PIA bikes to work on | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

PIA bikes to work on

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johnnnw said:
Man you can't be serious, it's literally a two minute job. It couldn't be any easier really.
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Oh I never said it was hard or took a long time, all I was saying is that because of the Suzuki rack I put on the back, it takes longer than I was willing to spend when it was -15 in the shop. And I didn't want to leave my bike laying in pieces for 4 months.

Maybe it's because I'm used to working on ATV's, where they just leave batteries out in the open right beside the rear wheel.
 
48Connor;2485495[B said:
]Oh I never said it was hard or took a long time,[/B] all I was saying is that because of the Suzuki rack I put on the back, it takes longer than I was willing to spend when it was -15 in the shop. And I didn't want to leave my bike laying in pieces for 4 months.

Maybe it's because I'm used to working on ATV's, where they just leave batteries out in the open right beside the rear wheel.
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At the very least I still believe you should get a participation award. You understand gold, silver and bronze are off the table? How do you feel about lead? What about absorbed glass mat?
 
inreb said:
At the very least I still believe you should get a participation award. You understand gold, silver and bronze are off the table? How do you feel about lead? What about absorbed glass mat?
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Ooooh an inreb participation award?!? I'd wear that with honor.
 
I haven't attempted it yet but I'm dreading the day I need to flush the brakes on my blackbird; They're linked.
 
matthew said:
I haven't attempted it yet but I'm dreading the day I need to flush the brakes on my blackbird; They're linked.
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The couchrocket has 9 bleed nipples!
 
Changing the windscreen on my '01 Bandit was a PIA. You have to disassemble most of the front fairing to do it. I took a long look at the schematic and decided it was worth my sanity to pay the shop rate and get it done. I don't have the patience to spend taking things apart and putting them back together, especially when it is something that should be simple. I understand pistons etc being complicated, but a windscreen? Glad to see many bike makers have caught on to the fact that no one likes their stock screens so they now fasten them to the bikes with 4 bolts!
 
KTM RC8 / RC8r...
When you change the coolant, you need to get the front end up on a near 45 degree angle to to bleed the cooling system, with 2 bleeder screws, one on each cylinder. Severe PITA. Can't do it on your own, it's a 2 person job for sure.
 
Morrissey said:
Changing the windscreen on my '01 Bandit was a PIA. You have to disassemble most of the front fairing to do it. I took a long look at the schematic and decided it was worth my sanity to pay the shop rate and get it done. I don't have the patience to spend taking things apart and putting them back together, especially when it is something that should be simple. I understand pistons etc being complicated, but a windscreen? Glad to see many bike makers have caught on to the fact that no one likes their stock screens so they now fasten them to the bikes with 4 bolts!
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Who says the shop does it properly....
 
Gary said:
The unit was designed like that, so the engine would 'dive' to the ground during a fr end collision.
Plugs were meant to last 160,000kms before replacing. Therefore, using Ford's wisdom, the engine is supposed to be dropped, in order to swap the 3 in the back row. (things may have changed - my info is from inception)
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Subaru told me the same thing for my 2009 WRX but several people have told me they were just ripping me off.

I remember my RS125 having to remove the airbox for something minor (don't remember now) and the two rear bolts were a pain in the *** to get to and I think required me to drop the oil reservoir as well to get to them but I can't recall the details. I know draining the carb while it's on the bike is also quite annoying.
 
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Vstar 1100's need to have the exhaust removed in order to get the oil filter out. That's a brilliant piece of engineering there, and also the main reason I bought a Vstar 650 (for which no such requirement exists) instead of a 1100 for my wife

Needless to say aftermarket oil filter relocation kits are popular for these bikes.

I had my VTX quite apart a few weeks back and didn't experience a ton of stupidity, actually. The rear caliper bracket arm bracing bolt was a bit of a challenge because of it's proximity to the swing arm itself, but it was still doable. Some things like the factory saddlebags actually exhibited *good* engineering, being easily removable with only 2 hex bolts, and then coming cleanly off to get at the rear suspension behind the brackets.
 
Morrissey said:
Changing the windscreen on my '01 Bandit was a PIA. You have to disassemble most of the front fairing to do it. I took a long look at the schematic and decided it was worth my sanity to pay the shop rate and get it done. I don't have the patience to spend taking things apart and putting them back together, especially when it is something that should be simple. I understand pistons etc being complicated, but a windscreen? Glad to see many bike makers have caught on to the fact that no one likes their stock screens so they now fasten them to the bikes with 4 bolts!
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What gets me, is when you then need to remove the windshield,
in order to remove the front cowling,
in order to remove the side cowlings,
in order to remove the gas tank,
in order to remove the air filter . . .
Some of the cheaper makes seem to make it a goal to get as many shop hours as possible for their bikes.

Car Bonus: My dad is driving a 17 year old Ford Windstar, and it's still doing well.
Extra car bonus: Volkswagen Bus!!! Don't ever try working on one. It'll drive you crazy and injure you.
 
The ST is a baby GL in terms of tupperware. Coolant change means remove seat, 2 side panels, tank cover and then right trim piece between tank and side fairing to gain access to rad cap, thankfully this only gets done every 4 years.

For people who do their own maintenance this is a time vs. cost factor + you have to find space in an already crowded garage to store all this stuff while you are working on the bike + the more often you handle this stuff the more opportunity you have to drop or scratch things up.

When I got my valve shim clearance check done I dropped the bike off at a dealer with relevant plastic removed. No chance for them to scuff it up and I saved an hour on the labour rate.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Vstar 1100's need to have the exhaust removed in order to get the oil filter out. That's a brilliant piece of engineering there, and also the main reason I bought a Vstar 650 (for which no such requirement exists) instead of a 1100 for my wife

Needless to say aftermarket oil filter relocation kits are popular for these bikes.

[...]
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Yep, definitely not the best engineering. Starter clutch on that same bike, when your remove the rotor the first time a set of dowels and springs goes flying. They almost always end up in the oil pan. I have a collection of bent valves from customers doing that job wrong and mashing the rear piston into the valves.

Starter clutch/starter on the older viragos (750/1100).

Getting carbs on/off the viragos.

Chain tensioner on the early FJRs - almost no room between frame and tensioner to work and hard (not impossible) to retrieve hardware/sockets from inside the frame.

Hard to pinpoint one bike that is the biggest PITA.. even the R6 sucks to balance the carbs. Hard to reach adjusters then have to unseat the carbs to get the tool back out of the bike. Certain jobs are worse on some bikes than others.
 
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Where's the Pacific Coast owners? I know we've got at least one around here
 
ReSTored said:
When I got my valve shim clearance check done I dropped the bike off at a dealer with relevant plastic removed. No chance for them to scuff it up and I saved an hour on the labour rate.
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When I had Kneedragger work on my ST I pulled all the tupperware off as well. It's a huge PITA pulling them off. At least they can stay on for oil changes. I do need a roll of foil paper as well.
 
How engineers think:

Many years ago I was talking about job problems with a production engineer at Ford. His claim to fame was the assembly line (Late 1960's) couldn't figure out how to install the front turn signals on a particular new model coming down the line.

His solution was to grab a broomstick and use it to pop the assembly into place after dangling it in the right spot. That's how all of those models went together. However there was no way of un-popping them to change a bulb............ Not his problem.

1970 Oldsmobile backup lights: Step 1 remove rear bumper.
 
Riceburner said:
Who says the shop does it properly....
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I've had all of my maintenance (aside from basics like oil changes and air filters etc) and accessory installation done at Clarington Cycle for more than a decade now and am always completely satisfied with the quality of their work. I can't say enough about their customer service too!
 
meme said:
My track bike!

Cobbled together before and after I had it. Lovely combo of metric and imperial bolts, and no logic between it all. Before I sell it I either have to fix it or it comes with an affidavit "wrenching on this motorcycle WILL piss you off".

As I fix my mobile oopsies I am trying to bring it back to stock (ish)
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I just threw some tools reading this. Couldn't handle it.
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