Bent rear brake pedal

[Tigerlea]

A couple months ago I took my not-so-new but new-to-me bike into a 'proper' Ducati dealership to have it looked at, as it turns out the previous owner didn't much care for it and it needed a full service. A few hundred pounds later and it rides so much better, but a few things had been pointed out to me that I couldn't justify paying for at the time.

One of these things is the rear brake pedal being bent. It's basically at a 90 degree angle upward. I'm still able to use it, and honestly hadn't even realised it was wrong (how unobservant ) until it was pointed out.

Short of replacing the pedal ('cuz, monies) is there a way to bend it back into position? I'm worried doing so will weaken the metal. Do I need to bite the bullet and buy a replacement?

After sitting on a bike without a bent peg I realised how much safer it'd be to have a proper brake pedal where it belongs

[Islander]

You could apply heat and straighten it but to be honest, if it's been bent that badly then the metal is already going to be pretty stressed.

Have you looked on eBay? Ducati spares come up fairly frequently on there.

[chris-red]

What bike?

Can probably get one on ebay for cheap.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[kgm]

I'd get a new or good condition used one. They're not expensive. Aside from that just heat it and bend it back with a hammer. I've done it before but only as a temp fix.

[chris-red]

If you don't have (access to) a vise I wouldn't try bending it. If you try it whilst the lever is in situe you could damage something else.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[stinkwheel]

What is it made of? Steel or aloy.

If you're not sure, a magnet will stick to a steel one.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Daz1245]

I had this problem with mine I took off peg and hacked it with a grinder and bolted it back on, now like new.
Was same with my bike previous owner neglected it
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Current: 1994 Suzuki rf600r
Cagiva mito evo 3 2002, Yamaha xvs125 2000, skyjet sj-125 Chinese piece of crap

[Nobby the Bastard]

[iansoady]

It's probably bent because the bike has been dropped on it. I had a similar problem with a Tiger 955i and it turned out the pivot had also been distorted stopping the pedal from moving freely.

If it's an alloy pedal I wouldn't even think about bending it; steel would probably be OK. But as said, NOT on the bike.
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Ian
1986 Honda XBR500
1952 Norton ES2

[tom_e]

If you hadn't even noticed and it's working perfectly fine then why mess with it?

[chris-red]

[chris-red]

[tom_e]

Missed that bit, I'm blaming the 2 hours sleep I got last night and a lack of coffee.

[Tigerlea]

I'll have a look when I get home whether a magnet sticks or not – I believe it's alloy but would be good to know for sure.

I had been contemplating replacing both brake and gear shift pedals with aftermarket parts, but I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to find bits

Thanks for the advice. I found a diagram of someone who replaced all the brake bits that left me feeling intimidated. Seeing as I've never done anything mechanical on a motorbike I'm debating whether it's a good idea to let this be my first thing..

[Fizzer Thou]

Not sure if these are of any use?

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/617319/Ducati-Monster-696.html

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/617310/Ducati-Monster-695.html
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[stinkwheel]

If it is alloy, just replace it. It's tricksy stuff once it's been bent because metallurgy.

It CAN be straightened but it needs a huge amount of heat to make it pliastic (but not too much, a tad too much and you have a puddle) and also needs to be stress relieved after. There is a high risk it'll break in use unless this was done very well. I've done handlebar brake/clutch levers but not a rear brake lever.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[mkjackary]

A photo would help a bit with this if you could.


My girlfriend bent my shifter by standing and putting all of her weight on it, she couldn't get it to shift down -_-
It meant I couldn't shift down anymore as the shifter hit the frame, so only up, fun ride home!

In the end I didn't bend it back, I just undid the shifter and re put it on at a correct angle, might be something similar you could do on your bike, hard to tell without a photo.

[Tigerlea]

Magnet test: didn't stick

I do have a photo but my iPad and Flickr aren't getting along so I'm unable to share it

If this works to view, then yay
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143458073@N04/33117582311/in/datetaken/

[Islander]

How on earth did it get twisted like that?

[tom_e]

When you said bent I just thought you meant a little bent not full on just been in a car crash and now my legs are pointing the wrong way bent.

[Tigerlea]

Yeah.... I have no idea how that happened.

When I bought the bike I noticed that there were scratches on either side of the bike, mostly on the engine guard and the handlebars - the clutch and brake levers have both been scraped (and I'd like to replace them as well..)

Having had it serviced I know the bike itself is in fine shape. It's just had some bumps and bruises along the way.

[BumpingUglys]

A decent second hand lever will probably run you £20-30 on eBay.

It's a pretty simple job that'll take a half hour at a very careful pace. The hardest bit is getting the spring bedded correctly. It can be a bit fiddly so you'll probably want to remove the entire hanger first.

Caveat: I've done this on the 695, not the 696, but they look very similar.

Diagram:

https://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj318/tk3445/M696_09_F_4_6_00_29_1_1.jpg
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Ducati M695

[Pete.]

You have to be very careful bending ally as Stinky said. Also, I would usually bend it cold then if it snaps or starts to tear change it for another. The different alloys have huge variances in ductility and even moderate heat can alter the metallurgical properties significantly.

I have taken a piece of nice ally that turns well in the lathe, welded it then found that it can no longer be machined without looking like it's been worried by a dog with metal teeth.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good