Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Toecutter on May 23, 2018, 10:32:33 AM
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Just wanted to start a topic that can't possibly be derailed.
I kid... this is WG, everything gets derailed. Maybe it's just an experiment to see how long before it gets derailed. :boozing:
Anyways, nobody was born with a wrench in their hands, although some folks in the moto-community love to pretend they were, so... how'd you learn? What got you started? How many bikes did you cock up before figuring things out? Did you have a mentor? Or did you do it the hard way? Let's hear it, and save the fishing stories for another thread.
My father was handy, but not much of a mechanic. He was a good carpenter, amazing outdoorsman, but beyond a "DIY" ethic, he didn't impart much in the way of grease-monkeyism. I got started riding bikes super young, but never began wrenching til much later. And I'm self taught. I bought a lot of old junkers, and took them apart to figure things out, selling them for parts (and usually a profit by doing so), trading up as I went along. Didn't have any "mentors", but started meeting friends that shared interests, and things started advancing quicker for me. Began to get really good at roadside fixes with roadside toolkits. Consider myself pretty good at wrenching now... but still shadetree, though shadetree with a well-stocked garage.
So, how'd you learn? Where are you now?
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I always drive and ride junk and they need some fixing from time to time..
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Dad was always mechanically inclined. He taught me to work on my bicycles when I was a kid. When I was about 16, we rebuilt a 240 6 cyl. in a 67 Ford Custom 3 on the tree. New insides, clutch, pressure plate, etc. Things have always made sense to me regarding wrenching, although I have known a number of folks that regarded it as magic.
John Henry
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Purchased a Frankenstein 500 CC Triumph in early 1968 , $50.00 at a garage sale . The man who owned it had scattered it about the garage , wife said "it has to go" . Had been hanging around some older fellas who were into bikes , even a couple of fairly successful racers and race mechanics . It took about two months to put the Triumph together , mostly I watched and tried to learn . For those of you who cut your teeth on old Brit bikes , owning one either forced their owner into becoming some kind of a wrench , or spending lots of money to keep them running . Since I had no money ...
Still , muddling thru , certainly no expert , but I know what questions to ask , and who to ask them of.
Dusty
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I never really have. I took the common at the time automotive vo-tech in high school in the early 70s. Learned how to rebuild engines of the time, but not really much else. No electric stuff or transmission work. Least learned some of the basics and got a nice Snap-On tool set cheap.
My problem is dealing with the unexpected. I am not a logical thinker in the mechanical sense. That's what always screws me up.
GliderJohn
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My dad was an autobody mechanic and a decent shade treat engine mechanic. I used to say everything we owned had been written off in a roll over except the house we grew up in.
We had every kind of car and truck you can think of growing up, my dad rebuilt 3 or 4 cars a year in the evenings, plus the travel trailers and boats we owned had all been in some kind of accident or fire. We once rebuilt a 68 Chrsyler New Yorker with the front half of one and the back half of another. My dad was a real perfectionist and not a big fan of bondo, lots of metal shrinking with oxy /acet, pick, file and a wee bit of lead.
I can't remember a time when I was not in the garage holding the torch, wrench or hammer while dad repaired a car. When I was 16 I started to buy insurance easy write offs and rebuild cars to sell, helped pay for school but mostly beer and more cars. I got tired of lying under cars and the rust and grime of old vehicles so I moved towards motorcycles, so much cleaner and easier to work on.
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Just wanted to start a topic that can't possibly be derailed.
I use cheap dino oil and avoid synthetics.
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No help - my dad died young and wasn't much of a mechanic. Learned myself, building trail bikes from pipe, kits, and motors, read the manuals for my first motorcycles, had to keep our Farmall tractor running.
Unfortunately, my lack of formal training shows. Still learning by "experience" .... !
Lannis
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I use cheap dino oil and avoid synthetics.
:thumb:
I never really did. I was my dad's bug maintenance helper but beyond learning to change oil, and changing a tire he didn't feel the need to teach me. I'm mechanically inclined, don't mind getting dirty, and love learning/seeing how thing work so if anyone out there wants to teach me how to do valve/break/whathaveyou jobs, I'm down. :grin:
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I use cheap dino oil and avoid synthetics.
Well, I use synthetics..except on old small blocks.
Thread drift.. my old man was the most unmechanical person ever invented. Farmed with horses until he absolutely *had* to get a tractor. Hired out all his mechanical work (!) until I told him I could fix that stuff when I was still a pup. He didn't believe me, of course.. but I could. Mostly. He had no tools, and I had to make do with an old "knuckle buster" and any rusty crap I could find on the farm. Totally frustrating.
It made me a "tool" guy. Since I got out on my own, if I need a tool, I just buy it or make it.
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I did not learn from my Father. Although He was a machinist in the Navy, We lived in Little Detroit-Connersville, Indiana, he was a tool and die engineer and We owned a machine shop my whole life. He taught me very little. I was forced to work at age 9 to help feed and cloth myself and the rest of Our family. I visited the machine shop nearly everyday. Many times barefoot. Stood and watch the "milk machine" blanchard grinder face aluminum extrusion dies or pull red hot steel out of the heat treat ovens at midnight and drop in oil. When I was 9 y.o. Off to the machine shop I went to work. My mentors were fellow machinist that taught me many ways to use a tool for other purposes than they were meant to be use for. Learning that precision machining sometimes required files and a hammer. I had the fortunate privilege to visit many manufacturing facilities in America and see how thing work and don't work. I worked with many engineers in designing, building and testing many types of tooling and manufacturing equipment. The tool box at home consisted of pliers, vice grips, claw hammer and a couple of screw drivers. My Father worked on everything at the Shop. Leaving me and my brothers very little to work with at home.
When I was 12 y.o. I wanted a mini bike. I got the "when you can buy it, you can have it speech". That was all I needed for motivation. It was not much longer after that My Mother and I were at the local Lowes hardware store buying a $99.00 3 h.p. mini bike. I was bitten by the motorcycle bug. It was time to start working on my own bike and putting together my own tool box. The irony is, I did not utilize the machine shop very often to do repairs. It was not until I walked away from the machine shop world that I started building custom motorcycles. I tell people that motorcycles are a replacement fix for my lack of mechanical infusion I got on a daily basis. I sought out a couple of small motorcycle shop owners I had know for years and volunteered my time for their experience in working on motorcycles. For several years I was partners in a shop. Working on many types of motorcycles and scooters. I quit working on other peoples stuff after My insurance company told me I was exposing them to risk and cancelled my policies. I limit my work to my stuff and a couple of friends now. I told my Wife I am ready to quit wrenching all together and find a new hobby. She gave me "the look".
It is sad that we grow old and all the experience we compile turns to worm food. Pass it on while you can. I love to mentor.
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Started out early helping my dad work on the family cars and projects, asking a lot of questions that he never seemed to get tired of answering. Progressed to bicycles, lawnmowers and back to my brothers and sisters cars that my dad was too busy at work to do, so he'd get the parts and explain what he wanted me to do. Went on to body and paint after hanging out with the bodyman at a Ford dealership on my paper route. In high school I bought my first car from my brother and rebuilt the engine and trans so I could drive when I got my license. After High School I went to Arizona Automotive Institute and learned all the theory and practical end of of cars, Engines, Transmissions, Chasis and Electrical systems. Found out I liked it too much to want to do it for a living so I started repairing industrial machinery and retired from that about a year ago. So now I have the time to get back to the mechanical projects I've stockpiled.
Current project 1991 Ducati 907IE front to back maintenance and comissioning.
Paul B :boozing:
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Like a lot of folks here I'm self-taught. Ironically my grandfather owned a small trucking company and might have taught me a lot but we lived 900 miles away. My dad had been pushed away from the garage into academics and was a mechanical klutz.
Started of course by figuring out how to maintain my bicycles. After college I bought a clapped out Triumph TR4 and the appropriate Clymer or Haynes book. Rebuilt the SU carbs, adjusted valves, replaced tie rods, brake shoes, radiator and electrical bits. Then bought the Harley/Aermacchi which needed top end work including rings so I learned to do that. Never had the money to get stuff done professionally but I enjoyed the challenges of figuring stuff out and resolving problems. And buying or making tools.
I've learned a ton more from reading posts on Wildguzzi, and from Guzziology. And now that I can actually afford to have professional help, I'm 100 miles away from the nearest decent bike shop and 200 from the nearest Guzzi shop.
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I know Dusty
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I know Dusty
Oh hell , we're all in trouble now :laugh:
Dusty
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Changing my own fluids is about the extent of my wrenching abilities. If a process has over 3 maybe 4 moves I had better start taking pictures and taking notes. I usually mess up more than I fix!
My best chance in getting something fixed is to PM one of the guys here and pester the heck out of them. I’m sure several will read this and just LOL.
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I don't really remember. When I started riding motorcycles, they started breaking and since I couldn't afford a mechanic, I began fixing them slowly. First was new rear end gears on my BMW R26, then pulling the heads on my 58
panhead, when I got a Yamaha 125 I taught myself to cut the rotary valve and build an expansion chamber for more power. My flathead Harley taught me about front wheels, brakes and high compression heads, changing primary gear ratios etc. My jaw 250 engine busted a con rod and crank and I couldn't get parts so I bought a junk 305 Honda and put that engine in it. I gradually learned most ofvthe things I know by doing them. Like changing the ratios of that Honda engine by X patterning the 2nd and 3rd gear clusters from road type to dirt capable. Honda road bikes had 1st and 2nd close together than a spread before 3rd and 4th were also close together. By exchanging the position of the 2nd and 3rd gear clusters you got the gearbox of a CL type Honda in which all the gears were apron. the same percentage apart making it more compatible off road. Things like that were my learning experiences.
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My maternal grandfather was an auto mechanic and taught me most of what I know today. He always had the right tool (as long as it was SAE) and a nice workspace. I worked as a VW technician for a bit, gathering more tools and learning to avoid Volkswagens. Although my father is fairly mechanically adept, the only things he taught me were how to properly throw a wrench and swear at a project. I call my garage "The Flying Wrench Garage" in his honor. It's my room, dammit! Mostly, I am doing all of the regular maintenance and minor repairs on my two vehicles, seven motorcycles and power equipment. I'm certainly not above watching a few YouTube videos for a little inspiration, or gracing a fine forum such as this one, even though you'll run into those "If you have to ask..." type of folk on occasion. :grin:
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Oh hell , we're all in trouble now :laugh:
Dusty
I was even in more trouble before.
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I grew up with it, Dad gave us access to all his tools and didn't get too upset when we weren't able to get what ever we took apart back together, one Grandfather was a drilling supervisor on oil rigs, the other Grandfather was a Boiler operator/maintence guy, One uncle raced sprint cars and had the coolest stuff a kid would want to play around.
My High school had a small engines class which immediately became the small motorcycle class.
In the Army I was trained and worked as Generator mechanic. Afterwards I studied as and became a Marine Engineer.
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I don't know Dusty ---well this one at least --- is that a better mechanic thing or worse mechanic thing?
Self taught because I've always seemed to be to poor to pay for others to do the work.
On bicycles I've done everything short of brazing up a frame myself.
Tore apart my first car, a 66 chevy impala, in 1970 to fix valves, then the tranny then the ........
Blew it up, put in a new short block which was bad then traded it in on a new VW Ghia I was tired of working on cars
Rebuilt a Honda 90 back in the '70's
Cafe'd a Honda 400f with rearset, clip ons, 1/2 fairing
Then I owned a FIAT X1/9 that I hot-rodded,
resurrected a 64 ford 500 wagon, a pickup that sat in a field for 5 years
then an Alfa Spider, then a pair of Peugeot 405 MI16
Then a divorce so I was really poor for two decades
Now I'm just to lazy and cheap to take the car/pickup/motorcycle/bicycle/washing machine/garage door & opener to the shop so I do all the easy work such as brakes, water pumps, spark plugs, sensors, new radiators -- myself.
All 4 or my kids keep me busy working on their cars/pickups/bicycles/houses.
Only my youngest does any real wrenching although they all know how to change a battery or starter.
Thank the Lord for the Internet!
I've always like working with my hands - when things go ok
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I was thrown into the lions den in my late 20's when hired at a new job as a service tech for a Japanese multi head industrial embroidery machine company. I figured if I could keep a machine stitching logos on a dozen garments at a time with 9 thread colors, I can damn sure keep a two cylinder motorsickle running.
Dad didn't teach me anything mechanical, he taught me more important things like do unto unto others yadda yadda yadda, respect your elders and NEVER take any wooden nickels. :wink:
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My Dad had a collision shop. When I was about 5 he would take me to his shop on Saturdays and hand me a piece of sandpaper and I would sand cars. Not very well as he and later his painter would have to redo everything.
I started into mechanics first with electric trains, then bicycles and then built a couple of go karts. The first with a 2x4 wood frame and door hinges for steering. The second had a frame made of water pipe welded together. I did my own brake jobs, tune ups, etc but never really got into motors until I got my first 2 stroke bike. It was after I bought my Norton that I really had to learn how motors really worked. Either fix it myself or go broke paying a mechanic to do it. Still pretty much fix my own stuff.
Pete
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Still learning after 60 years of helping my dad on the family car, trying to get go-karts and dirt bikes to run, fixing everyone's VW in high school and college, servicing my own and family vehicles, and building up '84 CJ-7, '90 XJ, and '04 KJ into competent offroaders... :grin:
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I don't know Dusty ---well this one at least --- is that a better mechanic thing or worse mechanic thing?
Worser than you can imagine , well , unless you own a Meriden Triumph twin or an airhead , I know enough about those to get us all in trouble :rolleyes:
Dusty
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My father was a WW2 trained Radar Engineer, could fix any sort of valve radio or electronics. Not much chop on auto repairs and maintenance. He had the coolest toolbox ever, all of his tools were built by himself during his naval apprenticeship. Sadly that box disappeared years ago.
I gradually drifted into 'wrenching' as a poor student who couldn't afford to pay for repairs or servicing.
Bought my first complete Tool Kit, a Japaneses ETC Mechanics kit, on "Lay-by" and took three months to pay it off. I'm proud to say that 40 years later it is still complete and doing its job.
Over the years I've learnt by osmosis, watching others, reading and, recently, Internet Blogs and You Tube. My most important learning has been to research something new, wait, research it again and then 'give it a go'. Recognize early that you cant do everything, but with the right advice or mentoring you are usually capable of completing any major rebuild task.
Had my share of spectacular and expensive failures, a "race ready RD400" and a refurbished Renault 12 at the top of the list.
I lean towards "The right Tool for the Right Job" philosophy and I tend to purchase the best quality tools that I can afford.
I'm also proud to watch my 20 yo son and 17 yo daughter take responsibility for the mechanical work on their cars. My daughter shows great promise as a future bike builder.
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Dad was not mechanical but in his misspent youth he had motorcycles. I was just old enough to get a licence (and my first motorbike) when I left home. Fortunately for me, where I went to live had a motorcyclist next door, only a couple of years older than me who fixed other people's bikes. His father was an engineer so when Tubby got stuck there was always help on hand. Owning an old English motorcycle meant you had to learn to wrench, so for the two years I lived there I got a really good introduction in to the dark arts of wrenching.
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I was a broke college student with a bike being my only form of transportation. If it wasn't running, had to figure it out. Then go get the part...beg/borrow/buy the tool(s)...and fix the other stuff I broke fixing the original problem.
Today I still have to figure it out, might have the part and probably have the tool(s).....but still have to fix the unrelated stuff I break along the way to solving the original problem.
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My father was a machinist at Curtiss Wright Aircraft in Buffalo NY. before WW2. The attack on Pearl Harbor made him mad so he enlisted in the Navy and because of his previous trade, they figured he might be handy fixing things so they put him in the Seabee's and built, fixed, repaired whatever was needed to support the Marines. He fought in 2 island campaigns, he was an Iwo Jima survivor.
After the war he went to work for TWA, built the 3 houses we lived in and worked/tinkered on his cars, trucks, mowers etc.
After I graduated from college I became a machinist, much to his dismay as he thought it was a waste of a good education.
My younger brother and I built up a drag racing 1962 Chevy Nova. (single wall fenders on that cheap model) Brother came across a Chevy 302 engine the had a broken crank and we built it up and raced it for a few years until he went into the Marines.
Around that time I married and on a whim, bought a Ducati 750 GT while working as a machinist, got bored and went to work for the local Moto Guzzi shop. (J&S Cycle in Emporia Kansas) Jack Schoeck and his wife ran the dealership for years and I did a lot of the repair work on Ducati's and Guzzi's.
I left there and worked as a Plant Engineer at Dolly Madison as well as other local employment.
I guess I always had a wrench in my hand and a weekly paycheck.
Now that I am retired I fix things for friends and family along with my stuff.....
jb
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I have proven again and again how little I know about being a mechanic.....But, I'm keeping the money... :grin:
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Worser than you can imagine , well , unless you own a Meriden Triumph twin or an airhead , I know enough about those to get us all in trouble :rolleyes:
Dusty
I think what he's saying is that much like owning a Borgward or Sunbeam, his relationship with Dusty has forced him to become a better mechanic. :grin:
I think I got started mechanicking out of necessity, and got good it -- like everything I got good at -- to piss off my dad. My dad discouraged me from doing things and didn't like me touching his stuff. He was a good woodworker, but not much for the wrenchy arts. I learned early and on the fly because he had no aptitude or patience for broken machinery, and we had a lot of it. I was expected to hand him the correct part or tool even if he didn't know what it was. At 5 or 6 I sure as hell didn't. He never did get it that journeymen are made, not born.
If it was something of mine broken I got to figure it out for myself and sneak the tools to do it. There was a gas station a mile from the house and I often went there to borrow something to fix my bike or whatever. Warren Swerengen (might be misspelled. He was a giant Scandinavian) let me hang out and watch him work, and actually explained what he was doing and why, like he was talking to himself. Sort of a running commentary. Things like side valves and magnetos made sense when you put it that way.
Warren knew dad so I think he felt sorry for me. Or maybe he thought I had potential. I'll never know. But he gave me a little steel box stuffed with enough of his stray and clapped out tools to rebuild the engine on a 8hp riding lawnmower and convert it into an offroad go kart when I was in 3rd grade. He answered my questions along the way and taught me old school stuff like annealing an old copper head gasket, and what is a copper head gasket. It went like stink. I still have the Ford wrench from that tool set. It may be my longest held possession.
I've had other motivations and other mentors, but those were the first.
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Being a Brit, I was largely self taught using the trust Haynes manual for my Suzuki TS50ER (and for most of the subsequent bikes - Guzzi workshop manuals used though for my V50 Mk2 and the current Cali 3). My dad was a trained mechanic at the time, but the only time I asked for his help (refitting the cylinder over the piston rings), he managed to break the piston ring....which was a defunct size, so I had to get the cylinder rebored to the next size up. Did it largely myself from then on and still do.
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I would say I'm out of a family with long traditions for doing things ourself. My dad was a gifted woodmaker and did most of our furnitures himself, windows in our house and so on. He was not much of a mechanics though and perhaps that gave me a "niche" to build my own competences working on bicycles, lawn movers, mopeds and when I turned 18 on my first bike (Honda CB350Four) and later on my old cars.
My interests in mechanic and metal work make me Manufacturing Engineer and even though I've moved away from shop floor work since, I still like to fix things and understand how things work.
I'm not at all magic and what I've learned has been trial-and-error supplied with reading stuff like Haynes and later this famous internet thing you know and asking stupid questions both on the web and in real life when i meet a true gear head
There's a saying where I come from that "a true enginer believes he can do anything as long he has enough time".... in that case I'm fully qualified, but I would still like more time ;-)
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I spent much of my youth in the garage with my Dad fixing whatever needed fixing
I can remember him changing the engine in a Ford Anglia and being fascinated that I could winch myself up to the roof of the garage sitting in the slings of the chain block.
Meccano was my go to toy in the majority of cases
Fundamentally, I think I have the "Mechanical Engineer" gene in me and whether I'd had Dad's input or not I'd be playing with cars, bikes and now at work gas turbines
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Being a Brit, I was largely self taught using the trust Haynes manual for my Suzuki TS50ER (and for most of the subsequent bikes - Guzzi workshop manuals used though for my V50 Mk2 and the current Cali 3). My dad was a trained mechanic at the time, but the only time I asked for his help (refitting the cylinder over the piston rings), he managed to break the piston ring....which was a defunct size, so I had to get the cylinder rebored to the next size up. Did it largely myself from then on and still do.
There's got to be something in the water that explains the innovations and weird-to-great stuff that came out of British "cottage industries" - Lotus, Cotton, Rickman, Egli, all those, there are hundreds over the years. Great stuff and a lot of great British mechanics ...
Lannis
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I think what he's saying is that much like owning a Borgward or Sunbeam, his relationship with Dusty has forced him to become a better mechanic. :grin
I've had other motivations and other mentors, but those were the first.
I owned both. Both wiped the crank. This was before I owned my Norton so engine internals were a mystery. I sold them both as is.
Pete
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I always had the fixit inclination. That translated into my career as a self-taught database developer. After working my way from a small Honda in my teens to an HD Road King, I longed for the days I used to do my own tuneups. Started looking for a vintage bike and bought my 70 Ambassador. Turned out it needed a full rebuild. Mechanics is problem solving like software development, except there's the tactile element, which I longed for after tapping keys all my career. That's a skill or inclination as well, knowing when tight is too tight, etc. I think I got some of that from my Dad. I was also inspired by Robert Pirsig and his book, which I read in my 20s and reread it when I took this project on. So I went for it, and fortunately Loop Guzzis are well suited to DIY mechanics, as evidenced here and on the Loop forum. It's amazing the support I was able to get from the Guzzi community and the Loop crowd, Charlie Mullendore in particular, and I now have a great running Guzzi that I can fix at any level. Wrenching is good for the soul, and it's given me a new lease on life in my 60s. I also think I accidently picked the right bike. I now have a 74 Eldorado as well. Sold the Harley. Probably not an uncommon story here.
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I grew up on a farm. I started turning handing wrenches to my dad about age 3. Started turning wrenches by age 5. Bought my first car at 12. Had it road ready by age 14. Got offered a nice sum for it, so sold it at 15. Bought my truck by age 16. So, I didn't have a ratchet in my cradle as a babe, but definitely started at a young age. Been learning more about wrenching ever since.
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My Dad wasn't much on mechanical things but he did encourage me to take care of my bicycle, fixing flats, chains, and such. One thing he told me that always stuck with me is "you don't have to be as smart as the guy that designed it to be the guy that can fix it". He never would let me have a car or motorcycle even though I began working at 12 and had money of my own, so it wasn't until after I entered the army that I had my first car and motorcycle.
Most of my life I've had more time than money so had to learn how to do my own repairs as best as I could. I learn visually so reading a maintenance manual was a difficult process for me. Then I discovered the internet forums and YouTube, which has been a boon. Of course you get what you pay for with both.
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My dad (an ME) had a backfire incident with the big 425 V8 in his '65 Olds while setting the dwell. If it wasn't for his glasses it might have been tragic accident. As a result, he gave up doing his own maintenance. This created a need for someone in the family who could undertake light maintenance and emergency repairs. I started out with bicycles and lawn mowers and eventually took on the family automobiles. I never have done major repairs like engine rebuilds, but I'm pretty good with the little things like axle seals, U-joints, and swapping out ancilliary components. Most of my training came from shop manuals and helping friends with their rides, but I was also an avid reader of texts by folks like Kevin Cameron, Phil Schilling, and Cook Neilson. I'm still learning...
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Grew up on the farm, so we fixed everything. Unfortunately my older brother had the real skill - could literally fix anything. I was relegated to working on those things that most ham-fisted people could do.
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Mostly Haynes and Guzziology. Dad wasn't interested in things mechanical and had no tools. When I got the motorcycle bug I learned the hard way: making mistakes and then fixing them myself. Luck had a lot to do with it too because I never got in over my head... not yet anyway!
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as a student i bought my dream bike , a norton commando as daily transportation, and it broke down :-)
as a poor student having it repaired was out of the question.
so my parents gave me a workshop manual, i bought some crappy tools, and had a go at repairing it.
nobody i knew was working on cars or bikes, so i had a pretty steep learning curve.
learning by doing.
never stopped spannering after that...
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By breaking everything first... :popcorn:
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By breaking everything first... :popcorn:
"How are you so great at fixing everything?"
Because I learned early on that if you break it, you better fix it before someone notices. :grin:
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I haven't learned, and I'm not really interested or inclined, and I'm convinced I'm completely untalented.
Admittedly, having grown up in the fifties and sixties there might be a few things I could do if pressed - but I don't have a place to wrench and no tools, and it wouldn't be done realiably.
So, I've found I need two Guzzi's - hopefully there's one running if the other is waiting to be fixed by some mechanic. Mostly, both bikes get all maintenance and fixes by good wrenches during the winter and are operational all season....
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Reading the postings here it comes through loud and clear that mentoring is an important part of this wrenching thing. Neither of our son's grandparents were in to wrenching, but I got help at the start and now both son and grandson are in the automotive business.
I am also sure that having a mechanical interest helps us to respect and prolong the life of any equipment we own.
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I haven't learned, and I'm not really interested or inclined, and I'm convinced I'm completely untalented.
Admittedly, having grown up in the fifties and sixties there might be a few things I could do if pressed - but I don't have a place to wrench and no tools, and it wouldn't be done realiably.
So, I've found I need two Guzzi's - hopefully there's one running if the other is waiting to be fixed by some mechanic. Mostly, both bikes get all maintenance and fixes by good wrenches during the winter and are operational all season....
That right there is the saddest sto9ry I have heard in a long long time.
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Men in my generation learned life skills in the back seats of '62 Chevrolets.
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basically I like to take things apart...so kind of have to learn how to put things back together...one way or or another...LOL...
But didn't start "seriously" wrenching until I moved out of my parents' place a few years ago...because "wrenching" was deems "low class" in my dad's eye...
before I was just turning a screw here and there, hoping I don't break anymore stuff LOL
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My dad was a Harley mechanic most of his life. He even taught riding and mechanics at the army's motorcycle school in Ft. Knox during WWII. Unfortunately, he once told me "I'll help you do anything you want except be a motorcycle mechanic." He didn't mind me riding, just didn't want me to make a living the same way he did. So, he never actually tried to teach me any of the finer points of repairing a motorcycle. But he also liked to take care of his own stuff, so I learned a lot just from watching him. Anything else I know has all come from manuals and experience. I'm not a great wrench, but I can pretty well keep my stuff going.
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From RodeKyll:
think what he's saying is that much like owning a Borgward or Sunbeam, his relationship with Dusty has forced him to become a better mechanic. :grin:
I think I got started mechanicking out of necessity, and got good it -- like everything I got good at -- to piss off my dad. My dad discouraged me from doing things and didn't like me touching his stuff. He was a good woodworker, but not much for the wrenchy arts. I learned early and on the fly because he had no aptitude or patience for broken machinery, and we had a lot of it. I was expected to hand him the correct part or tool even if he didn't know what it was. At 5 or 6 I sure as hell didn't. He never did get it that journeymen are made, not born.
If it was something of mine broken I got to figure it out for myself and sneak the tools to do it. There was a gas station a mile from the house and I often went there to borrow something to fix my bike or whatever. Warren Swerengen (might be misspelled. He was a giant Scandinavian) let me hang out and watch him work, and actually explained what he was doing and why, like he was talking to himself. Sort of a running commentary. Things like side valves and magnetos made sense when you put it that way.
Warren knew dad so I think he felt sorry for me. Or maybe he thought I had potential. I'll never know. But he gave me a little steel box stuffed with enough of his stray and clapped out tools to rebuild the engine on a 8hp riding lawnmower and convert it into an offroad go kart when I was in 3rd grade. He answered my questions along the way and taught me old school stuff like annealing an old copper head gasket, and what is a copper head gasket. It went like stink. I still have the Ford wrench from that tool set. It may be my longest held possession.
I've had other motivations and other mentors, but those were the first.
Great story. Helps me to grasp you and your trike. :thumb:
GliderJohn
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My motto has always been, "never be afraid to work on somebody else's stuff."
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My dad owned a Flying “A” gas station when I was growing up in the late 60’s. I learned to push a broom, change oil; and, eventually fix cars at that station. Dad use to put me in the trunk and drive around and over bumps so that I could locate the “strange” noises for him. Today they probably would have arrested him for child abuse!
Lots of practice on my own numerous motorcycles, dune buggies and old cars growing up.
Vocational diesel mechanic school, after the military, and then on to college a few years later.
Studied Ag mechanics in college, then got a graduate degree as a vocational automotive instructor after I graduated.
Worked my way through college as an automotive mechanic at Sears.
After college I spent 25 years not twisting a wrench for a living, just for my own enjoyment.
Instead of teaching mechanics, I made my living making and selling a few billion lbs of bulk chocolate to candy and food companies.
Always fixed my own cars, bikes and my in-law’s tractors (he was a farmer).
Now that I’m retired, I still enjoy learning everything I can about the current bike I’m riding and still love twisting a wrench.
I will admit that my current Toyota Prius V scares the shit out of me mechanically! It is the first vehicle I’ve ever owned that I let the dealer service on a routine basis.
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That right there is the saddest sto9ry I have heard in a long long time.
Let's say I've learned to live with it :grin: (looking up from his book, sipping his champagne)
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I haven't learned, and I'm not really interested or inclined, and I'm convinced I'm completely untalented.
Admittedly, having grown up in the fifties and sixties there might be a few things I could do if pressed - but I don't have a place to wrench and no tools, and it wouldn't be done realiably.
So, I've found I need two Guzzi's - hopefully there's one running if the other is waiting to be fixed by some mechanic. Mostly, both bikes get all maintenance and fixes by good wrenches during the winter and are operational all season....
Nothing wrong with that ...
Let's say I've learned to live with it :grin: (looking up from his book, sipping his champagne)
One of my best friends couldn't change a sparkplug , and half the time couldn't find his keys .
Dusty
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I learned by making mistakes. What it cost to get it right was the price of that lesson. There's cheaper ways to learn...
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My dad owned a Flying �A� gas station when I was growing up in the late 60�s. I learned to push a broom, change oil; and, eventually fix cars at that station. Dad use to put me in the trunk and drive around and over bumps so that I could locate the �strange� noises for him. Today they probably would have arrested him for child abuse....
Dads can be like that.
When I was 10 or 11 mine was once trying to stop the car radio crackling so set off on a mission to put suppressors everywhere on the ignition system
He wasn't sure how to wire the one for the coil so stuck its lead under the HT output and said "cop hold of this nipper while I start the engine"
Couldn't work out why I burst into tears after receiving the full 25Kv (or whatever it was then)
However I can also fondly remember being asked to hold a gasket while he put some red Hermatite on it only for him to track the tube over my hand as well.
A lesson I made sure to pass forward to my stepson when the opportunity arose :grin:
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My eldest brother was always wrenching on his his cars. I learned some stuff watching him and then when I bought a Bug, John Muirs book saved me. :-)
Today I rely on forums, Youtube, workshop manuals.
Right now I am continuing to unravel the mysteries of the carburetor. Took apart the one from my Rebel and the CRF230. They spent time in the sonic cleaner and then put back together with new jets and rubber. The bikes seem to run great now..... yay!!!
Now I'm off to finish up the CRF....new chain, sprockets, fork fluid replacement, brake fluid, oil change. Simple stuff.
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First job out of high school....gas pump jockey at a Texaco station. Full service then. I would watch the mechanic while waiting for the next car. I learned to the periphery stuff first. Drum brakes was the first then oil changes. Transmission and rear-ends oil changes after that. When I picked up on motorcycles. I couldn't afford to pay others to work them.
Everything mechanical makes sense to me. For Guzzis, the MGNOC has been a big help before the internet. The newsletter with owner's tips plus the tips books helped with acquiring the info for working on Moto Guzzis. :thumb:
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Now I'm off to finish up the CRF....new chain, sprockets, fork fluid replacement, brake fluid, oil change. Simple stuff.
Simple, is it? :shocked: Just wait till you replace the fork fluid on a Stelvio .... ! :wink:
Lannis
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As a teenager I broke bikes that I couldn't afford to get fixed. Still had to get to work, so no choice really. As I did more of it I realized that it was fun :)
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My step dad sold building supplies. He had good carpentry skills, but avoided mechanical work. To him, a car wasn't broken as long as it could struggle up the hill to our driveway! I started off fixing bicycles and then lawn mowers. Moved very naturally into car repair and then motorcycles. Then the Navy made a nuclear plant mechanic outta me and I really got dangerous. Towards the end of my 20 in the navy I became a machinist and welder too. Retired from the Navy and started making cycle upholstery Kinda got forced into business by a local shop who saw how I had rebuilt some of my own Guzzi seats. Then I branched into sidecar upholstery. Still doing that part time 22 years later.
But since my step dad never taught me anything about being in business, I now have this huge chest of wooden nickles I have no use for. :evil: :evil:
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Wow .... when?
Thinking back, it was when my older brother bought me a 'motorcart.' a wooden framed machine powered by a Cliinton 3hp engine. The fellows that built the little cart were engineers at Union Carbide. It was equipped with a centrifugal clutch, and rolled on low friction soap box derby wheels. I kept it running for several years without any other help.
My first car, a 1958 PV 444 Volvo taught me a lot! About SU carbs, about tranny synchronizers. I finally pulled the engine, dismantled it, took the block to a machine shop who overbored it .060". I replaced stock pistons with a set of Kolbenschmidts.
Next step was my BSA 650 Spitfire Scrambler, which needed a ring job. I did that operation in my mom's basement, and later proved that my work did work, by riding the Beezer from Charleston WV to Port Isabel TX and back.
So ....... back when, nothing scared me. Today, I measure twice and cut once! But I always respected the fact that someone smarter than me had designed the machine.
Bob
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By breaking everything first.
"How are you so great at fixing everything?"
Because I learned early on that if you break it, you better fix it before someone notices. :grin:
Dad had great mechanical sense, but mostly with wood and bicycles. He repaired his bicycles, built furniture, a cider press and a sailboat - he's willing to try almost anything and is basically fearless (mtn climber, skier, cyclist) but doesn't have much patience for anything with an engine.
(https://thumb.ibb.co/nx6Yao/Osprey_Mom.jpg) (https://ibb.co/nx6Yao)
Dad's father was a machinist during WWII working on Packards for PT-boats and Dad still has Grandpa's Starrett micrometers. Somehow I got the mechanical bug early - pulled the training wheels off my bicycle but got in trouble for leaving Dad's wrench out in the rain, took apart the toy train to see how it worked (Mom thought I'd broken it), built toy boats and planes and fixed my bicycles. Dad always had just enough tools to do the work - saws, vice and nails for wood - wrenches, files and hammers for everything else...
Finally got the 4-stroke bug at about 16.5 years because of a '52 Dodge PU and was terrible at it - (Looked down the plug hole on a flathead and couldn't figure out why the piston only went up and down every other revolution - was looking at the valve!). About 2 years later got the MC bug with a BSA 441 and was even worse at that - but was able to get it running again after wrecking it and replacing the frame.
Finally bought the Ariel to restore and the quality of my work has gotten better but always by doing it wrong first. :rolleyes:
But that's OK 'cause students learn by doing - and learn fastest by making mistakes.
I still make many embarrassing mistakes. :embarrassed:
Fun topic!
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Started on bicycles, then in High School I took Auto Shop before I owned my first car. Shortly thereafter, I purchased a '62 Corvair Spyder and then went to work at an auto parts store. Pressed wheel bearings, turned drums (later discs), arced shoes, etc. Learned to tune and later rebuild engines, carbs, transmissions and differentials (hate doing those).
Worked with multiple carburetors and learned to balance them using a Uni-Syn (still have it - works great). Rebuilt my first Guzzi in the '70s after 'Nam. It ran and I had fun. Previously, most of the bikes I rode belonged to others, so I tried not to break them.
These days, my bikes have way too much electronic stuff on them, so other than fluid changes, setting valves, and fixing accessory electrical things, I leave the heavy lifting to others. I'd much rather ride then wrench, and I can afford to pay someone else to do what they enjoy.
If push comes to shove, my wife holds an FAA A&P, so I expect she can figure it out. Hopefully we can get to rebuilding her '57 Chevy next year. I'm looking forward to tearing into that engine.
jdg
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My did worked on his cars.
My brother and I were always tinkering with things. One year he got a socket set for his birthday. We went out in the field by our house and took the head off of an old Flathead Plymouth.
I was not afraid to wrench on my bike.
I took auto shop in High School.
My brother left me with his '66 VW fastback that needed constant attention in order to stay on the road.
I don't wrench on my cars now, but I do a bit of work on motorcycles.
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Simple, is it? :shocked: Just wait till you replace the fork fluid on a Stelvio .... ! :wink:
Lannis
Or the Baby Breva. :rolleyes:
Lannis, as a Ye Olde English aficionado you would understand. My old Matchless had little tapped plugs at the bottom of the sliders. Remove plug, pump up and down, replace oil, finished.
Breva. Remove front wheel, remove mudguard, remove windshield, shift some elecronics, remove forks from clamps, tip upside down, pump and drain, refil, reverse all the preceding operations. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Why didn't they just fit a drain plug in the bottom like the Poms?
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Born to it? Yeah.
My family had a small factory producing parts for Ford and Firestone. So since I was old enough to walk I was hand-held through machinery.
When I was seven, I got put on the lawn tractor. Cool. The summer I was eight, the transmission developed an annoying hitch, jumping out of gear and back in again. Of course, nobody cared for the complaints of an 8-year-old.
We had a shop in the back building with a chain fall and some basic hand tools. So...
I hoisted the tractor and took apart the transmission. (I had no idea about oils...the floor was a mess)
My Dad and Grandfather came around, and the look of horror on Dad's face was something I'd never seen before or since. He just said, "You better be able to put that back together".
My Grandfather laughed until he cried.
I showed them the worn dogs, and said "we make things, can't we fix these?" Dad said no. Grampa looked at him and said, "If he's smart enough to bring us a problem we can fix, we should fix it". So they took the gears to the toolroom and welded and reground the dogs.
I put it all back together (thank goodness the gasket stuck all to one side) and after appropriate examination and approval, tested it. Perfect. That tractor lasted another 10 years.
Never looked back.
My favorite quote, by a friend, while watching me fish a lost cable from inside a carbon-fiber swingarm; "You've broken more expensive stuff than this, haven't you?"
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Reading the postings here it comes through loud and clear that mentoring is an important part of this wrenching thing. Neither of our son's grandparents were in to wrenching, but I got help at the start and now both son and grandson are in the automotive business.
I am also sure that having a mechanical interest helps us to respect and prolong the life of any equipment we own.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. I have a natural talent for gears and metal, but if not for a couple of the "Old Guys" around, including my Grandfather- who introduced me to spark ignitions by having me touch the plug top on the mower while pulling the rope- I'd never have been as competent with electricity, hydraulics, and air conditioning. Those things have voodoo in them, and you have to be taught the magic spells to control the beasts.
My last job was with Navistar in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting MRAPs. The best part of that job was taking some poor kid who was in way over his head and giving him some useful skills and a visible path forward. I'm a fastidious but slow technician, which made customers love me and bosses hate me. I'm really a far better teacher than worker.
We should all be aware that the kid who hangs around a little too long is asking to be taught.
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Looks like the majority of us work on our own stuff or know how to. I'm convinced that machines hold up better and respond better to those who understand them. There are some great responses here.
I've always enjoyed puzzles and like to know what makes things tick. Got a 10 speed bicycle (cheap) when I was 14, at a police auction because it was in pieces. Looked good otherwise. Figured out how to put it back together and rode it for many years after that. Got a 150 Honda Dream for a first bike and a family friend helped me replace the rings. He was a general contractor, but built and raced Quarter Midgets for fun. He restored old cars or built hot rods also. Watching him I picked up some mechanics and body/fender and painting. One summer he helped me build a 1950 Chevy panel truck - mostly supervised me doing all the body work and sanding. At the end of the summer he shot the paint.
My dad was mechanically inclined and had all the tools, but we didn't get along too well. I was always wrenching on my bikes - couldn't afford a car. He gave me the viewpoint that if a man created it, a man could figure out how it worked and fix it. I'd take apart broken stuff - dig it out of the trash, figure out how to take it apart (a lot of stuff wasn't ever designed to be dismantled or repaired) figure out what was broken and put it back together. Skills gained would help with the next bit of junk. I could tell others made fun of me for fixing something worth only a few bucks, but that wasn't the point. How much would you pay for a good puzzle?
A mechanic friend had health issues so I helped him for three or four months at the auto repair shop where he worked. I've always repaired my own cars and bikes, partly to save money, but also because I'd heard so many stories of shoddy work. I wanted to know my stuff was fixed right and that I could depend on it. It was also the mystery and challenge of the job, besides - there's a satisfaction gotten from taking something broken and making it operational again. That satisfaction wells up every time it gets used.
Electrical problems were the most difficult for me to comprehend - can't see mechanical parts interacting - and took the longest to get comfortable with.
So to answer the question - I'd have to say I had some mentoring to begin with, a father with the engineering viewpoint (...can make anything...), and the interest and tenacity. Once you've got the basics you can think through individual situations to resolve them.
That was one of the things that drew me to airheads and to these older Guzzis - they're bikes I enjoy working on and feel I could repair on the side of the road.
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Or the Baby Breva. :rolleyes:
Lannis, as a Ye Olde English aficionado you would understand. My old Matchless had little tapped plugs at the bottom of the sliders. Remove plug, pump up and down, replace oil, finished.
Breva. Remove front wheel, remove mudguard, remove windshield, shift some elecronics, remove forks from clamps, tip upside down, pump and drain, refil, reverse all the preceding operations. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Why didn't they just fit a drain plug in the bottom like the Poms?
They did. Then they didn't anymore.
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They did. Then they didn't anymore.
When I worked in an engineering firm my (motorcyclist) boss thought of doing it, the only thing stopping us was the thought of how thick the alloy was. He did of course say we could build up a boss around the plug.
Was there any reason that you know of as to why they stopped doing the logical?
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My guess is that they saved the cost of a worker and a production station by eliminating the drilling step. The boss remains on the late continuing forks, but it hasn't been surfaced or finished. They can be drilled and tapped for a zirc. A straight thread zirc will act as a drain plug and a fill point if you want to pump a pint of 10w in that way. The passage from the boss up to the fork leg has been finished. I saw one a few days ago. It's only about 2mm in diameter. So pumping upward could take a while.