My trusty little Savage is having yet another issue, but this time I really only have myself to blame. I took it out in light snow a few weeks ago, and there was so much salt on the road, it got all over myself and the bike.

Now my rear brake pedal got frozen shut a couple of weeks ago. I pulled the rear drum lever, it moves well, so I figured it must be the cable. It had a small tear in the casing with rust showing through, so I ordered a new cable. It arrived last night, so this afternoon I started working on replacing it, and turns out it wasn't that. The pedal itself is stuck on the bracket. Looks like there it has a bearing and it is pressed onto the rod on the mounting bracket. Salt must've gotten into the bearing, it looks very rusty, and so it seized and now the pedal is stuck.

I tried to hammer it off, unsuccessfully. I will have to bring it to my shop and put the bracket into a table wise and then hammer the pedal off. It also looks like I'll need a press to get the new pedal installed.

Any advice for me before I go on a spending spree?

youzguyz wrote on 02/17/24 at 14:18:17:



The brake pedal definitely has some sort of sleeve over that pin, probably too thin to be a bearing, but either way it welded itself shut. I could not press it and I can't hammer it off the pin. I'll do it at the shop - I'll put the bracket into a table wise and hammer the pedal off.

In the meantime, I found a used assembly for $40 shipped on ebay, so I ordered it.

och wrote on 02/17/24 at 14:40:04:


Fiche, Clymers, and my experience all say no sleeve, bearing, or anything.   I think what you see as a sleeve is part of the brake pedal.

ebay is defintely your friend for those kind of parts.

And, I would lube that new cable anyway... with an actual cable lube product.   I use Cable Life.

och wrote on 02/17/24 at 16:59:07:


yes
put some pen oil on it or drop it in evoporust

Most of us never give our bikes the kind of maintenance they should have.

All of the "pivot" points should be removed, cleaned and lubed...the frequency depends a bit on how the bike is ridden and stored.  If your bike is stored outside and ridden in bad weather.....it needs it more often than the bikes that are stored inside ridden only on sunny days.

The clutch lever, front brake lever, rear brake pedal and shift pedal should be taken apart and cleaned/lubed to keep them working properly.  The cable for the clutch and rear brake pedal should also be lubed regularly.

You will be amazed how much better these controls work when they are properly lubed.

When I was young and raced motocross/hare scrambles, my controls were taken apart and cleaned/lubed after every race as they were filthy.......on my street bikes I do this in the winter while it is too cold to ride.  I never ride when there is salt on the road - it is very destructive to motorcycles!

Well, I got them apart today, seems to be just superficial rust on that pin. The copper sleeve seems fine. I had to hammer away real hard to get them to separate, but I'm sure I can easily clean this up with some scotch brite, introduce a bit of lube, and it will be fine. There seems to be a little groove in the sleeve, probably machined to capture lube.

Since I've already ordered a used assembly on ebay, I'll wait for it to arrive and then decide which one to use.

I'm thinking about grinding off the pin/rod the pedal is mounted onto, and welding on a stainless rod of the same diameter and length, should be a lot more resistant to rust.

Looks like the existing bracket and pedal is steel, with chrome plating.

I would probably just get a few drill wire brush attachments or even a battery terminal cleaner brush to clean it up. Then lube with your favorite grease. Should be good to go for many miles.