how would you guys fix this... when my bike went down on the left side the highway bars bent in and bent the mounting bracket that it bolts to. i tried to heat it and bang in it with a hammer but it is hard....or just leave it as is??

 

I am not sure if it would work on something of that heavy gauge but you can try alternating heat and cold...use a heat gun, hair dyer or something that will get it hot fast, for about 2 minutes...then use a can of compressed air used for blowing out keyboards, hold it upside-down and spray on the metal piece so it is frozen pretty good, then let it go back to room temp...sometimes a dent will lessen and sometimes pop out completely '

...by the looks of your damage I'd say it is a long-shot for this to work but might be worth a try if you already have an air can sitting around...it works best on thinner gauge metal such as a car door.

I tried it and it helped on a dent on the back of a van I had but didn't take it out completely.

 

Difficult! You can't get enough heat into it with all the other things we can see in the way. It is the sort of thing a custom or repair shop could probably tackle, even an auto repair place, where they have the equipment and skills to straighten bent stuff. That bracket is very strong and will need some persuasion to change back from its new shape!

Alternatively if you can make up a spacer to take up the gap from where it should be that could be the simplest way to repair it.

 

The heavy bracket is formed into a cup (of sorts) and is welded to the down tube at the bend. Definitely check all around it for any cracks and near the weld is where it'd happen if it does. The heat required would take all the paint off in the area and require pulling the engine and inner primary at the very least. I agree, it would be best to make spacers to run it. But do check often for cracks in that area...

 

ya i guess i will do the shim thing... this winter i am going to paint the bike so i guess i will fix it then.

 

did it bend where the motor mount is? if it did the motor will be out of alignment.