loaded gun rearsets, heating and CRINGING!!

vtwinsrgood

vtwinsrgood

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Befuddled with which way to proceed.
The stock rear brake pedal and shift lever look to be cast iron.
Has anyone done the heating/bending and cutting of these parts to use with the LG rearsets?

I have looked into grinding out a bevel where the bends should be and welding after using a 77 arc electrode.
I think I've spent more time looking, pondering and more looking than actual work time spent on the bike!
Any thoughts on the "Chosen" route? :p
 

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vtwinsrgood said:
Befuddled with which way to proceed.
The stock rear brake pedal and shift lever look to be cast iron.
Has anyone done the heating/bending and cutting of these parts to use with the LG rearsets?
I have looked into grinding out a bevel where the bends should be and welding after using a 77 arc electrode.
I think I've spent more time looking, pondering and more looking than actual work time spent on the bike!
Any thoughts on the "Chosen" route? :p
Click to expand...

Hi 'good,
looks can be deceiving because those parts are chrome-plated steel forgings.
Clamp them in a vise, torch 'em "the colour of the rising sun" where they need to be bent and either
bend 'em with a vise-grip or tap 'em round with a hammer. And yeah, kiss the chrome goodbye.
My "Chosen route" would be to leave the 'pegs where they are because my body hasn't been
comfortable in a racing crouch this past 40 years.
Your "Chosen route" seems to be a cafe racer conversion. My best advice is to not cut off parts
that you'd need to weld back on if you changed your mind about the bike's "look".
 
There are other rearsets available that don't require modifying your brake pedal and shifter AND you can still use your kickstarter. More expensive but worth it IMO
 
Thanks all. HA.. I get to call and tattle on my buddy who said they were cast! :p
Appreciate the feedback. My back believe it or not likes the knees up higher and back some.
Yes, indeed it will styled as a racer(grew up seeing these half faired singles/twins that thumped and roared at the track!)
have a nice half fairing that will makes its way on in the off season of 2019.
 
I'm just a dabbler but let your heated parts cool slowly, don't want to make them brittle.
 
gggGary said:
I'm just a dabbler but let your heated parts cool slowly, don't want to make them brittle.
Click to expand...

Hi Gary,
betcha there ain't enough Carbon in brake pedal or kickstart steel to make it hardenable even if it's water quenched from cherry red.
And the usual delay between turning the torch off, gripping the bent pedal with a vise-grip, loosening the vise and finally quenching the pedal
will drop the part's temperature down to black hot where steel ain't hardenable anyway.
 
The brake arm may be cast, probably is, but not iron. Cast steel. It welds just like any other steel though. Nothing special about heating or welding it.
 
Thanks again for all the insight and feedback.
Great group we have here. I hope I can help someone as much as you have all helped me.
Photos to come on how it looks later.
Cheers!
S
 

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