GreigM
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| posted on 13/9/09 at 09:11 PM |
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Broke my gear lever
So today the gear lever on my westfield megablade came off in my hand - a weld towards the bottom of the shaft looks like it may have previously
broken....
..so anyone know where I can source a new one - hopefully sharpish
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CRAIGR
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| posted on 13/9/09 at 09:13 PM |
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Can you not get it rewelded and strengthened ?
[Edited on 13/9/09 by CRAIGR]
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ReMan
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| posted on 13/9/09 at 09:28 PM |
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weldit! weldit! weldit!

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GreigM
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| posted on 13/9/09 at 09:29 PM |
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given its broken at least once, I'd much rather a new one if I can, but as a backup I may get it welded (if I can find a decent welder
somewhere)
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 13/9/09 at 09:41 PM |
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Could you make a replacement? If not and you need to buy a replacement, then I'd start with westfield as at least you know it will work.
It might be worth looking at the adjustment etc to see if you can figure out why its broken twice.
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Peteff
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 08:17 AM |
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Get it welded or get someone to copy the design and weld it properly. You may be using a lot of force on it and stressing the part so have a look at
the leverage and see if it needs beefing up. Put your location in your profile and someone local to you may be willing to help with the welding.
[Edited on 14/9/09 by Peteff]
[Edited on 14/9/09 by Peteff]
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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GreigM
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 08:20 AM |
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I'm in Hamilton (thats Scotland - up there in the cold rainy place) and its a sequential box on a fireblade engine - the lever literally just
pulls back and forward to go up/down the box...however you do have to be fairly firm with it, hence I want to make sure its as strong as possible...
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gixermark
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 09:56 AM |
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you really shouldn't need to be 'firm' with it... it shoudl be VERY free moving, and literally just snick into gear.. you may want
to look at eth whole linkage to make sure there is no stiction etc...
or better still move to cable instead of linkages... and if you really want to do the right thing go to paddle shift with cable... If you chat to Andy
(AB) he can advise why cable is much better for the box than the high loads a linkage based system does.......
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Kriss
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 11:20 AM |
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i have a R1 '03 paddles with cable and its fairly stiff to use.
i didnt build it though
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BenB
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 11:51 AM |
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Shift mech on my ST isn't stiff. You have to give it a good punt to get into first from second but I can't imagine it being enough to
break the welding...
... sounds strange to me.
A proper bit of welding should do the job...
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GreigM
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 11:56 AM |
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quote: Originally posted by BenB
Shift mech on my ST isn't stiff. You have to give it a good punt to get into first from second but I can't imagine it being enough to
break the welding...
... sounds strange to me.
A proper bit of welding should do the job...
This is a bike engine with sequential dog box and rod-based shifter....you do need to be fairly "positive" with the lever or you risk
missing gears..there's a lot more strain than there is on a car box
Anyway...phoned westfield and a new one is on the way for £25ish...have them off the shelf and am hearing this isnt an entirely unusual
occurrence....
[Edited on 14/9/09 by GreigM]
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richard thomas
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 07:17 PM |
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Don't go mucking around with changing to cables, there's not much wrong with the mechanical system. Either get it welded or go to
Westfield and buy another. Or manufacture yourself...
There's a lot of debate around the pro's and con's of cable rod systems and to my mind they are equally suitable. Horses for
courses. Don't see the point of re-inventing the wheel if you have the attachment points for your existing system though.
It could be that you have the same problem as me....my system is very light to use, but the stick has broken for the 2nd time - I think it is due to
the (excessive) force I use when I am enthusiastically shifting....
Rich.
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GreigM
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 07:21 PM |
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I think you're right rich - was on track at the time and had just beaten my own lap record 
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richard thomas
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| posted on 14/9/09 at 08:04 PM |
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'nuff said!

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gixermark
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| posted on 15/9/09 at 08:53 AM |
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i'd be more worried what you're doing to the internaks of the box if you guys are breaking gear levers !! seriously you need VERY little
force, albeit a positive action.
go to a bike dealer and sit on a bike - feel the gear shift mecanism.. also note how close the pivot/shift is from the shift shaft.. the mechanical
advantage you give through a normal BEC install in much greater - so you really need to be careful...
anyway - good to see you've got a replacement winging its way to you - always handy to have spares off the shelf and well priced 
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