[joebikerbloke@gmail.com]

Hi,

After a number of attempts, a lot of swearing, walking away and returning, I have successfully removed the footrest bar. I used the chisel at the fulcrum using a long metal bar with copper pipe over the nut to help protect it suggestion which, although wasn't easy to setup, eventually worked.

There is a very slight kink in the bar where I bent it straight but it's hardly noticeable. Just need to straighten the other side now which I'm guessing will be a greater challenge as it's effectively double thicknes noting it has the longer slide over footrest arrangement and it's bent right in the middle. So I now need to figure out how to do that and hold the bar as it's not longer attached to the bike... oh joy.

I'll let you know.

Regards, Gary.

[joebikerbloke@gmail.com]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply and advice both of you.

I'm yet to attempt to straighten the stud as I need to create some space in the garage as the piece of metal pipe I have is quite long. I'll provide an update once I've given it a go, and thanks for the note about supporting the fulcrum.

Regards, Gary.

[Rick Parkington]

Hi Gary,
Not an unusual problem! Personally I have always got away with tapping the bar through although id it the same as the others it does go through a crankcase lug so you don't want to go mad at it. That said it is a substantial lug and it's sandwiched by the steel engine plates through which it also has to pass. There should be enough spring on the bar that going through these engine plate holes will act as a guide. I'd say it would tap through with a reasonably light hammer but you have to  use your own judgement - remember it's not a bit of china, it was made in the expectation that when the bike falls over the footrests take the impact.

I just had to bash the spindle out on my flat tank Model 9 - out of interest, when the bike came it had a bit of DIY studding doing the job - this is pretty useless, I couldn't even lean the bike against a kerb without the footrest bending. I made a new spindle from EN16T, you can get it online. It's the stuff used for wheel and fork spindles and much tougher - but even so mine has bent a bit, probably toppled over,  I can't remember but at least the footrests take my weight now!

Also the rod will usually bend at the point where the footrest butts up to the chaincase (or engine plate on the other side) so you may be able to straighten it a bit using a pipe - but be careful not to overload the case, if possible put some kind of support under the bend as a fulcrum - something thin but strong to get in as close to the casing as possible maybe a masonry chisel (blade pointing up) would work? A little bit of 15mm copper pipe on the end of the spindle will prevent damage to the threads.

With the footrest off you may be able to get a local garage to heat it up with oxy-acetylene or oxy-propane - it'll need to be red hot so I don't think you'll do it with a DIY blow torch.
Cheers Rick       

[joebikerbloke@gmail.com]

Hi, I've undone the foot rest nuts on both sides but I can only remove the left hand foot rest due to how bent the stud is.

Worse than that, I can't remove the stud either... sigh. Using a rubber mallet from the left hand side I can help it through so there is just the thread showing but without hitting it a lot harder that's as far as it wants to go. I could hit it harder and force it through but not sure what damage that may cause ?

My only other course if action is to heat the stud up whilst in situ and try and straighten the left hand side enough to get the whole thing out. Again I'm not sure if I'll do any damage heating the stud up whilst in place. I do wish I had one of them induction heating tools.

Any advice welcome, thanks.

Regards, Gary.

[phutton]

Don't forget the top-hat bush that goes behind the chaincase, and acts as a spacer to the engine plate, with the rod passing through it. I have seen them left out, and the result isn't pretty!

[joebikerbloke@gmail.com]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the reply.

How you have described it is exactly what it looks like so I will be following your instructions to the letter, thank you. Although my blow torch isn't quite at the level of oxy acetylene I'm hoping it will do the job.

I think at some point in the distant past its been on its side (on both sides). I would imagine those footrests would help prevent the bike getting too damaged in a crash also.

Regards, Gary.

[Rick Parkington]

Hi Gary,
Not sure exactly what your bike is like but in general with Sunbeams, there's a long stud that goes through the engine plates. On the right hand side there's a spacer welded to the plate with a sort of crown on the top with serrations that match those on the footrest, so the right side footrest comes off when you undo the nut on the end.
But if the footrests are badly bent, the stud may be too and you may have to  pull that out to get the footrest off, if so watch out for a supporting spacer between the left engine plate and the primary case and maybe another between the two engine plates.
On the left side, the long stud passes through the middle of the primary chain case - but not the footrest. Here there's a thick washer that locates in a slot in outer primary case (so it cant rotate) and has the serrations on its outside that engage with that side footrest.
So in theory all you need to do is remove the nuts on either end of the stud and the footrests will come off left and right, then when you refit them you just have to set them on the serrations so they're a comfortable height for you and level side to side.
I have straightened stuff like this on the bike with oxy acetylene, it makes it easier to get the angle right first time but obviously it's preferable to take them off first, let them cool slowly.
Cheers Rick   

[joebikerbloke@gmail.com]

Hi, I need to remove both sides of the foot peg / rest assembly of my model 95L due to them being quite severely bent up but I am unsure how to do this noting they seem to go through the bottom off the engine cases. If you need any pictures please let me know.

Without removing first I'm not sure how I can straighten them assuming I will need to apply a lot of heat and brute force to get them straight again unless anyone has an induction heating tool they can lend me and then perhaps I could attempt it without having to remove the assembly.

Thanks, Gary.