FRP kicker

[canyncarvr]

Of those using it...how's it wearing? How's the 'fit' on the knuckle?

Mine is getting pretty sloppy. I'm going to have the kuckle rounded and the kicker bushed next week.

There's a trade-off between strength of the lever lost when you make the hole bigger for a bushing and the reduced stress of having the thing FIT 1/2-fast.

The knuckle is about .005" out of round. In the lever you can see a ridge of aluminum where it's been kicked into the o-ring reliefs of the knuckle...a good bit of metal missing.

I lubricate mine after every ride.

Looks it'll cost about 1/2 what a new kicker and knuckle would cost.

Part of what I need to decide is if I want the lever machined, making the hole somewhat off-center to make up for the galling of the contact points when it's 'open', or simply reamed. Having it machined means setting it up in a lathe..and it not being a straight thing, that will take some chargeable shop time.

Looking at a 3/32" hard bronze bushing...pressed in with Loctite cylindrical fit 'glue' (as used on my KDX/KX stem/triple), and probably pinned too, to make sure the detent ball stays in line with the hole.

What about the rest of youse guys?

[it175]

After reading your post, I went and serviced my FRP lever.

I took some measurements of the knuckle and the hole in the lever, and this is what I measured on mine with a digital caliber, to the best of MY ability.

knuckle... .6270 No, out of round.

TOP OF LEVER ( nearest snap ring )...... .6305

Bottom of Lever .... .6325

Your method of 'Fix' seems OK to me. Your machinist could locate the hole
on a milling machine using a pin or drill bit also.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps.

[canyncarvr]

What do you do for o-rings? Keep 'em replaced and in good shape?

THAT would take a pile of o-rings I'd think.

I had a dickens of a time getting the FRP kicker on with orings..yes, with a brandy new knuckle.

Once they were obviously 'gone', I didn't bother replacing them. No 'regular' orings fit like the OEM metrics do..and I don't want to pay dollars for 'an' oring.

Could you/can you see any ridges in the lever hole that correspond to the oring placement..or is the lever bore nice'n smooth all the way through and around?

How long have you had it on?

He's not worried about locating the hole that needs to be drilled for the check ball. He expressed concern that the bushing might move being so thin..and THAT would be a problem.

What's the condition of the contact patch with the lever 'open' and against the knuckle? NO wear or metal movement on either piece?

That would take an 'e' button, I'd think...little to NO actual USE!

[it175]

My O rings were in good shape. NO grooving in the lever bore. The top O ring was worn a little bit more.

I bought the lever used, off of E bay, 2 years ago. It was in good shape.

Contact patch on knuckle is in good shape, lever is still perpendicular to the bike when opened.

[canyncarvr]

Update:

Got the kicker back today.



Knuckle was rounded off. Kicker taken out .100". Hard bronze..pinned as noted earlier. Used Loctite 609. Kicker hole was enlarged off-center about .020 to put it more in the middle of things...to stay away from the thin edge (which you can see in the pic).

If my camera had a macro mode that sorta worked...maybe you could sorta see what the hell I'm talking about!



But it don't....so the focuss is not very good..but the DOF is too short anyway.

$62.

[Mr. Wibbens]

Seems like a lot of work for such a short lil lever

Guess if'n ya got a foot the size of a ten year old it might work ok

[Jeb]

Thanks for the pics and the concept . . . I don't own an FRP kick lever but desire to move into something other than OEM soon.

Hard bronze - any other options? I suppose strength, machineability, and reasonable cost is why you see this material in these kinds of applications.

What size did you use in your top clamp hole (if that's what you meant)?

Oh, your pics aren't half bad, better than my closeups turn out.

[canyncarvr]

Thanks for the pics and the concept . . . I don't own an FRP kick lever but desire to move into something other than OEM soon.

Hard bronze - any other options? I suppose strength, machineability, and reasonable cost is why you see this material in these kinds of applications.

What size did you use in your top clamp hole (if that's what you meant)?

Oh, your pics aren't half bad, better than my closeups turn out.

Mine still worked...was just getting wonky. I don't have a good timeframe for its use..my recordkeeping pretty much stinks...but it's been on the bike for a good four years. It's been through four soles on my Tech-8s anyway.

Hard bronze was the choice of the machinist. From asides brought up during conversation with him I gathered there were a couple of reasons to choose that metal..one of them being the crush characteristics of a hard bronze bushing as it's pressed in. I know zip about metal..but I gather some materials react to being squeezed into a hole better than others. That makes sense..but I don't know the +/- of this-n-that metal.

Re: 'What size...'

That must not be what I meant..'cuz I don't know what you are asking. What size of what did I use where?

The condition of it175's kicker is stuck in my head. A used lever, IN use for two more years..and his o-rings are still good!! That's amazing.

Oh...my o-rings of choice (from ACE hardware..not OEM) fit fine, too. None of the ring shaving that was done with the OEM set on a new lever/knuckle. Had to push a bit to get the bottom ring into the hole..not quite enough room to move the lever past the o-ring seat to get it smushed INTO the hole...but it did fit.


Another btw...the check ball detent on the knuckle is a good bit off from the hole in the lever...both open AND closed. A liddle bit of engineering fubar on the part of whoever designed the lever.

The size of one's foot doesn't matter one way t'other. Your foot sits on top and pushes..it doesn't fit into anything..and the contact area t'ween foot and lever isn't much different from OEM.

[scheckaet]

It's been through four soles on my Tech-8s anyway

Sorry to highjack, but where did you get yours resoled?

[canyncarvr]

Various cobblers..all professing to know what they were doing...local shops.

The job was done RIGHT (basically meaning the boots stayed together) at only ONE place...Alpinestar.

It was no worse sending the boots off to them to get done than it was making the repeated trips to the local shops to pick them up when promised, only to find they weren't done...more than once. Or...riding with them twice and having the sole come off the boot. THAT after being told, 'Oh..the guy didn't use the right glue. I use the right stuff!!'

That was obviously BS.

Anyway, the simple answer: Send them to Alpinestar.

Oh...you MUST HAVE an RMA# from them prior to shipping. Boots they receive WITHOUT AN RMA# on the box will be returned!

Yes, I had a number...I didn't learn that from personal experience. Mine weren't returned. I'm simply relaying what 'they' say.

[Mr. Wibbens]

Size of the foot does matter me thinks

I'd rather not have my foot contact my peg every kick

I've even watched Mr Wonderful use his and it just looks unnatural

[Indawoods]

It all goes back too... "Just because someone makes it... don't make it better!"

I think the stock kicker is just dandy!

[skipro3]

Size of the foot does matter me thinks

I'd rather not have my foot contact my peg every kick

I've even watched Mr Wonderful use his and it just looks unnatural

Mr Wonderful

That is sooo funny!!!! HaW!!

[Jeb]

. . . Looking at a 3/32" hard bronze bushing...pressed in with Loctite cylindrical fit 'glue' (as used on my KDX/KX stem/triple) . . .

what size was needed for this hole?

[canyncarvr]

. . . Looking at a 3/32" hard bronze bushing...pressed in with Loctite cylindrical fit 'glue' (as used on my KDX/KX stem/triple) . . .

what size was needed for this hole?

AHhhhhhh...... I got it.

Kicker taken out .100".

= a bushing thickness of .050"

+ (I think he said) the .0015" he wanted for a press fit.

The '..same as was used..' was a reference only to the Loctite product used on the KDX stem/KX bottom clamp, NOT the size of bushing on the top clamp (which has no glue a'tall....AND I don't know WHAT size IT is.)

Clear as mud? Of course not!!

Dear ski: Shutup.

[skipro3]

Oh yea? Why don't you go ride in California, POSER!!!

If you ever wanna see the cup again, send the cash immediately......

[kdxquebec]

I want this cup.

[Indawoods]

Is that uh... fuschia?

[skipro3]

When he offered it to me filled with "French Pressed" coffee, I figured it was either the little woman's, something he found, or a gift from some matriarch eccentric rich aunt. But since I forgot it was in my truck and it came home with me, he's been whining almost daily to me to get it back to him. Ha!!!

[Mr. Wibbens]

I thought you guys made a trade?

Didn't you lose a fancy sharp knife?