RGM folding kickstart lever not fitting

baz said:

You'd probably do better phoning
I don't think they have any time for emails

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Thomasa said:

I had difficulty ordering the part from RGM. Their banking system would not accept either of my credit cards and I emailed them. Got no reply. Then a few days later I tried a different browser (Safari vs. Firefox) and the order went through.

It seems there is more going on with suppliers than just a problem with RGM. I was at the local NAPA auto parts store yesterday and found they have been back ordered on thousands of $ of parts from various suppliers. "What do I need to stock up on," I asked. "Any pattern to it?"

"Doesn't seem to be he answered. Though terrorists sunk a British freighter in the Red Sea lately."

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Thomasa said:

I installed an RGM KS lever a couple of weeks ago. It was a pain. I believe that this batch of parts supplied to RGM may be a little off spec.

Before installation, the pinch-bolt would screw in/out with fingers. Once you spread the gap with a screwdriver or whatever, the pinch bolt will not catch the threads on the other side of the gap, I think because the angle is now different. One cannot get the lever on the shaft without spreading the gap, at least on the part I received.

On installation I managed to get the supplied bolt to catch the threads, though on a bind, and I turned the bolt in all but the last quarter inch or so with a long handled ratchet. On disassembly, I found that something had carved off the bolt's threads except for the 3/8" on the end. Now having stretched the KS bore of the lever somewhat, even with the wedge removed and off the bike, I could not turn the bolt to catch the screw threads.

My solution was to enlarge the pinch bolt hole with a chainsaw file. This is easier said than done as the metal is awfully tough and the chrome plating is hard and thick. The plating may be part of the problem. It looks like the inside of the bolt hole was plated. I couldn't tell about the threads but had they been plated the bolt would probably not screw in at all.

In the end I had an enlarged hole and a ruined bolt. I tried a 3/8 UNF bolt and it would screw in from the opposite end but not through the bolt hole. So I was able to use the ruined bolt which now has a slightly smaller diameter in the area where it passes the KS shaft. It is not ideal as the bolt is much weaker but I got it together and in a dozen starts the bolt has not broken yet. I believe that the distance between the pinch-bolt hole and the KS shaft hole is too small by as much as 0.030." In conclusion, there are three problems. 1) the pinch-bolt hole is too tight to allow for the angle change when the gap is spread on installation 2) the pinch bolt hole is too close to the KS shaft and 3) the plater did not blank off the pinch-bolt hole before plating.

Other than these fitting issues the part seems well made and well finished and works fine on my Atlas, though for esthetic reasons I would like to see a bit of a curve in it.

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marshg246 said:

I've had to open the non-threaded hole a little and I've changed the bolt for full thread engagement. You may also have to take a little off the top edge of the shaft slot but nothing inside the slot!

Yall, really need to put it on without the bolt, look at what the problem is, and correct it!

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