[help] Bent handlebars
sean_q_
which I won't identify except for the vague hint that it's located
somewhere in Vancouver and is "modern".
When I got the bars home I noticed that the sides weren't
symmetrical; from the horizontal (middle) part, one side
bends upwards at a steeper angle than the other.
So I took them back to the store and showed the owner
(who had sold them to me) but he wouldn't refund or exchange them.
He said they were only slightly out of whack and that I could
fix the problem by installing them on a bike and then bending
one side.
My question is, how do I go about bending the side that's
too steep?
ps. No chrome has peeled. Yet.
Any help appreciated...
Without prejudice, SQ
Polarhound
you whole, you'll just leave the bars on their counter and file a claim
with you CC company.
You DID pay by credit card, right? That is the ultimate protection
against this sort of thing. The CC company is on YOUR side on this sort
of thing, and will rule in your favor in the absence of overwhelming
evidence to the contrary.
Rob Kleinschmidt
On a new part, absolute worst case I'd expect to get hit
with a restocking charge if it was special ordered for me.
Not taking back a part that the customer's unhappy with
is pretty outrageous. Hope you don't have to deal with
that guy on a regular basis.
I think you'd have a hard time bending the bars while they
were on the bike because there's not much to hold the
rest of the bar stationary. Might do better to try a bending
operation with the bars padded and clamped in a bench vise,
but you really shouldn't have to be dicking around like this
with new parts.
sean_q_
> On a new part, absolute worst case I'd expect to get hit
> with a restocking charge if it was special ordered for me.
No special order; the bars were sitting on the used parts
shelf and I bought them as 2nd hand for $20.
> Not taking back a part that the customer's unhappy with
> is pretty outrageous. Hope you don't have to deal with
> that guy on a regular basis.
I hope not too... but he does seem to have a good stock
in Zuk parts. I didn't make a fuss over such a small amount,
in case I ever need to go back there as a last resort.
> I think you'd have a hard time bending the bars while they
> were on the bike because there's not much to hold the
> rest of the bar stationary.
They must have gotten bent when a bike wiped out. I have
an old XL250 rolling frame which of course takes the 22 mm
(ie, ~7/8") bars so maybe I'll put them on that bike
and arrange for it to crash on the other side. So now
both sides of the bars will be deformed equally.
SQ
sean_q_
> You DID pay by credit card, right?
Uh, oh... er... ah... mebbe I better take the Fifth on that.
SQ
?
> My question is, how do I go about bending the side that's
> too steep?
Install the handlebars in the upper triple clamp and slide a long
piece of water pipe
over the bent bar so you have some leverage.
However, if the bar is noticeably oval-shaped at the point where it's
bent, it may buckle on you when you try to bend it back.
There are special tubing bending coils that prevent thin-wall tubing
from buckling while it's being bent, but I don't know if it comes in
22mm.
Electricians use a tool called a "Smitty" to bend electical conduit
without collapsing it.
The Smitty has steel mandrels to prevent the tube from collapsing
while being bent...
Rob Kleinschmidt
> Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> > On a new part, absolute worst case I'd expect to get hit
> > with a restocking charge if it was special ordered for me.
>
> No special order; the bars were sitting on the used parts
> shelf and I bought them as 2nd hand for $20.
Used parts, I think that's a little more understandable,
though he still ought to be willing to give a partial
refund.
> > I think you'd have a hard time bending the bars while they
> > were on the bike because there's not much to hold the
> > rest of the bar stationary.
>
> They must have gotten bent when a bike wiped out. I have
> an old XL250 rolling frame which of course takes the 22 mm
> (ie, ~7/8") bars so maybe I'll put them on that bike
> and arrange for it to crash on the other side. So now
> both sides of the bars will be deformed equally.
Come to think of it, they do have conduit
bending tools. Not sure if they'd be tough
enough for handlebars.
Without a special tool, you could put a pipe
over the bars but you'd have the problem of
holding the steering head still while you bent
the bar end.
Andrew
"sean_q_" <nos...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:rIBSn.45247$rU6....@newsfe10.iad...
Here's some help...
Go back and RETURN them, don't take no for an answer.
Tell him that you are slightly out of whack (after reading your posts for
while, I think that is true.)
Re-iterate that being slightly out of whack won't be good for his business
when you start sitting outside with a sandwich board that says this dealer
is a bad businessman.
Re-iterate how easy it is to start a webpage and you will pay to show up #1
in the search results when someone searches for his shop.
Re-iterate how easy it would be to give you a refund, and not have to hassle
with your out of whack-ness.
--
Andrew
00 Daytona
00 Speed Triple
05 Squiddo
Andrew
Now if you'd have put "used" in your original post, you would have gotten
some answers that might be more helpful.
Disregard my previous post and remember Caveat Emptor.
--
Andrew
Datesfat Chicks
news:ce615d96-cc99-43f2...@a39g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
>
>Come to think of it, they do have conduit
>bending tools. Not sure if they'd be tough
>enough for handlebars.
Conduit tends to be thinner-walled and the steel is quite a bit milder.
There is also the "over-bending" problem -- because of the springiness,
you'd have to go slightly farther than the final shape to get the bend you
want. It seems tricky.
I'm assuming that when they make handlebars originally, they put them in
some kind of a press that does them all at once (the "springiness" is
already accounted for because of symmetry). I'm not sure that a person at
home could do such a good job.
I think handlebars are much stronger than similar-sized conduit, perhaps
almost by an order of magnitude.
Datesfat.
?
wrote:
> I'm assuming that when they make handlebars originally, they put them in
> some kind of a press that does them all at once (the "springiness" is
> already accounted for because of symmetry). I'm not sure that a person at
> home could do such a good job.
Tubing is bent with a mandrel which *attempts*, but fails to keep it
round in cross section.
Close observation reveals that the inside of the bend, where the metal
had to compress slightly, is flatter than the outer radius of the
bend, which had to stretch.
The cross section of the bent tube is, therefore, slightly D-shaped...
The stainless steel duct manufacturing company where I worked
manufactured some de-icing ducts for the leading edge slats of the
L-1011 Tri-Star.
Since mandrel bending of the ducts made them slightly D-shaped as
described above, the engineers wanted to make them round so that the
inner and outer tubes would slide freely without excess friction from
the rounded corners of the D.
So they built a fixture that *rammed* a lubricated round metal tool
through the curved duct.
The tool had to be lubricated so it slid freely, and several strokes
of the tool on its curved arm returned the D-shaped duct into a round
shaped duct.
The downside of this was that the thin material (stainless steel or
titanium) had to
*stretch* to return to round, and I could see the thin-walled tubing
expand and contract as the tool rammed along the duct...
> I think handlebars are much stronger than similar-sized conduit, perhaps
> almost by an order of magnitude.
You mean *stiffer* and by several orders of magnitude.
Work out the area moments of inertia for thin-walled tubing versus
thicker walled tubing.
Robert Bolton
Maybe see if the city has a consumer rep, like an omnisbusman, or
perhaps the Better Business Bureau could offer some direction. The
guy should really take them back. Perhaps an alternative middle
ground might be to get the business to agree to give him credit for a
future purchase.
Not sure about the best way to straighten. Clamp the bent grip in a
vise near the bend and use the rest of the bar the leverage to bend?
Hopefully the bend isn't at a clamp point, as you wouldn't want the
rebend to mess with the support.
Robert
sean_q_
> Now if you'd have put "used" in your original post...
Hi Andrew, pls re-read the 1st line of my OP.
Howcome whenever I don't read something carefully
TOG jumps all over me like a kangaroo, but let
someone else do the same and there's nary a peep
out of Olde Blighty.
SQ
The Older Gentleman
*PEEP* ;-)
--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
S'mee
Obviously you are held to a higher standard than everyone else! You
have obviously demonstrated a keen intellect and an ability to
actually THINK...thus you get more flak for perceived and actual
errors. HTH 8^)
Andrew
"sean_q_" <nos...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:00OSn.101212$rE4....@newsfe15.iad...
> Andrew wrote:
>
>> Now if you'd have put "used" in your original post...
>
> Hi Andrew, pls re-read the 1st line of my OP.
You're right, my mistake.
--
Andrew
Henry
Put 'em in a vice and use some strategically placed blocks of
wood and maybe a few hammer blows to bring 'em back where you
want 'em.
--
"Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance."
-- Albert Einstein.
http://911research.wtc7.net
http://www.journalof911studies.com/
http://www.ae911truth.org
?
> Howcome whenever I don't read something carefully
> TOG jumps all over me like a kangaroo,
That's her *whole game*. The cunt acts like a bossy nine-year old girl
all the time.
> but let someone else do the same and there's nary a peep
> out of Olde Blighty.
That's a misperception one your part. The cunt has been following *me*
around Usenet for *ten years* and has *ruined* rec.motorocycles.tech
with her incessant arguing.
However, S'mee follows TOG *everywhere* and even fills in for her.
sean_q_
> Obviously you are held to a higher standard than everyone else! You
> have obviously demonstrated a keen intellect and an ability to
> actually THINK...thus you get more flak for perceived and actual
> errors. HTH 8^)
Thanks for your kind words, sir. Flattery will always
get you *somewhere*.
So you're saying that when The Older Gr--- ... er, I mean Gentleman
gives me shit, it's actually a backasswards compliment?
SQ
Datesfat Chicks
news:468017c5-f0c2-46a3...@k25g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
>
>> I think handlebars are much stronger than similar-sized conduit, perhaps
>> almost by an order of magnitude.
>
>You mean *stiffer* and by several orders of magnitude.
What I meant was the force to make it go plastic (reach the yield point)
would be much higher.
>Work out the area moments of inertia for thin-walled tubing versus
>thicker walled tubing.
Should be linear with respect to wall thickness, so that a twice-as-thick
wall requires twice as much force to reach yield. Or not?
Datesfat
Beav
"sean_q_" <nos...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:rIBSn.45247$rU6....@newsfe10.iad...
I don't know about Canada, but over here the owner would've either taken
them back and exchanged them, or wore them as a neck ornament.
If they're not as they should be, he really doesn't have a leg to stand on
with regard to exchanging or refunding, unless your laws are a little
"slack" on consumer rights.
--
Beav
Beav
"Rob Kleinschmidt" <Rkleinsc...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ce615d96-cc99-43f2...@a39g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
> On Jun 17, 8:22 pm, sean_q_ <nos...@no.spam> wrote:
>> Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
>> > On a new part, absolute worst case I'd expect to get hit
>> > with a restocking charge if it was special ordered for me.
>>
>> No special order; the bars were sitting on the used parts
>> shelf and I bought them as 2nd hand for $20.
>
> Used parts, I think that's a little more understandable,
> though he still ought to be willing to give a partial
> refund.
>
>> > I think you'd have a hard time bending the bars while they
>> > were on the bike because there's not much to hold the
>> > rest of the bar stationary.
>>
>> They must have gotten bent when a bike wiped out. I have
>> an old XL250 rolling frame which of course takes the 22 mm
>> (ie, ~7/8") bars so maybe I'll put them on that bike
>> and arrange for it to crash on the other side. So now
>> both sides of the bars will be deformed equally.
>
> Come to think of it, they do have conduit
> bending tools. Not sure if they'd be tough
> enough for handlebars.
And if they kink or snap while he's bending them, he's properly fucked. And
if they're already bent and then subsequently break while he's riding the
bike, he's likely to be more than fucked while the store owner is laughing
up his tight ass sleeve.
Sean, take the fuckers back and insist he replaces them.
--
Beav
Rob Kleinschmidt
> "Rob Kleinschmidt" <Rkleinsch1216...@aol.com> wrote in message
They're used, so selling them "as is" isn't so unreasonable.
He spent $20, so he's not all that fucked.
I also doubt they're going to snap while he's riding them.
Problem is figuring out how to secure the bars so he can
put a pipe or bending tool on them. Easy enough to apply
force to one end. Harder to keep everything else held stationary.
Beav
"Rob Kleinschmidt" <Rkleinsc...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:2d1b6487-bba7-4a32...@j12g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
Yep, poor reading on Sean's original post. Used does bring with it a
difference and it's not entirely unacceptable to pick something up for
"pennies" only to discover the item needs a little attention.
>
> He spent $20, so he's not all that fucked.
Indeed not, just getting to the foreplay is all:-)
>
> I also doubt they're going to snap while he's riding them.
>
> Problem is figuring out how to secure the bars so he can
> put a pipe or bending tool on them. Easy enough to apply
> force to one end. Harder to keep everything else held stationary.
If one side needs to be bent down, it could quite easily be done on the bike
with the aid of a length of scaffolding tube added to the high bar for
leverage. Flipped over in the yoke clamps if they're bent down and need
bending back up.
Go carefully and if the bars start to bend with less resistance, bin them,
coz now they ARE fucked.
--
Beav
Beav
"Andrew" <yogig....@hotmail.no.spam.m.com> wrote in message
news:hvg4bm$1f5$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
> Now if you'd have put "used" in your original post, you would have gotten
> some answers that might be more helpful.
> Disregard my previous post and remember Caveat Emptor.
And he actually did put "used", but I missed that bit too.
--
Beav
Beav
"sean_q_" <nos...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:00OSn.101212$rE4....@newsfe15.iad...
Old Blighty here with nary a peep :-)
--
Beav
Beav
"The Older Gentleman" <totallyde...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1jkap3b.1y81mor1rkuduuN%totallyde...@yahoo.co.uk...
> sean_q_ <nos...@no.spam> wrote:
>
>> Andrew wrote:
>>
>> > Now if you'd have put "used" in your original post...
>>
>> Hi Andrew, pls re-read the 1st line of my OP.
>>
>> Howcome whenever I don't read something carefully
>> TOG jumps all over me like a kangaroo, but let
>> someone else do the same and there's nary a peep
>> out of Olde Blighty.
>>
>> SQ
>
> *PEEP* ;-)
He. Just caught this one too.
--
Beav