How'd you learn to wrench?

[Lannis]

Now I'm off to finish up the CRF....new chain, sprockets, fork fluid replacement, brake fluid, oil change.  Simple stuff.

Simple, is it?     Just wait till you replace the fork fluid on a Stelvio .... ! 

Lannis

[MikeLemon]

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 :)

[sidecarnutz]

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. 

[ohiorider]

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

[SED]

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. 

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.





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. 

But that's OK 'cause students learn by doing - and learn fastest by making mistakes.

I still make many embarrassing mistakes. 

Fun topic!

[jdgretz]

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

[Scott of the Sahara]

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.

[Muzz]

Simple, is it?     Just wait till you replace the fork fluid on a Stelvio .... ! 

Lannis

Or the Baby Breva.

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.

Why didn't they just fit a drain plug in the bottom like the Poms?

[pressureangle]

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?"

[pressureangle]

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.

[wirespokes]

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.

[rodekyll]

Or the Baby Breva.

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.

Why didn't they just fit a drain plug in the bottom like the Poms?

They did.  Then they didn't anymore.

[Muzz]

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?

[rodekyll]

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.