Topic: Advice on Unbending Case Guards

[BobbyR]

I have learned the hard way 3 times you do not park one of these front heavy beauties  on the slightest down grade. OK needless to say the attach points of the case guardsare bent, so the guards are an up angle, and of couse one is blocking the point cover lower screw. I can't unbend them using brute force or leverage. I have taken them off and used all lenghths of pipe for leverage. My last resort may be to heat them, the question is how much heat and what is the downside?

[Uncle Ernie]

First, have you tried parking in 1st gear so it won't roll?

2nd, is this a bracket that's bent, or the tubing?

[bike54]

hi bobbyr
 its sounds like your going to have to get them cherry red to do any good after all that heat the chrome will be toast

merv

[mcpuffett]

you will be able to polish them back a bit but they wont look as good as new and at least they did there job   mick.

[BobbyR]

It is the Brackets that are bent, the bars themselves are OK. Yes they did their job. In all my years of riding I have left cars in gear but never Bikes. I guess you are never to old to learn. Do you guys think I need to make them cherry red?

[Uncle Ernie]

I guess living in a hilly town taught me to park in gear pretty quick. After you try to start it in gear you'll learn something else pretty quick, too 

Good vice to hold object, long rod/screw driver etc for bending, spray bottle of water, couple ounces of alcohol, good thick leather work gloves.  Just heat until it will bend but not distort. Spray with water to coll it down. If it turns into a puddle on the work bench, drink the alcohol.
You'll probably want to spray it with a satin paint like black because the chrome will get... "icky".

[TwoTired]

Are the case guards the ones in the avatar?  Do you have a closeup picture showing the bent position and the direction of the bends?

I've had some success bending cold, chromed metal back into place.  Usually requires some thought, a bit of fixturing and hydraulic jack(s).  Amazing how pliable steel is when nudged by a two (or more) ton jack.

At the moment I envision something fixtured or heavy placed on top of the guard and a jack lifting the bike frame. Appropriate wood blocks and rags as pads to prevent marking the paint or chrome.  Maybe insurance straps to ensure the bike won't fall over as it won't have weight on its stands during the the lift.

Spacial visualization and a rationale for relative movement of the parts aids in the success of the operation.

Depending on just how the things are bent.  Removal, a big bench vice, crowbars, etc., may be a better choice.

Heat does make it easier to bend steel.  But, you'll still need tools and fixturing to bend the metal.  And, the chrome is unlikely to survive the disfiguring process.

Cheers,

[bike54]

hi bobbyr
if your going to try to straighten them with heat and a vice heat them up before putting them in the vice or your going to have to heat the vice up as well ( big blow torch) i would let them cool down naturaly and not cool with water as well

merv 

[El Taco]

I used a hammer on mine, with no heat. They're fine.

[bike54]

as long as the end result is what you want how you get their does not matter

merv 

[Uncle Ernie]

So Merv- what's wrong with cooling with water?

[bike54]

hi uncle ernie
if their is a big pecentage of carbon in the steel (over 0.5%) it will harden when cooled with water just like a cutting tool does but it is then very brittle like cast iron to get round that steel is then anealed to certain tempritures to give it back some of its elasticity but keping most of its hardness  mild steel should not harden not enough carbon but often parts are made out of whatevers avalable at the time so the safe bet is to let it cool slowley just in the air
99 times out of a 100 no problem but i have had whats suposed to be mild steel harden on heating so i just let every thing cool slowley plus any stresses built up will be released by slow cooling probably me being over careful but it dosent take that long to cool any way
hope that answers your question ok

merv 

[kghost]

Seems like a silly suggestion at this point.

Have ya thought about buying a new one?

[mcpuffett]

don't be silly ghost why buy new when you can repair      mick.

[bike54]

im with mick on that one use the money saved to buy something you can not repair

merv   

[Geeto67]

I am not a big fan of re-using case guards after they have been bent because after you bend them back the metal is weaker and they will bend even easier in a collision. The point about having a case guard is to protect the case from cracking in an impact, how useful is it if the case guard folds and hits and cracks the case itself? I had a lay down on my 75 a year ago and the right side case guard bent all the way back to the points cover (denting it). After I bent it back, a month later my brother dropped the bike on it's right side while stopped and the case guard bent right back to it's previous shape. I have since replaced it because had I had another accident at speed the case guard would have surely been useless.

I have gotten case guards for free-$30 bucks that were never hit and ready to bolt on. I'd rather spend the hour and a half I use to straighten a bent case guard riding the bike instead so for me it is worth it.

IF you know how to weld, you can build your own case guards for around $15 in materials.

[Terry in Australia]

Don't try to "cold bend" them, you'll only do more damage at a different point. The steel in most case-guards is only mild steel, so there's no risk of "weakening" them by heating the damaged area to cherry red with an oxygen/acetylene torch. Those little propane torches won't cut it, well they might eventually, but the "oxy" will only damage the chrome in the immediate area of the repair, whereas the propane type torches aren't able to achieve the same heat as quickly, so the damage will spread further afield than the "oxy" which will "localise" the damage to the repair area.

Just securely clamp it in a vice, use a big adjustable wrench on the bent bracket (on the flats, that way it won't mark the chrome) and only heat the bent area. get it red, bend it back straight, and let it cool in it's own time. Don't "quench" it in water, or it'll go brittle and bust off next time you drop it. Next time? Hope not! If you're parking on a slope, turn the bike around so it's rear wheel is facing down the slope, it won't fall over again. Cheers, Terry.