Builders, What Are Your Biggest Frustrations?

[SlowMaintenance]

Hi all,

Writing to you guys today to get your feedback on a book I'm writing. The more I progress through my own build, the more intrigued I've become with the learning process that is building your own motorcycle.

As you may have seen if you follow my build thread, my intention is to break everything down as easily as possible so that others can follow along. I've been toying around with the idea of writing a guidebook for those who are delving into this for the first time, and wanted to ensure that I'm covering all bases with my research.

If you would like to help me out, please respond with a top 3 list of things that plagued you on your first (or most current build) which you had to seek outside guidance on. This could be things along the lines of finding the correct tools, locating a capable shop, fabricating a part for the first time, finding builders in your area, sourcing used parts/manuals or even something as basic as finding the inspiration for your build.

In essence, what did you learn along the way that would have been helpful to have known from the get go.

And a big thanks to everyone on this forum who has already helped me with countless questions along the way. As my cylinders are being bored and crank inspected I'm anxious to get it all back together and continue the build.

Ride on

 

[jay760]

Not any use to your book, my biggest frustration is rebuilding and modifying my engine and finding it's no quicker than before I started!!

 

[Yoozy]

Finance dictating everything.
Idiots charging you for stuff you can't do then end up doing it yerself anyway.
The drifting in and out of mojo.

 

[r80rt]

Waiting on paint to dry.

 

[Iowa Mark]

My biggest frustration was always having to explain myself to others. "Why didn't you buy a bike that runs?" or "Why, after all these years, do you suddenly need a motorcycle?" or "Is that going to be safe with you doing all the work on that thing?" or my all time favorite "Why don't you just get a Harley like everyone else!"

 

[SantaFeTrailer]

These people keep calling me saying they are my "clients" and I am supposed to be doing "work" for them in exchange (if I'm lucky) for "money." How the heck am I supposed to get any work done on my bike?

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

I would think that the (*grunt*) heavy stuff would deserve a mention.

Motorcycle lift or bench, and getting it on and off.
Engine removal/installation, hoists, beer parties for the muscles.
Dropping it on your foot, with colorful language.
Engine stands, static/rotating, numerous varieties.

Many threads with innovative solutions in here...

 

[member3480]

I think your book should have different area's for first time builders and for guys who have built before or have some experience. I have taught over a 40 year span many guys and girls how to maintain there bike and do simple things to save money like CHANGE OIL & FILTER - CHANGE CLUTCH PLATES OUT and a just - DO FORK SEALS - CHANGE TIRES.
Those are things most people want to know with limited tools. If you don't have the right tools or know how to use them you get yourself in more trouble. One of my shops I had a lift for rent for people to come in work on there bike with my tools and my brain if they needed it. I would not touch there bike but walk them threw the repair. It was really funny sometimes because some cocky guy who said he knew what he was doing ended up breaking more shit than fixing. We had some really good luck with it until two or three guys kept coming back and they were really fixing other peoples bikes not there's so I had to end it. LIABILTY stepped in and it was over.
NOW NOT EVERYONE can be a motorcycle mechanic. A lot of guys can ride the bike talk a good story but when it comes down to it if you put a completely tore down engine in front of them they may get the crank in the cases but never get past the trans. That was one of the tests I use to use on guys who wanted to work for me. We had a old KZ900 motor and I would say you got 4 hours to get as much put together as possible.
Now I have had kids come out of these schools they paid mega bucks for and I am going to say 3/4 of them failed and there excuse was we don't work on this motor at the school.......DUH!!!! Bottom ends are pretty much the same -Clutch setups are pretty much the same-Jugs and Pistons are pretty much the same. SO WHAT THE HELL are they teaching them?
MY advice be very careful of what you put into the book and how you go about explaining it . I have had guys bring in blown up motors and blamed the book because it was not clear enough.
Good luck with your book but the way to learn motors and motor building is go out buy a dirt bike motor tear it down and rebuild it then work your way up. SEEING IS THE BEST LEARNING.
RICH

 

[Nailbomb]

I had early access to a lot of tools and information due to family and friends sharing similar hobbies.

Early on not knowing how to weld was very much a issue. Its amazing how much that one ability makes available. With my current skill level fabrication possibilities are tremendous compared to the alternative.

 

[barncat]

my build advice would be you'd better be able to DIY everything unless $$$ is no object. any custom project will involve welding, machining, metal cutting and forming, motor work, painting, wiring, tire changing, TUNING, etc... and all the tools required for those processes.

not fun stuff: wrestling a finished motor back into a painted frame by yourself, some manual tire changes, internal gas tank clean/treat, setting cam chains for timing...

frustrating stuff: finding otherwise perfectly good potential project bikes that don't have Titles, tuning, putting 150+ hours into a build and waiting months for it to sell

the good news is that web forums like this one and many others with all the knowledge they contain, plus Ebay and Craigslist make building possible.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

...SO WHAT THE HELL are they teaching them?

Putting grease on float valves comes to mind.

... MY advice be very careful of what you put into the book and how you go about explaining it .

Absolute ditto...

 

[Max Midnight]

1) The cussed nature of inanimate objects that given the slightest provocation will do their utmost to frustrate every attempt to do even the most simple of jobs.
2) The 'black' hole in the garage that will hide a part as soon as it is needed despite you having seen it only seconds before. It will then stay hidden until the moment you have sourced a replacement when it will then re-appear directly in front of you.
3) Having at least three of a particular sized spanner and not being able to find any of them.

No outside guidance can help any of the above but the new of first time builder needs to be warned and that they must accept that it is just part of the 'fun' in building bikes.

 

[glennpm]

Getting it all done, running great and now have to split the bottom case to pull out MikesXS 5th gear OD. Drops out of 5th at random ... :-(

 

[Airwolfie]

-Having to redo some things more than once(my engine!!)
-Making or having time to actually do some wrenching
-Not being able to weld or fabricate parts myself
-Not having sufficient information at hand(hence me doing my engine build thread)
-Not having sufficient pace to do my build in(My shed is very tight, so sunny days were mostly my only opportunity to do work on the bike)

 

[FLEA]

ordering parts ,a good parts manual with parts numbers can save a lot of head banging when ordering by post/computor ,a GOOD set of tools , a GOOD workshop manual , a copy of zeeda or similer so you can look up interchangeable parts (between different model bikes can save both a lot of frustration and money -40 yr old bikes ) and don't hesitate to ask someone if your not sure about something..that said nothing worse than know alls that just because they can take the back wheel off think they are bike machanics...all are solutions to the main frustrations iv had

 

[staggers]

Mine is getting back to where I left off the night before. I sometimes have too many beers and get excited about doing crazy things without proper thought hahaha like shouldn't have cut this off or welded that the next day.
My advise is be patient and have a clear head!
Planning is also a big factor. For me I have a bike I have to completely rebuild and it hasn't been registered in over 15 years so I have to make sure it meets ADR (Australian design rules) so I can get it registered again, once that's done I'll probably chop it up again the way I really want it and risk it with Department of transport authorities practically building this bike twice to get it where I want it and that sux

 

[Brassneck]

Mine is both a love/hate with a build.

Specifically, there's the trial and error process where you have to ultimately commit to something on your build: perhaps its cutting the frame, or removing something electrical, etc.. and then adding in the parts or customizing the parts (which can be an expensive part, costly time invested, etc) only to find that you don't like it and have to start over...maybe even having to fix the very thing you just destroyed to get back to where started so you can do it again. Usually that means taking 3-5 steps back...again adding cost and time, etc... all the while you're hooping that it's fixable...and that "YOU" can fix it. LOL Or you suck it up and find a solution/compromise that will work...

But that's the fun too! The experience and reward of seeing it come together is hard to buy... granted, there's a lot of risk and expense--like I said: Love/Hate.

 

[SlowMaintenance]

This is excellent stuff guys. Definitely a lot to consider.

To get a bit more specific, this guidebook would be for the novice or first time builder. I'm selecting that demographic because the more experienced one gets with building their own bikes, the less likely that person is to purchase or even consider purchasing a guidebook on where to start. They've already started (and finished) and with years of experience under their belt, are less inclined to drop things they believe to be "the right way" in favor of a newer more foreign practice. My belief is that the demand is more on the side of the novice for a book of this nature, and so the contents will address build concepts for someone at that particular level. (Example: While I may include a link to site from which someone could purchase a PMA, I'll not be including a guide on how to build your own PMA instead of buying one etc)

Going to continue to compile all the data I can, so if anyone has any additional information they'd like to share please feel free to chime in as I'll continue to monitor.

Thanks guys!

 

[ksrebel]

Supposed upholstery shops that don't know how to rebuild the foam seat, "We only sew up covers."
CHEAP CHINESE SHIT PARTS SOLD THRU AMERICAN DEALERS WITH NO RETURN POLICIES!

 

[weaselbeak]

The most frustrating part is having to wait until it's DONE and well road tested before serious painting. You can't wait to see all your hard work LOOK as good as it will.