Can I bend shifter while attached to bike? Also fi light on now

1553 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by hogcowboy, Jul 25, 2018

t99

Discussion Starter · Jul 19, 2018

My bike fell over while pretty much not moving. I was pulling in to park, something happened and I had this feeling like I could tell it was going to fall soon. The driveway had a little bit of an angle and I was moving really slow already. I was able to kind of slowly set it down without any noticeable body damage.

Riding to work this morning I notice shifter peg is bent when trying to downshift. I pretty much could not shift down, I managed to and then pulled over. Pulled it on the end by hand and managed to drive to work with it feeling pretty smooth.

It's still slightly touching the rubber coated whatever it is when you shift. Wondering if I can bend this back slightly while it's attached? Do I need to remove it first? It only needs to move the slightest little bit.

About the light issue, it was not on before the fall and now it comes on when I turn the key and goes off when I crank it up. It does not show up at all while riding and the bike seems to still run great.

The bike is a 2015 Suzuki GW250 with 4k miles. Any help would be amazing. Thanks

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mike721

· #2 · Jul 20, 2018

You might be able to get away with bending it back on the bike but your risking stressing and breaking something much more expensive that it's connected to.

My advice is remove whatever is bent and fix or replace it and put it back on, do it the right way, especially on what sounds like an almost new bike.

What is an FI light? What does it signify?

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t99

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 20, 2018

mike721 said:
You might be able to get away with bending it back on the bike but your risking stressing and breaking something much more expensive that it's connected to.

My advice is remove whatever is bent and fix or replace it and put it back on, do it the right way, especially on what sounds like an almost new bike. What is an FI light? What does it signify?

I see videos online where they do it attached to the bike using a wrench, but I was thinking the same thing about possibly messing something up. Adjusted by hand again and it shifts even smoother than the first adjustment, but you can see it's just barely touching this rubber piece. Still needs to be bent maybe 1/16th of an inch. I was hoping maybe some others have done it attached to bike and knew for sure it would be safe long as it's a very minimal bend.

According to the manual it's fuel injection light. It was a little confusing as to if there is a problem by it just coming on at first, but then never again while riding. I think if there is an issue it's suppose to blink. I also wonder if it's possible the bike simple falling over could have triggered something that I can reset, but nothing is actually wrong.

I plan to take it in within the next week to get it looked at, but always nice to try to solve any smaller issues first so I don't get some crazy bill.

Hopefully it's pretty easy to take the shift peg off. I wanted to check the coolant one day and it's like a few hour ordeal. Apparently several pieces must come off just to check it.

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hogcowboy

· #4 · Jul 21, 2018

1/16 is a minimal bend but to get that you will have to bend it further which could cause problems. Not sure what "rubber coated whatever" you are referring to but you should be able to get that minor amount of correction if you are careful. Of course if heated red hot it would be very easy depending on material. Don't do that unless you know exactly what it's made of. Be prepared to replace it though. A second bend can sometimes cause it to break completely if pot metal or aluminum.

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Lurch77

· #5 · Jul 21, 2018 (Edited)

A light tweak is acceptable, but definitely use a back up wrench so that all the stress you induce is not directly onto hinges, mounting bolts, engine case, or internals. Just the other day I dumped my dual sport bike and bent the rear brake lever. I bent it back into place while it was still on the bike using a backup wrench method. Below is a picture for better understanding. As I pushed down on the silver wrench, I pushed up on the black wrench. This ensured all my torque was places on the small section of the lever, between the wrenches, that needed to be bent, and not anywhere else.

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t99

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 24, 2018

hogcowboy said:
1/16 is a minimal bend but to get that you will have to bend it further which could cause problems. Not sure what "rubber coated whatever" you are referring to but you should be able to get that minor amount of correction if you are careful. Of course if heated red hot it would be very easy depending on material. Don't do that unless you know exactly what it's made of. Be prepared to replace it though. A second bend can sometimes cause it to break completely if pot metal or aluminum.

Here is a photo of that piece. I've been really busy working everyday and riding like this. It just barely touches it, now it seems like it does not cause any problem. Previously when I would shift up it would move slightly above this piece and get caught so you can't move down.

http://imgur.com/gallery/aQYjpWY

The piece us number 27. That circular part is some kind of rubber cover over something. If I just barely tap it with my finger it moves in and I can see the ground between the shift peg and this piece.

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t99

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 24, 2018

Lurch77 said:
A light tweak is acceptable, but definitely use a back up wrench so that all the stress you induce is not directly onto hinges, mounting bolts, engine case, or internals. Just the other day I dumped my dual sport bike and bent the rear brake lever. I bent it back into place while it was still on the bike using a backup wrench method. Below is a picture for better understanding. As I pushed down on the silver wrench, I pushed up on the black wrench. This ensured all my torque was places on the small section of the lever, between the wrenches, that needed to be bent, and not anywhere else.

Thanks for the photo. I was looking at another method on YouTube where they use the closed end of a wrench that is very large. Put it thru the shifter and then bend.

https://youtu.be/elA5tTPvtoY

Think I'm definitely going to give it a shot and try myself with one of these methods. If I can bend the end of it about the thickness of a fingernail then it will be fine, that's how close it is.

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hogcowboy

· #8 · Jul 25, 2018

t99 said:
Here is a photo of that piece. I've been really busy working everyday and riding like this. It just barely touches it, now it seems like it does not cause any problem. Previously when I would shift up it would move slightly above this piece and get caught so you can't move down.

http://imgur.com/gallery/aQYjpWY

The piece us number 27. That circular part is some kind of rubber cover over something. If I just barely tap it with my finger it moves in and I can see the ground between the shift peg and this piece.

Just remember that using a large box-end wrench will give you a lot of leverage so be careful. You will be able to move it far enough since you indicate it barely touches. I'd still get a new one though since you will be weakening the metal bending it back. Go too far and it may break in fact. That's the problem with something like this. You'll see how easy it is to bend then want to make it perfect and snap. So only get it so it won't touch. You've already proven you can use it in that position. Later install a new one. Or ride it like that forever.

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GatorJoe

· #9 · Jul 25, 2018

Was me would get a a replacement .. Would be worried about the Gear Spline .. Or at least take it off the spline to try bending it ..

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Porky

· #10 · Jul 25, 2018

The 'Fuel injection' light is supposed to go on when you turn the ignition on and then go off when the engine starts. It won't come on while riding unless something is wrong.:smile:

It won't hurt a thing to bend the shift lever out a bit as the shift lever on your bike is STEEL not cast aluminium which is brittle.:smile_big:

Nice little bike ya got:grin:

Sam:nerd:

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hogcowboy

· #11 · Jul 25, 2018

Porky said:
The 'Fuel injection' light is supposed to go on when you turn the ignition on and then go off when the engine starts. It won't come on while riding unless something is wrong.:smile:

It won't hurt a thing to bend the shift lever out a bit as the shift lever on your bike is STEEL not cast aluminium which is brittle.:smile_big:

Nice little bike ya got:grin:

Sam:nerd:

There ya go. I didn't know what it was made of and was afraid it might be some kind of cast pot metal.

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