Where/How did you first learn to work on your bike?

[sgallaty]

Having owned 6 or 7 CB 750s and 1 CB 550 I'm sure you can understand why I wrote "And replace Phillips head screws with Allen Head Cap Screws ASAP!"

I hate Phillips head screws.

High five man.

I tried to explain to a buddy recently about the ordeal of getting the carbs off and on. About how I was literally in tears after several hours of trying to get the two middle intake boots on. The ordeal of getting the stock airbox off.

I was vindicated by him actually briefly having a KZ750 with the same crazy setup and coming to me after a mere hour or two and saying "It's not possible!". =)

It's fine to meet a fellow traveller who knows the feeling of looking at a 750 case that needs to have the side covers off. 18 or so screws and each and every one is a major ordeal. Some of them are even bigger ordeals because they are deeper than your impact driver bits....

 

[Mcnabb]

If I could only put into words what kind of f-ing sh!++ im dealing with right now. Lol. Through the bars throttle cable that some little pr!(k jb welded the end into the bars along with the set screw. Hammer vice grips lol. If I could only get to it

 

[sgallaty]

If I could only put into words what kind of f-ing sh!++ im dealing with right now. Lol. Through the bars throttle cable that some little pr!(k jb welded the end into the bars along with the set screw. Hammer vice grips lol. If I could only get to it

JBweld breaks down at about 600 degrees F. Just saying.

 

[blacksheep_2u]

find someone that will give you and old bike that dont run and take it apart and figure out why start with a single then find a double and so on.If its broke and free you cant hurt it just dont hurt you,watch them theyll grab a knuckle whenever they can

 

[Belle]

Whenever I was around 7 or 8 yrs old my dad gave me a go-cart one day & I rode the shit out of it all day until it broke, that same day. Afraid I was gonna get in trouble I rolled the cart home & showed my dad. He looked at me real serious like--I probably could have squirted all over myself--saying, there's no crying here just fix it. So, I tried...Whenever he saw I had tried, he then helped. I learned about motorcycles from lawnmower engines.http://www.xs650.com/forum/images/smilies/shrug.gif

 

[Mister Mellow]

I was a GM mechanic for 12 years, and have been self-sufficient since, so I'm comfortable with every system on a car. But I'm always in awe of people who will rip into a frame-off bike restoration with no fear. I've only owned four motorcycles in my life, and have had to do very little wrenching on them. I do my own plumbing, carpentry, appliance and computer repair, etc., so there's no reason why a bike should intimidate me. Still, a removed car dashboard with an exposed jumble of electrical harnesses and AC ducts isn't nearly as intimidating to me as a box full of bike parts. Where does this piece of rubber go? What the hell is THAT thing? It's irrational, but there it is.

As to how I first learned, it was simple necessity combined with poverty (servicing and minor repairs on my '66 Yamaha 90 and '72 Triumph 500). My recent XS650 acquisition will be the first bike I've owned for hobby purposes. Funny, I just bought a sewing machine from a thrift store because I'm going to have a hand at making my own seat, from pan to upholstery (even though I've never sewn before), so why would a basket of relays and rubber pieces seem more complicated than that?

 

[yamaman]

Some good advice here. One problem a lot of people have is a sense of time. If you expect it to be going today, accept that it will take a few days. If you expect it to be going in a few days, expect a couple of weeks, etc etc. Remember two things, the ox is slow, but the earth is patient. Everything created by man, can be re-created by man!

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[tadd442]

I was a GM mechanic for 12 years, and have been self-sufficient since, so I'm comfortable with every system on a car. But I'm always in awe of people who will rip into a frame-off bike restoration with no fear. I've only owned four motorcycles in my life, and have had to do very little wrenching on them. I do my own plumbing, carpentry, appliance and computer repair, etc., so there's no reason why a bike should intimidate me. Still, a removed car dashboard with an exposed jumble of electrical harnesses and AC ducts isn't nearly as intimidating to me as a box full of bike parts. Where does this piece of rubber go? What the hell is THAT thing? It's irrational, but there it is.

As to how I first learned, it was simple necessity combined with poverty (servicing and minor repairs on my '66 Yamaha 90 and '72 Triumph 500). My recent XS650 acquisition will be the first bike I've owned for hobby purposes. Funny, I just bought a sewing machine from a thrift store because I'm going to have a hand at making my own seat, from pan to upholstery (even though I've never sewn before), so why would a basket of relays and rubber pieces seem more complicated than that?

Good ON you! There are only a few of those scary bits anyway....

 

[knap-sack]

Used to trade and barter and dig 20 inch bikes outta the trash, fix em up and trade sell barter. Then I cut grass, used to pull briggs and stration around with bikes and cut yards for gas money for motorcycles . I learned early. ya break it ya fix it. I was hard on stuff

opps I almost forgot, I've been an aircraft A&P mechanic for 30 years. Something I learned working on airplanes, anything that breaks can be fixed if ya got enough money.

 

[Jack455]

I'm new to fixing my bike too. As a kid I'd strip down my mountain bike every week but that was simple mechanics and now I find dealing with fuel and electrics completely new so I spend a lot of time reading through topics on what I'm working on at the time. I have also found a great mechanic, the guys like a savant when it comes to bikes and I speak to him a lot. Sometimes I feel bad that I take up so much of his time but I have him do any work I cannot do and I look over his shoulder.

 

[mustangpalmer1911]

Been a mechanic in the Air Force for 11 years heavy equipment and aircraft. Never ripped anything right down like this before but not to far off so this is kind of new to me. My build is happening in a buddies basement/garage.. cooler in the summers heated in the winter vs my garage.

 

[GeorgeKillianLett]

I'll let you know here in a few weeks when I start the tear down! Should be interesting!