Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[booder]

BTW- My exhaust is now blowing just a tiny bit. I wonder if you can still but Gun Gum?

Pretty sure Halfords still stock it.

[RED-DOG]

The good thing about attempted repairs going wrong the first time that you try them is the fact that you remember where you went wrong if you ever need to do the same job again.
Also gives you more confidence to attempt a roadside repair if it is ever neccessary,if you have previously stripped down a part and come face to face with the parts as opposed to looking at a manuel.

Well that's the idea Boo. I'm determined to have a motorcycle adventure before TGR catches up with me, and I want to be able to do basic roadside repairs at least.

Let me give you a for instance. I removed the back wheel yesterday. Now obviously, once you have unbolted the wheel you have to lift the rear of the bike so that you can get it clear of the mudguard. Easy at home, I can prop it up on a trolley jack or lift it myself and get a passing grandchild to pull the wheel clear, but how do I do it when I'm alone in the dark on a busy roadside in the rain?

I could lay the bike on it's side, but I'd be bound to bend or break something, and I bet the fuel would piss out of the tank top or the carb overflow.

I've looked for tutorials but they all seem to gloss over the part where you have to raise and support the bike while you remove the wheel.

[tikay]

Well I decided to have a go at cleaning the centrifugal oil filter and it all went Pete Tong.

First of all, I had to remove so much stuff to get at it. Leg guards, side stand, exhaust, kickstart etc, and of course I had to drain the oil.

Then, when I finally got the clutch cover off the thing I feared most happened, a thing with ball bearings and a spring fell out and I didn't see where it came from.

Click to see full-size image.

But, after consulting Haynes and watching a YouTube video, I sussed it.

Anyway, I removed another cover to expose the filter and the gasket split. No biggie though, I'd already purchased a full gasket set off eBay.

So I cleaned the filter and started to reassemble everything. That's when I found out that the gasket that I needed was the only one missing from the eBay package.

You used to be able to make your own gaskets from blank sheets of gasket paper that you bought from car accessory shops, but the two that I tried just laughed at me. I eventually found a sheet laying at the bottom of a drawer in a mechanic friends workshop. He said it had been there since the 1960's.

Click to see full-size image.

I made the gasket and continued to put the rest of the bike back together, but the exhaust wouldn't fit. Well I say it wouldn't fit, it went back on, but the brake pedal hit when it reached the top of its travel. I couldn't figure it out. Eventually I took the exhaust off again and bent it a little in the vice.

I finally got everything put back and filled it with new oil, then I started it up and the clutch didn't work.

By this time I was thoroughly regretting attempting the job in the first place and wishing I'd never bothered.

It was 7pm when I drained the oil for the second time and started to dismantle everything again. By 11pm I'd managed to  get the clutch working and enough other bits on to try a short test drive. Everything seems OK, I'll put the other bits back on tomorrow.

I have no idea why the clutch didn't work the first time, I followed the instructions meticulously.

I would definitely have been better off paying someone who knew what he was doing to do it. It's only supposed to be a 1 hour job, it took me 13.

(I bet I can do it in 8 next time though).

No idea why, but I enjoyed every word of that.

When you are not quoting poncy poems, you write so beautifully.

[booder]

Let me give you a for instance. I removed the back wheel yesterday. Now obviously, once you have unbolted the wheel you have to lift the rear of the bike so that you can get it clear of the mudguard. Easy at home, I can prop it up on a trolley jack or lift it myself and get a passing grandchild to pull the wheel clear, but how do I do it when I'm alone in the dark on a busy roadside in the rain?

I could lay the bike on it's side, but I'd be bound to bend or break something, and I bet the fuel would piss out of the tank top or the carb overflow.

I've looked for tutorials but they all seem to gloss over the part where you have to raise and support the bike while you remove the wheel.

I have never really come across an alternative to laying the bike on its side  Just have to be very careful.

Shame that it is nearly always the rear that gets a flat.

[david3103]

Let me give you a for instance. I removed the back wheel yesterday. Now obviously, once you have unbolted the wheel you have to lift the rear of the bike so that you can get it clear of the mudguard. Easy at home, I can prop it up on a trolley jack or lift it myself and get a passing grandchild to pull the wheel clear, but how do I do it when I'm alone in the dark on a busy roadside in the rain?

I could lay the bike on it's side, but I'd be bound to bend or break something, and I bet the fuel would piss out of the tank top or the carb overflow.

I've looked for tutorials but they all seem to gloss over the part where you have to raise and support the bike while you remove the wheel.

I have never really come across an alternative to laying the bike on its side  Just have to be very careful.

Shame that it is nearly always the rear that gets a flat.

From memory of them back in my motorcycling days I thought the C90 had a centre stand? In which case could you put something beneath the stand and then weight the front down?

[RED-DOG]

Let me give you a for instance. I removed the back wheel yesterday. Now obviously, once you have unbolted the wheel you have to lift the rear of the bike so that you can get it clear of the mudguard. Easy at home, I can prop it up on a trolley jack or lift it myself and get a passing grandchild to pull the wheel clear, but how do I do it when I'm alone in the dark on a busy roadside in the rain?

I could lay the bike on it's side, but I'd be bound to bend or break something, and I bet the fuel would piss out of the tank top or the carb overflow.

I've looked for tutorials but they all seem to gloss over the part where you have to raise and support the bike while you remove the wheel.

I have never really come across an alternative to laying the bike on its side  Just have to be very careful.

Shame that it is nearly always the rear that gets a flat.

From memory of them back in my motorcycling days I thought the C90 had a centre stand? In which case could you put something beneath the stand and then weight the front down?

That's a spiffing idea young Dave, I'll stage an imaginary puncture by setting the alarm on my phone and then riding along untill it goes off as a test.

I wonder if you could pop the tyre off ine side of the rim and replace the tube by just slipping the axle and spacer out to make a gap to squeeze the tube through, leaving the wheel more or less in place?

[booder]

That's a spiffing idea young Dave, I'll stage an imaginary puncture by setting the alarm on my phone and then riding along untill it goes off as a test.

I wonder if you could pop the tyre off ine side of the rim and replace the tube by just slipping the axle and spacer out to make a gap to squeeze the tube through, leaving the wheel more or less in place?

Don't forget to take an imaginary pump with you.

[RED-DOG]

This tutorial has the best method. The wheel just miraculously moves from bike to ground with no human interaction.

[RED-DOG]

FFS!

This vid is entitled "How to change a motorcycle tire without a stand or specialized tools".

So a crane isn't a specialized tool then?

Fecking idiot.

[Tal]

These last few pages might as well have been written in Klingon for all I know.

I'm getting docked Man Points all over the place.

[tikay]

That's a spiffing idea young Dave, I'll stage an imaginary puncture by setting the alarm on my phone and then riding along untill it goes off as a test.

I wonder if you could pop the tyre off ine side of the rim and replace the tube by just slipping the axle and spacer out to make a gap to squeeze the tube through, leaving the wheel more or less in place?

Don't forget to take an imaginary pump with you.

Yeah, & an imaginery passing grand-daughter. And an imaginery crane.

[RED-DOG]

These last few pages might as well have been written in Klingon for all I know.

I'm getting docked Man Points all over the place.

I bet you think I understand all that stuff you post on the chess thread. To me, that's like Klingon as spoken by a drunken Glaswegian.

[Tal]

These last few pages might as well have been written in Klingon for all I know.

I'm getting docked Man Points all over the place.

I bet you think I understand all that stuff you post on the chess thread. To me, that's like Klingon as spoken by a drunken Glaswegian.

Yes, but I needed the Man Points in the bank for the opening weekend of Strictly...

[RED-DOG]

These last few pages might as well have been written in Klingon for all I know.

I'm getting docked Man Points all over the place.

I bet you think I understand all that stuff you post on the chess thread. To me, that's like Klingon as spoken by a drunken Glaswegian.

Yes, but I needed the Man Points in the bank for the opening weekend of Strictly...

Meh! Stop struggling. You're beyond redemption.

[Nakor]

Don't dismiss strictly out of hand Red.
Het lots of husband points for showing "interest" in this house.