Scooterotica

Just to show that they're not all an accident waiting to happen. I recently had an off on my GP, going down heavily on the front brake lever side, the impact was partly taken by a front carrier that then bent the legshields but although it wore away some of the end of the brake lever it didn't bend or snap it. It did force the steering stop on the forks over the stop on the inside of the fork tube enough for it to need repairing. The lever was the Black type, but I believe they're the same as the polished ones. The polished ones are originally Black with the paint then removed and highly polished. That's not to say that you shouldn't check the condition of yours in respect of cracks or holes drilled off centre.

and there you go martin
polishing a product can itself cause so much heat that it can change the proterties of the metal
which could cause it to be brittle and snap easier

thats why some quality stainless parts are supplied unpolished
as are exhausts etc etc