As an aside to the straightening post regarding the Dommie footrest I thought i would relate my technique for straightening Commando footrest arms after correcting the very wonky looking arms on a customers Mk3.
This worked for the arms on both sides of the machine. The left side was bent forwards and up and the right side that holds the brake lever and master cylinder was bent upwards and backwards.
I first turned up a very substantial foot peg complete with the correct taper and 7/16" UNF thread from a 1" diameter high tensile steel stud about 8" long, it is imperative that the taper is a good fit in the footrest bar. I then drilled and tapped three 5/16" holes in a nearly 3' square piece of 5/8" thick steel plate near to one corner (This was a scrap steel bench top at one point)
After bolting the bent arm to the plate and by packing the arm at strategic points it is possible to apply force to the arm via the thick footpeg (with a huge copper hammer) to bend it back into the correct shape. Done this way it is possible to do it without damaging the chrome plating. First attempt with the normal footpeg just resulted in a more bent footpeg and the possibility of a deformed taper boss on the end of the footrest bar hence the thick footpeg.
So that's how it's done! My…
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Commando footrest pegs are…
Commando footrest pegs are angled upwards when new, that is how they are supposed to be. Telling what is normal though is difficult with the eye.
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Telling what is normaI is…
Telling what is normaI is easy, Look from the front or rear of the machine and if both sides are the same then there you go. Looking down when stood astride the machine will tell you if the pegs are bent forwards or backwards. Almost nothing looks worse on a bike than bent footrests/pegs. A dead giveaway that it has been down the road at some point in its life.
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On mine, both footrests were…
On mine, both footrests were canted upwards, but the r/h side was more so.
btw, why would Norton have built Commandos with both footrests pointing upwards?????
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So that's how it's done! My Mk 3 had a bent-upwards r/h footrest (the arm, not the peg.) I tried to straighten it on the bike by removing the rubber and using a three-foot length of thick-wall aluminium tubing, that I keep for similar purposes, slotted over the peg.
The result was a bent peg......actually it put the footrest into a better position, so I left it at that!
Not having a large, thick piece of steel plate, I would find it difficult to mount the footrest arm firmly enough, so my bodge may have to do (although I am dubious about whether I have overstressed the peg.)
It's good to know that there is a way to straighten the footrest arm without resorting to heat and destroying the chrome.