THE GOOD BUCK

This is a weird one. Out of the blue our Lisa called me to ask a favour. She’d seen the best ever antique chest of drawers for sale on some Facebook sales thing. And it was only a tenner! The trouble was it was at Buxton (and she’s not confident to drive on motorways) would I drive her there? Off the top of my head I immediately thought of rush hour traffic around the M60 (Manchester ring road), the queues from Stockport on to the A6, the roadworks on the A6, the crawling traffic unable to overtake the slow lorry or tractor… Oh dear. But, it’s my sister. And it was something she really wanted. And it was cheap and she’s not got much money. There was no point in driving her there, I’m the named driver on Wendy’s policy, which I’ve recently found out, means I’m not able to drive other people’s cars third party. So I couldn’t drive Lisa’s car, and if I was going in Wendy’s I might as well go straight there. I googled it, an hour and five minutes. Ah well, get it done. Then Lisa text me the postcode. Actually further away, and a longer drive (1.30) but google said I could go M6 south and cut across country at junction 18. Splendid! Heading away from Manc and completely avoiding the A6. To be fair Lisa did read out the dimensions, which I roughed from metric into English, as about 3’ x 4’ x 2’. No problem. The first night I was supposed to be collecting it I was waiting around for hours, the woman selling it had given out Lisa her landline number, then gone out to Stoke for a few hours, so when I tried calling her she didn’t answer as she was out. In Stoke. That was a bust. The second night, she was going to be in. I set off. Nice nip down the M6, always a joy, then off at junction 18. I’ve never driven far across country from that junction. It is rally country. Small country lanes, single lanes at some points, blind bends and summits, in the rain. It was a nightmare. https://youtu.be/E9IR_Drf1Zg On the bright side, tired as I was, I was pretty damn alert. I finally got to this huge mansion in the country and rang the number. The woman answered and said to drive in and park in the West Wing, (!) she’d wave to show me where to go. I parked and went to the house. She answered in her dressing gown and let me in. She said there was no way I was going to get it in to a Mini but she’s show me what she meant. I followed her upstairs.  She explained I wouldn’t be able to lift it as she’d done her back and her fellah wasn’t here. This was feeling a bit weird. Alone in a house with a woman I’d just met, in her dressing gown. OK, […]

I’ve made a start on my mechanic-ing. I went and got Nathan’s dead heap. It’s seen better days. I say I got his heap, that was a challenge in itself. How do you get a full motorbike into the back of a Mini? Not easy. Which then fits neatly into said Mini. But, after breaking my back, it’s still a pile of broken bits. I sorted my shed out to look like this: The bike was as dead as a very dead dodo, so I couldn’t just strip the engine down, as there would have been no way of knowing if I’d rebuilt it right. I had to put everything back together and try to get the bike running before I could take it all apart and play. That’s with the bike strapped onto the jack thing. I had to ratchet strap it on as there are no forks on it as they are totally smashed. It’s been horrendous. The engine is quite light, as engines go, but it fits in the frame really awkwardly, and you have to hold it in position with one hand and a knee as you try and fit a bolt through the holes to support it. Then I went around fastening all the connectors and wires. They build them with oddly shaped connectors so they can only fasten to the corresponding odd shape so you can’t get it wrong. But when I’d rebuilt it there were two loose wires, no battery, and an odd shaped connector with no mate. I had the tank off a few times, searching for ages, I just couldn’t find it. The workshop manual is black and white pictures with no “what the hell is this bit?” section. I gave up for the moment and decided to fix the bent side stand cut off switch I’d noticed while stripping it. Where’s the side stand? Ah. It’s attached to the foot pegs (which were so badly bent I’d left them.) I went and got them and there was my blue connector! YAY! The battery arrived today so I fitted that as well. The barrel on the ignition seems smashed so I took that off and ordered a new one. Happily the electrical bits come out as a separate unit, so you just have to change the barrel, no need to solder in new wires. I had a play with the remaining unit and reckoned I could operate the on/off switch without the barrel for now, but still no electrics at all. I found and changed the main fuse. Nothing. Realised the starter relay was missing a cable, attached that properly. Nothing. I took the smashed headlight apart and realised two connections were undone. I traced them back and it was the ignition. I reconnected them, messed with the ignition electrical unit, and … LIGHTS! I gave the starter a few blasts and got the engine turning over, I checked and I’ve got tons of spark at the plug! https://youtu.be/8FpSi153nhw I’m such […]

I’ve made a start on my mechanic-ing. I went and got Nathan’s dead heap. It’s seen better days. I say I got his heap, that was a challenge in itself. How do you get a full motorbike into the back of a Mini? Not easy. Which then fits neatly into said Mini. But, after breaking my back, it’s still a pile of broken bits. I In preparation for my new found mad motorcycle skills I’ve emptied out my shed, put in new posts to support the fence and built a lean-to affair at the back of the shed. It’s not pretty but it’s below fenceline so not offending the neighbours and it’s behind the shed so not offending Wendy. I cut down and moved one of my shelving units into it to pile all the rubbish. It’s not going to win any prizes but it’s cleared my shed so I could do this: I’m well happy with that. The blue thing in the bottom left is a bike jack thing which my mam and dad got me ages ago and now promises to be be essential kit. The work bench is a repurposed Black and Decker (left by my dad when they emigrated). As is the rug, now I think about it. That got downgraded after a few years to shed lining. And they got me the shed. I bought the tool cabinet. So there’s that. Anyway, thanks, parents. The bike was as dead as a very dead dodo, so I couldn’t just strip the engine down, tempted as I was, as there would have been no way of knowing if I’d rebuilt it right. I had to put everything back together and try to get the bike running before I could take it all apart and play. That’s with the bike strapped onto the jack thing. I had to ratchet strap it on as there are no forks on it as they are totally smashed. It’s been horrendous. The engine is quite light, as engines go, but it fits in the frame really awkwardly, and you have to hold it in position with one hand and a knee as you try and fit a bolt through the holes to support it. Then I went around fastening all the connectors and wires. They build them with oddly shaped connectors so they can only fasten to the corresponding odd shape so you can’t get it wrong. But when I’d rebuilt it there were two loose wires, no battery, and an odd shaped connector with no mate. I had the tank off a few times, searching for ages, I just couldn’t find it. The workshop manual is black and white pictures with no “what the hell is this bit?” section. I gave up for the moment and decided to fix the bent side stand cut off switch I’d noticed while stripping it. Where’s the side stand? Ah. It’s attached to the foot pegs (which were so badly bent I’d left them.) I […]

I’ve stumbled across some YouTube videos about my bike. Specifically, how to check the valve clearance and, if it’s out, how to replace the shims (little spacer type things). It’s a bit of a huge job. But if you watch the videos, it’s actually a series of big jobs, that can be further broken down into tons of small jobs. Here’s the links if you’re interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ri-xJBufe8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_KWJXTJis I could watch this stuff all day. It fascinates me seeing bikes broken down and rebuilt. I wasn’t actually looking for anything specific when I found those videos, but my bike is… nearing it’s 16,000 mile valve clearance check. I actually thought it was on 17,000, and slightly overdue, until I started typing that sentence. I think it’s nearly 15,000 miles at the minute. I was planning on doing it next week, but I can skill up for a while yet. Which brings me to my new news: I’ve finally decided to stop messing about with bikes and actually learn what I’m doing. I have enough confidence and experience (and optimism in the face of experience) to tackle most jobs. As long as it’s ‘monkey see, monkey do’, I’m fine. I’ll give it a go. That’s what workshop manuals and YouTube tutorials are for. I maintain the thing you pay for is the experience and knowledge to diagnose what the job is that needs doing. Until now! I’ve found a brilliant resource. I was searching for motorcycle mechanic training, and came across a recommendation for this guy’s site. He’s a bit “God and Guns, USA! USA!”, which is hugely irksome, but the site is pure gold. A picture glossary of the parts, (in American, bless) a page of fixes for each problem, but most importantly, a logical progression for problem solving. It’s solid gold. For instance, engine not starting. I would go with spark at plugs, fuel, and errrr…. He says first things first, compression test. Every time. (Turns out it £13 for the tool, lifetime guarantee, just take the spark plug out, pop this in, turn the engine over. That’s it.) If the engine isn’t turning over, put a new battery in and connect to the charger. If still not turning over, disable any kill switches. Still not, connect the charger to the lead to the starter motor. If it turns starter motor solenoid is shot. If not put charger directly onto the starter motor, if it turns, it’s the power lead that’s shot. If it clicks but the engine doesn’t turn it’s the starter motor clutch that’s shot. It goes on. It’s genius. I’m really excited. Unlike all my other obsessions (sax, Russian, martial arts, etc) this isn’t accepting it’s going to be a depressing trudge towards a distant goal. Every thing I learn is improving me right now.  I cycle round, obsessing, mad enthusiasm, dreary donkey work, failure to progress, quitting, wanting that end again, obsessing, mad enthusiasm… Bike mechanic-ing could be a keeper of a hobby.  A recurrent […]

Things are looking up. We had a day without rain, finally, yesterday so I took my bike for a spin. I was going to go to Snowdonia for some nice bike pics, but I got halfway there, stopped for directions and was a bit too ill to go  on, so turned around. The good news is, although it’s not a direct like for like comparison, on the first ride I did on the bike (fair nippy speeds down the motorway at high revs trying to find the power) I got 90 miles to the tank and was on my last bar of reserve. This time, after fitting the power commander,  I had done a day’s commute (mostly motorway) then rode into Wales, (motorway, fast A roads, then urban slow roads) and back, so a real mixed bag and probably more of a real world test, and I got 122 miles and was still on 2 bars of reserve! I did the maths, the first ride I was getting 28mpg, the second I was on 41mpg! That will do nicely! Also, since I’ve fitted the power commander, I’ve been tolerant of the acceleration, but not blown away. It is a *sports*/ tourer, after all. And from Mr Honda. Then I set off from the lights the other day, I hadn’t given it enough revs and nearly stalled. I slipped the clutch, built the revs and dropped the clutch. WHOA! Off like a scalded cat. Sorry for doubting you, Mr Honda! It’s a hoot! So that’s the bike totally sorted now. Big yay! Here’s a snap from Blackpool.   As I say, I’ve been ill again. This bug seems to go around in cycles. You get a sore throat, it feels like it’s swollen up and you can barely swallow, then the next day you feel weak and a bit lousy. You get through that and you think that’s got to be the last time, I must be over it now. And then a week or so later you start again. 4 days ago I got the sore throat. The next day I felt weak, but it didn’t go away. I went for a fast run the next day, thinking I was fine. I had to stop after 2½ miles, I had nothing. Later on it the weakness hit me again. And yesterday I was so bad I thought I’d caught it again. I was so weak I cut my bike ride short (in the sunshine!), got home and went to bed for a bit. I had the confused panicky thoughts, and was just pinned to the floor. Anyway, that was yesterday. Today I woke up and I think I’m fine again. On the bright side I had asked to work yesterday, but they knocked me back. That would have been awful. I wanted to go for a run today, but I was scared of it hitting me while I was out. I did the gardening instead. I say gardening, there’s nothing […]