HELP!Buellers... anyone... [Archive]

View Full Version : HELP!Buellers... anyone...

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 07:17

Just got to work... parked the bike, kicked it into neutral and the freaking toe-piece broke off the gear shift! F**K! What the hell do I do? I have a spare but its at home...(thru town and then 30kms of motorway ) and how do I get the bike home since I am unable to change gears??? I'm hoping AMPS might come and pick it up for me but they won't take it all the way home and they are notoriously useless when it comes to stocking "essential" parts...(sorry Lou but they ARE!) Has anyone been in this situation? The 'arm thingy' is still there, its just the actual little shifter toe-piece thats parted company... the damn thing is snapped clean off, I honestly can't see how I can do gear changes...
AAaaargh!

Dooly

19th May 2006, 08:02

Are you close to a garage or engineers, who could maybe just temporary weld a piece on for you to change gears to get home before you get a new shifter?
Thats what I'd try first, if stuck.

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 08:20

I'm in the viaduct... think I may have come up with a solution. Thanks to my mates at work I am gonna borrow someones car, go home and get my spare "after-market" part and bring it back to work along with allen keys and an adjustable wrench... Got to take the footpeg off and I'm hoping that bolt isn't gonna be a mission! If I have no joy then I'll give AMPS a call and turn on the charm... actually they are always pretty good to me so if needs be I reckon they will come to the party...
1 thing for sure is that I'm not putting the standard part back on, my "after-market' is gonna be a permanent fixture now!

Two Smoker

19th May 2006, 08:23

If that fails do the old bolt trick, drill out the current gear lever to 6mm then put a m6 bolt through with a nut on both sides of the gear lever... and wahey you have a gear lever... but a bit of fuel hose on and its like brand new...

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 08:39

Good idea... we've got constuction guys in at work at the mo so they may have suitable tools... from memory tho when the ex did that to one off his buell awhile ago it was a total bi-atch to drill!
Gonna try Plan A first...
Cheers :-)

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 09:13

Two Smoker

19th May 2006, 09:20

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 10:51

Yep yr suggestion worked a treat!
My mate Dave and I have just returned from Placemakers Cook Str with a bolt, washers and nuts. Got the rubber off the old one and I now have a new toe-piece that looks just like a bought one.
Parts = $6
Labour = $0 but I will definately be buying Dave a beer or 2
Good to go!!!

Really tho, don't ya reckon the stock part sux? I have an "after -market" shifter that is stainless (so it bends, doesn't break) and the toe-piece screws on... gonna be putting that on tonight... depending how many beers I have with Dave...:drinkup: :drinknsin

Oh and in case yr wondering why I don't have the Stainless jobbie on already??? Well the toe-piece is silver and it keeps leaving a big mark on my flash boots so I had taken it off with a view to sorting that and well...
All that aside I am abit disgusted at the WEAKness of the standard part... ok so it has dragged on the tarmac abit but surely that shouldn't cause it to weaken and snap off??? Maybe I just had a dud...

Oh well I am happy again...:ride: :done:

Two Smoker

19th May 2006, 11:20

All that aside I am abit disgusted at the WEAKness of the standard part... ok so it has dragged on the tarmac abit but surely that shouldn't cause it to weaken and snap off??? Maybe I just had a dud...

Nah it wasnt a dud... because they are cast aluminium they are very brittle... Its common with a lot of bikes... Same as brake and clutch levers.. Very brittle, and snap easily...

Glad it worked out for you :niceone: And it was a cheap too!!!

sAsLEX

19th May 2006, 11:23

Its a tractor would of been fine starting in second or third and using one gear the whole way home!

Glad to hear you fixed it other wise.

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 11:31

Nah it wasnt a dud... because they are cast aluminium they are very brittle... Its common with a lot of bikes... Same as brake and clutch levers.. Very brittle, and snap easily...

So why do manufacturers continue to use parts like this? And yeah I have snapped afew brake and clutch levers over the years... my current brake levers front and rear are aftermarket stainless jobbies...

sAsLEX

19th May 2006, 11:37

So why do manufacturers continue to use parts like this? And yeah I have snapped afew brake and clutch levers over the years... my current brake levers front and rear are aftermarket stainless jobbies...

Easy to make, and maybe its better that these relativaley cheap parts sacrifice them selves rather than making the bike flip when they dig in to the tarmac etc

plus I would rather they snap than impaling me as I tumble around with the bike.

WRT

19th May 2006, 11:41

HELP!Buellers... anyone...

Was this a parody of Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

The Economics Teacher, "anyone, anyone . . . Bueller?"

PS - Glad you got it sorted.

T.W.R

19th May 2006, 11:54

An emergency fix that works for the oh shit moments when a gear lever peg parts company on any bike is a 6mm - 8mm allen key strapped to the lever shaft by 2 small hose clamps :niceone:

looks rough but does the job

vifferman

19th May 2006, 12:02

Oh and in case yr wondering why I don't have the Stainless jobbie on already??? Well the toe-piece is silver and it keeps leaving a big mark on my flash boots so I had taken it off with a view to sorting that and well...
Should be easy to sort that! Either put a piece of plastic or rubber tubing over it, or if you can find a gearlever rubber thingo (technical term) the right size, buy one and stick that on, or you could put a piece of heatshrink tube over it and shrink-fit it on, then another over the top.

imdying

19th May 2006, 12:20

With a big twin like a Buell, couldn't you have selected second, and taken off/ridden in that?

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 12:28

Hmmm... yeah yr right it should be relatively simple to deal with... (marks on boots...)Thing is this : I am a Pisces and live by the Procrastinating Pisces Mantra of "why do it today when you can put it off till tomorrow?".
So if I had modified the other lever cough.. months ago... cough... then todays little drama wouldn't have happened...
jeez I think i just taught myself a damn good lesson...

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 12:59

With a big twin like a Buell, couldn't you have selected second, and taken off/ridden in that?
Yeah she pulls in 2nd no probs but at the time I was in panic mode and anyway it all worked out ok in the end...
Yeah if I REALLY HAD to I guess I could have gotten her home as is but it would NOT have been a fun experience!
see attachment!

Motu

19th May 2006, 13:08

You could of heel shifted on either of the sticky up levers....but I guess those bikes are a bit cramped for doing anything other than what they were designed to do.

buellbabe

19th May 2006, 13:50

You could of heel shifted on either of the sticky up levers....but I guess those bikes are a bit cramped for doing anything other than what they were designed to do.
Yes I could have I guess but no matter now cos its all tickety-boo... but ain't it funny how things seem insurmountable when they first happen only to become quite fixable once ya heart rate slows down and yr brain switches modes... from "oh shit!" to "right what can be done?"...

imdying

19th May 2006, 16:16

At least you weren't stuck stuck!

nadroj

19th May 2006, 18:09

Change of plans... the Constuction guys next door were more than willing to lend whatever tools they could and my workmate (who is also a biker) insisted on having a go with the drill.Woohoo!!!! Drilled out and now we are off on an expedition to get a bolt and a couple of nuts!!!!! Just love Kiwi ingenuity and willingness to help.
Shucks... I'm feeling all gooey...
Thanx
Didn't the construction workers have a decent bolt & a couple of nuts between them? Bloody Auck soft cocks!
If you are going to keep the bolt modified part, make sure the 2 sides where you have drilled are flat or the bolt will work loose.
Also note that stainless is softer (less shear strength) & more brittle than mild steel so the tempoary one may last better

Bonez

20th May 2006, 13:16

Didn't the construction workers have a decent bolt & a couple of nuts between them? Bloody Auck soft cocks!That's the "Village People" mentality I guess. Another option is to use bolt/nuts off non critical components on the Buell or donor bike.
(p/t)Funny how 30yo chromed mild steel items last so long ah ? Even after a few restraightenings :).(end of p/t)