bend or shop?

[saponi1]

back in april, i rolled my 400, broke a collar bone, and bent my steering stem. i had to wait 3 weeks till i could pull the stem out to see what i needed to do. i pulled the stem and its bent where the top bushing is. i figured i'd take it to work bolt it to a mill table and straighten it. will this work? my boss says it will straighten out, but i run the risk of having it snap at the wrong time(in the woods, wfo). i could take it to our weld shop, and put some heat on it. from my expeirence(sp) heat makes metal harder, but also brittle. has anyone done this before? i've seen new ones as low as $60 from a dealer, but i'm not a big fan of ordering stuff from online.

[CJM]

Just buy a new one, they are like 60 bucks online.

[3400ben]

I have straighten a couple with heat. I have had no problems. You are not going to snap one off because you heated it up.

[big_poppa49]

x2 on buying another one.

look at this as a time to upgrade. Get you a nice tough aftermarket stem and be done with it. Straighten out your old one and sell it. :D

[Muzzgit]

It's probably cheaper to get a new OEM stem and if you need it taller add some bar risers.

Quads roll, and they roll hard. I don't need to remind you of that.

If you roll it again and bend the stem, would you rather bend a cheap OEM or an expensive after market one?

Also, some of the after market ones may well be harder, but they may bend the frame because the stem didn't bend in the crash.

[saponi1]

i agree with buyin a new oem stem. that will be done in about 2 more weeks. need some more time to heal. if i do it now, i'll have to ride ,and that may not be good.

[slightlybent47]

I had one that was bent in the same place. I took a small solid piece of bar stock and bolted it to the bar clamps and then took a 7 foot cheater pipe and used it to bend it back. But mine was not bent that much and I was able to pick up on the cheater pipe and lift the bike and let the weight of the bike bend it back. I road it like that for about 8 months when I bent it again and then replaced it. The stock one is pretty soft and should bend back fairly easy.