How Many Of You Have Been Forced To Become Amateur Mechanics? | Page 6 | GTAMotorcycle.com

How Many Of You Have Been Forced To Become Amateur Mechanics?

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ScorpionT16 said:
Only thing I'm weary about is engine work, like valve checks or even opening the case, that's the end of the line for me in skill, which I still lack, just try to use common sense, manuals, and lots of forums/youtube.
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I'm going to give you some advice, buy a motorcycle with a blown up engine for $500 and open it apart and then put it back together again. Repeat until it becomes easy like child's play. Do the same with fork seals and brake pads and the wheels. Then you will learn how to open an engine and put it back together. My friend did this with a Hyundai Pony he bought for $300. Fast forward 20 years and he is now a mechanic with his own car shop.
 
Pegassus said:
I'm going to give you some advice, buy a motorcycle with a blown up engine for $500 and open it apart and then put it back together again. Repeat until it becomes easy like child's play. Do the same with fork seals and brake pads and the wheels. Then you will learn how to open an engine and put it back together. My friend did this with a Hyundai Pony he bought for $300. Fast forward 20 years and he is now a mechanic with his own car shop.
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That may be the most reasonable idea you have ever posted Peggy. How is the maintenance thread coming?
 
Pegassus said:
I'm going to give you some advice, buy a motorcycle with a blown up engine for $500 and open it apart and then put it back together again. Repeat until it becomes easy like child's play. Do the same with fork seals and brake pads and the wheels. Then you will learn how to open an engine and put it back together. My friend did this with a Hyundai Pony he bought for $300. Fast forward 20 years and he is now a mechanic with his own car shop.
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Thats a great idea, come winter i'll keep an eye out for some deals and something to work on, im seeking a dirt bike as it is, and those all have blown something
 
Blown up toys that can be rebuilt in your spare time in your garage/workshop can indeed yield significant profit.

Been there, done that. Just don't wear the T-Shirt much anymore.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Blown up toys that can be rebuilt in your spare time in your garage/workshop can indeed yield significant profit.

Been there, done that. Just don't wear the T-Shirt much anymore.
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I'm not even sure peggy is recommending you actually spend money to fix it. Just practice tearing it apart and diagnosing issues to get used to how things work. You have time since it's not the bike you want to ride.
 
If you buy / find a cooked engine to take apart and play with, find a manual for it. Because things look different after 3 weeks of not looking at them. Guys that do this all the time can just look at parts and put them in sequence, takes the rest of us a bit of effort.
 
GreyGhost said:
That may be the most reasonable idea you have ever posted Peggy. How is the maintenance thread coming?
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Buddy, Im not a full blown bike mechanic because I live in an apartment and don't have the time to take apart old motorcycles. If I had a house with a garage full of tools and a work table I would had built a time machine already.

I have been fixing my own VCRs since I was 14 years old.
 
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I tried to do an oil and filter.
Since when are all screws those hexy type dohickies?
I thought my flat screwdriver and hammer would do the job. But they told me I screwed things up pretty good????
 
"Hexy type dohickie"?

???

Japanese bikes can be taken apart and put back together with a socket set, hex bits, and a JIS screwdriver.

You'll need a Torx set if it is of European origin.

Slot-head screws do not belong on a vehicle.
 
Brian P said:
"Hexy type dohickie"?

???

Japanese bikes can be taken apart and put back together with a socket set, hex bits, and a JIS screwdriver.

You'll need a Torx set if it is of European origin.

Slot-head screws do not belong on a vehicle.
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Do any bikes run triplesquare?
 
Working on a Norton:
Special British Whitworth wrenches: check
Imperial wrenches: check
Metric wrenches: check (cuz you've replaced those stupid 50 mm long head bolts with something you can get a torque wrench on and there's a couple of fasteners on the head that are supposed to be BSF but metric wrenches fit better. meh)
Straight screw driver for the covers: check

I've got every tool I own out here on the floor and still removing stuff with vise grips.
 
At a point in history, not that long ago, like the 70's, you could not put a BMW metric bolt in a Japanese metric hole because they had different thread pitches on some fasteners. Heavy equipment was worse.
And then that whitworth thing, with imperial that may not fit imperial.

Bicycle mechanics had it was worse when British, French, Italian all used a different threading on parts. Oy vey
 
jeff96 said:
Don't do it. Next you'll be changing your plugs and battery, then tires. Eventually, your driveway will look like mine.
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Sent from my Redmi 7A using Tapatalk
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How are you allowed to turn your door entrance near a public sidewalk into a mechanic shop? No by-laws in your neck of the woods?
 
Pegassus said:
How are you allowed to turn your door entrance near a public sidewalk into a mechanic shop? No by-laws in your neck of the woods?
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Neighbours who aren’t ***** and don’t rush to call bylaw and complain about a guy working on his motorcycle now and then would be my thought.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Neighbours who aren’t ***** and don’t rush to call bylaw and complain about a guy working on his motorcycle now and then would be my thought.
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I'm also blessed with living in a highrise building where neither the neighbors nor the Superintendent cares for mechanical work. I do my small mechanical jobs in the comfortable, well-lit warm basement where I rent 2 spots for my 2 cars. I also park in empty car spaces which I know are not rented. I also BBQ all summer long in my 1st floor balcony.

This might be deviating from this topic but I have also started doing my own electrical work around my place, replacing AC outlets, fixing the oven in the kitchen (electric).

I have been forced to be my own mechanic and electrician due to the usurious prices charged for simple things that need to be done for my motorcycle. I also don't have the patience to wait for 1 or 2 weeks to get my motorcycle back.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Well, I have patience for people like that who at least understand that using a torque wrench is the proper method of reinstalling things, and clearly they read the service manual to begin with to learn that. They just needed a little more info that there's different torque wrench options out there. ;)

But, on another topic....show of hands....who uses a torque wrench for an oil filter? lol
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I do but then I grip it with my hands afterward and see if I can gain a little more, just in case.
 
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