building for someone else.
I have altered every part of the ergonomics on my GS to exactly fit myself. To someone else it would probably feel horrible.
All I can say is try it they are only a few quid from China and if it does not work out sell it on here and it will suit someone.
Cheers for that, thanks for all your input 👍😉,,,,Baza
 
I have used the Chinese lever with no separation issues and changed the last OEM clutch plate at 93K miles and it was still well within the service limit.
If it wont engage neutral easily then the clutch is not disengaging / separating properly , poor adjustment or warped plate.
👍
I’ve worked on many dozens of bikes with different levers fitted over the years, and they all worked without any problems or suffered premature wear
 
Hi all as a quick follow up, I managed to bend the clutch lever, roughly about an inch, I’ve done a little test in the drive and it seems to be working fine,I’ll report back again after a long run.
Thanks for all the input 👍
 

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