Bending SS

swooshdave · Jun 14, 2020

On my 750 it has a shifter rod on the rear sets with a kink in it. This allows you to adjust the rod slightly to accommodate any discrepancies between the ends of the rod. It means the shifting is ultra smooth as there's no binding.

750

On my 850 the rod is straight and there's binding. My two options are to put rod end bearings (rose joints) on either end or to bending the rod.

Bending is free assuming I don't ruin the rod. Can I just bend the SS or is there a chance I will break it?

I'll post the 750 set up as soon as I can unbury the bike to get to it.

850

kommando · Jun 14, 2020

Bend away, if you use heat the surface will brown but phosphoric acid will remove that.

Fast Eddie · Jun 14, 2020

Dave, rod bearings are silly cheap, have zero slop or alignment issues, and help make a super smooth change...

I guess that’s why ALL OEMs use them where they have linkages.

acadian · Jun 14, 2020

Rose joints are a cheap option, but depending on the profile of the mounts on gearbox and shifter may not sit on the plane you need. I've bent plenty of rod and tubing with one of these thingies, accurate and does not distort the material, though I've never tried bending stainless rod like you have there. You could pick up a length of 3/8" aluminium rod and fabricate a new link from that.

baz · Jun 14, 2020

No problems bending stainless at all
You won't need to heat it

Gadge · Jun 14, 2020

Similar set up on my 850 with Norvil rearsets. Didn't like the straight rod and likely binding so just bought some cheap rose joints. I think they were around £6 for the pair. Work great.

jaydee75 · Jun 14, 2020

Common stainless steels are very malleable cold, but work harden fairly easily. So get it right the first time.
Jaydee

Chris · Jun 15, 2020

Swooshdave
I use stainless rod on all my bikes & moved away from Clovis to rose joints years ago. Mainly to standardize as you will find the usual suspects thread wise.
I use m6 male rose joints & drill & tap the rod. Arcadian thanks for showing us that tool brilliant. Save the marks from the vice.

olympus · Jun 15, 2020

Already said here...Rose joints

swooshdave · Jun 15, 2020

Stainless rod ends from McMaster Carr are $17/ea. I believe the threading is 5/16-24. Does anyone have a better source?

WIth the slight bends on the set on the 750 there's no binding.

baz · Jun 15, 2020

The only drawback really with clevis pins is there is usually a little bit of play,then you times that by two
Then usually have a long gear pedal to make matters worse

jimbo · Jun 15, 2020

I had to bend the SS rod I got from Madass, used heat , sanded and polished afterwards

Gadge · Jun 15, 2020

swooshdave said:
Stainless rod ends from McMaster Carr are $17/ea. I believe the threading is 5/16-24. Does anyone have a better source?

WIth the slight bends on the set on the 750 there's no binding.

I just used the cheapo chromed ones. Intent was to change to stainless once I was happy they worked OK. So far they look fine. The stainless ones are about £18 each here - I might just change the chrome ones if they rust - even though I usually default to stainless!

I did have to make up small bushes as the screws through the banjo are 1/4" - just skimmed some ally tube in the lathe.

Onder · Jun 15, 2020

I'm all for rose joints. No problem with bending stainless rod.

swooshdave · Jun 19, 2020

I just put a slight S-bend and I think that was enough. I can feel the friction is gone now. At least on the bench. Hoping to try it out on Sunday and see if I can tell the difference.

Bending SS

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