What's Your Mechanical Skill Level?

[Lannis]

I'm one of those guys with no innate, instinctive mechanical skill.   Many guys here have that, like people that can play the piano effortlessly without lessons.

I have to try hard.   When my Dad died when I was 13, I busied myself out in the shop building trailbikes out of conduit, and tiller engines, jigged them up, and took them to the tractor shop to be welded.

I can install a clutch, or install a top end that someone else has machined, can take the engine out of any of my bikes, install wheel bearings, change tubed or tubeless tires, change a points/coil over to an electronic ignition and make it work, I can rebuild an Amal or Mikuni or SU or Dellorto carburetor, and I can disassemble my Stelvio forks to change springs and seals.

I can NOT do any kind of body or paint work, I never learned how to weld, I can't line-bore a set of cases to install a crank in a BSA, I can't ream bushings to fit a shaft, I've never shimmed a transmission, I can't rebuild a mechanical or electronic speedo or tach.   But luckily, there are trustworthy people to do those not-every-day jobs who DO have the skill and equipment to do it, and they generally charge reasonably ...

So it all works out.

Lannis (edit: despite appearances, I did NOT copy ITSEC's post.   We were typing at the same time ... )

[oldbike54]

But nobody can fix that busted weedeater, nobody.

 I can , run it over with a riding mower , then place it in a bearing press and apply a couple tons of pressure , then set it on fire . After all that , go buy a new Stihl 

 Dusty

[pressureangle]

I can , run it over with a riding mower , then place it in a bearing press and apply a couple tons of pressure , then set it on fire . After all that , go buy a new Stihl 

 Dusty

*Battery powered* Stihl. 

[v7john]

I reckon I'm pretty good. An 8 perhaps. Not just a replacement parts fitter.

I'm a home taught mechanic who has restored a number of cars from the 60s and 70s, built kit-cars for people and used to be half of an evening and weekend car repair business. I'm (very) slow and methodical but will tackle anything - Citroen hydro-pneumatic systems included.

It all stems from having no money but plenty of time so I had to turn my hand to whatever I could. Never really had much success with carpentry though.

[oldbike54]

*Battery powered* Stihl. 

 Of course . In fact , when my Honda powered lawn mower gives up , a battery powered mower will replace it . Sick and tired of dealing with little IC engines .

 Dusty

[Huzo]

  Thanks, Primary ratio is 1.54, final drive is 2.08... The overall gear ratio in 5th direct is 3.20....with a 25.25 inch tall rear tire that's about 175 mph at 7500 RPM......Should be a combined 125 HP and 80 ft lbs torque @7200 rpm....realisticall y I think 165-170 at 7200 RPM may be possible with perfect conditions...
 Mechanic rating????? There's a lot of guys better and smarter than me....
 

OK, you're the man, it just looked like the rear sprocket at least, was about the same as std. and therefore engine/s would be revving at similar figures as standard, so with twice the torque on hand, you'd pull a taller gear to propel you faster. But as I said you've done well so far without my input but just very interesting project, will you keep us all informed ? Love this stuff.

[guzzisteve]

I'm a dummy, just ask my wife!!

[Lannis]

I'm a dummy, just ask my wife!!

Family troubles are not the ones at issue here ... us old men all know what you're going through!   

YOUR answer better be "I do this for money - you'd better believe I'm damned good at anything having to do with motorcycle mechanical issues!" 

Lannis

[Mike Harper]

After all else fails there is always this

Harper's Moto Guzzi
Harper’s Moto Guzzi does all types of repairs on your Moto Guzzi. Don’t wait till spring to fix those annoying little problems. We also do component work, meaning you can send us your engine, transmission, rear drive, starter, carburetors or brake parts and we can get them serviced and ready for your 2017 riding season now. You can call us at 816.697.3411 and discuss your issues and get your problems resolved.
http://www.harpermoto.com
 

[Zazu]

I can spell it ... 

[Lannis]

After all else fails there is always this

Harper's Moto Guzzi
Harper�s Moto Guzzi does all types of repairs on your Moto Guzzi. Don�t wait till spring to fix those annoying little problems. We also do component work, meaning you can send us your engine, transmission, rear drive, starter, carburetors or brake parts and we can get them serviced and ready for your 2017 riding season now. You can call us at 816.697.3411 and discuss your issues and get your problems resolved.
http://www.harpermoto.com
 

"But luckily, there are trustworthy people to do those not-every-day jobs who DO have the skill and equipment to do it, and they generally charge reasonably ...

So it all works out."

Hey, you're some of THOSE guys I was talking about ... !

[Rough Edge racing]

OK, you're the man, it just looked like the rear sprocket at least, was about the same as std. and therefore engine/s would be revving at similar figures as standard, so with twice the torque on hand, you'd pull a taller gear to propel you faster. But as I said you've done well so far without my input but just very interesting project, will you keep us all informed ? Love this stuff.

  It's a 50 tooth 60's Triumph sprocket bolted to the original cut down Suzuki sprocket. This way I could space the sprocket 1/2 inch to one side for alignment to the Harley transmission and still retain the Suzuki cush drive in the rear wheel...
 I learned stuff like this from running large electrical construction projects, always looking ahead for conflicts and dropping two birds with one stone when possible..

[giusto]

I'm a dummy, just ask my wife!!

Now that's funny!


I have two opposable thumbs and can usially follow directions.

I can make toast and a fine Negroni

[Huzo]

  It's a 50 tooth 60's Triumph sprocket bolted to the original cut down Suzuki sprocket. This way I could space the sprocket 1/2 inch to one side for alignment to the Harley transmission and still retain the Suzuki cush drive in the rear wheel...
 I learned stuff like this from running large electrical construction projects, always looking ahead for conflicts and dropping two birds with one stone when possible..

Ok, love to hear or see how it works out. Are the engines arranged to provide power pulses at even intervals as in every 180 deg of crank rotation to sound like a four, or both number one cylinders fire at the same time for a Big Bang effect or some other. If you've made a conscious choice how to match the firing intervals of the two engines, what was your rationale ?

[John A]

I retired after being an aviation maintenance inspector with an Inspection authorization so I cant even tune a gasoline engine.
sometimes I get lucky though! A pump is a pump, a gear is a gear no matter what it is on, just different specifications, tolerances and procedures, whether its on an Allison C20 or a motorbike. its the thought process that counts

[TOMB]

Dumb enough to get into trouble- smart enough to  know when to  ask for help

TOMB

[Arizona Wayne]

Figure my mechanical skills were a 7 but now about a 6 as my memory is not what it used to be.   When I got my 1st bike my skills were a 1, but owning a MC made me change that `cause I had no extra $ to pay someone else to maintain my bike for me.  Do what I can and pay for what I can't.  Most required things I can do myself. 

[johnr]

I entered motorcycling in an era when manufacturers expected the owners to do quite a lot of their own work and the bikes were built accordingly. Ease of fixing was considered a virtue.  I also live in a society where "do it yourself" is a respected tradition, and in many cases was the only way to get it done at all.  I was a school boy then and could not afford to have others do the work for me. I still can't.

(gratuitous relevant add)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ9JH4CeSlo

I wrote the following about my first bike, a 1950 BSA Gold Flash.

I had absolutely no mechanical knowledge in those days so the thing was taken into a bike shop. While I was there I complained that on the Friday night on my third, and successful, attempt to get over 90 mph (in a 30mph area of course) the bike had shaken so badly that the petrol tap had vibrated shut! Could they perhaps look at the big ends (which I had heard caused heavy vibrations when shot) while it was there and ring me if anything else needed doing along the way?

1st phone call
"Your valves, springs and guides are absolutely stuffed and need replacing.. Valve seats too!"

"You'd better do it."

2nd phone call
"One pot needs a  re-bore and the other needs a new sleeve, so that's new sleeves and pistons all round."

"(long pause as one thinks how big and expensive this job is getting.) Oh well, there's not much point in doing the other stuff and not doing that, go ahead"

3rd phone call
"You'd better come and look at this!"
"OK"

I went and looked.

When I got to the shop I was shown how to detect big end play. If you grab a con rod and yank it up and down you should not be able to feel any movement at all. They let me try with a good one. Then they got me to do it with one of mine. Sure enough it clicked up and down a little.  "That's stuffed" quoth Neil Nielson, the foreman there at the time. "Now try your other one."  My eyes got big! The other one had no less than a 1/4 inch of play! It had worn right through the bearing and into the rod itself!

Neilson said that I could have ridden that thing round the block and it would have blown sky high. I'd been doing 90mph on it! No wonder it shook the petrol tap shut!  A re-conditioned crank, new rods and bearings were duly added to the expense, obviously.

So I paid 40 Pound (or rather my father did) for that bike, rode it round for a few weeks, and then pop had to spend a further 400 getting it fixed.  I was after all a poverty struck school boy at the time. I earned a couple of quid a week mowing lawns and that kept me in smokes and some gas, but major repairs were beyond my means. That's what Pop's were for. 

I had even been known to mix the lawn mower petrol  1/2 and 1/2 with kerosene, all pinched from pops shed of course, to keep the thing running.

Eventually, after spending a lot of time sitting on a crate watching it's progress during its second major sojourn in a bike shop,  I popped into Whitcoulls, bought a workshop manual for it and started wielding spanners and screwdrivers myself.

So in the end I felt confident doing a mechanics job on my own machinery, and others as long as I had a workshop manual on hand.  Jobs requiring specialised skills and tools, welding, machining, still had to be farmed out.

I also quickly developed an aversion for  letting the zit faced 15 year old apprentice anywhere near my bike with his cold chisel.

Although I was only a parts guy, working with Lucas for years greatly enhanced my ability with their systems and later, spending nine months working under the tutelage of a bunch of toolmakers brought new skills to the table. I think I am a frustrated toolmaker.

I could never afford my own machine tools though and those skills have not been maintained. It frustrated me paying vast sums to a machine shop to do a simple job that I could do better myself.

One thing that has me flummoxed these days is the electronics associated with fuel injection and electronic ignition.  I'm not confident in that arena at all and am very hesitant to get involved with it as a result.

Where all that leaves me on a 1 to 10 scale I have absolutely no idea.

[Shorty]

I already admitted I cannot keep a Convert running........for long.... Same with Ural. I suspect I'd be a poor Royal Enfield repairman, too. I have surprised myself and brought some bikes back from the dead. So, I guess I'm a hack. BUT, as we say at the airline, "I'm keeping the money!"   

[Guzzistajohn]

I get along with my old tonti bikes ok. I've known them quite awhile. The new ones? Not so much.

[Rough Edge racing]

Ok, love to hear or see how it works out. Are the engines arranged to provide power pulses at even intervals as in every 180 deg of crank rotation to sound like a four, or both number one cylinders fire at the same time for a Big Bang effect or some other. If you've made a conscious choice how to match the firing intervals of the two engines, what was your rationale ?

 Big bang more or less. The left front fires 5 degrees before the left rear... most twin engine Triumphs in the past  used this arrangement.....The primary drive is similar to the one used in 1970 on a dual engine Triumph that was the second naked bike in LSR history to top 200 MPH..
 The bike retains the Harley electric starter and the rider just pushes a button...
  My first primary drive only lasted 10 minutes before the counter shaft bearings failed. I then fabricated a new one from Harley primary chain and sprockets...I  modified a 2005 Subaru wheel bearing hub for the counter shaft. It has held up ok so far...galled up a piston while full throttle testing on the back roads because a cylinder leaned out for unknown reasons...So a redesign of the fuel supply and still waiting for a replacement piston...
  This project taxed my abilities to the limit..

   This failed......
   


  The fix. The crude welding was the test mule

   
 

    Piston damage and bearings ruined from piston debris...The cylinder was also scrap....Shit happens with racing junk
   
     

[Testarossa]

I've always done my own work, not because I knew how, but because I had no money -- or just enough to scrounge parts. I bought bikes used, often used up, and did what I could to get them running properly, paying little attention to cosmetic issues. Until recently, never had a proper workshop either. I've made about every mistake possible and have often had to do jobs over again. I guess you could say I'm stubborn rather than skilled. Robert Littell wrote that "An amateur believes that a job worth doing may be worth doing badly."

That said, through determination, curiosity, listening to experts, trial and error and patience, I've eventually gotten each of  my bikes to sing.

[Scud]

My skill level is "improving." Big thanks to this site and V11LeMans.com. I started working on cars - restored by 1965 Mustang twice. But only did minor work on motorcycles. I'm at a point where the kids are getting more independent and I have more time. I am really enjoying my motorcycle projects. Recently split a transmission and installed a timing chain - both firsts for me, and both with advice and security of knowing I could get more advice from these two online communities.

[charlie b]

I have loved working on stuff as long as I can remember.  I always wanted to know how stuff works.  This led me into a career in mechanical engineering.

Started with building models when I was 6 or 7.  Worked on my first motor when I was 11.  Briggs and Straton that I put in a home made go kart.  Took it apart, then back together and it actually ran.  I got a welded frame and built the rest on my weekly allowance.  The frame was $10 and the engine was $5 (my lawn mowing money was $5 a week).

Change the oil on the family car when I was 12 (supervised).  Took auto shop for 2 yrs in high school and metalworking class for one year.  I am decent at everything except gas welding.  Never go the hang of it.

Taught myself electrical stuff and electronics.  Built a computer at one time.  Made data acquisition systems back when they were separate components.  Taught myself computer programming, Fortran, Basic, Pascal, C, etc, etc.

I am comfortable taking apart just about anything if I have a manual for it to get it back together.  I used to do all my own car maintenance, just because it was cheaper that way.

I am not a person who makes really nice looking stuff.  I am definitely of the mind of function over form.  Because of that I love rat bikes.

Like above, I am a construction type carpenter.  I can do fine detailed stuff, just don't like to.  I'd rather screw together a few 2x4's and sheets of plywood than work in walnut, mahogany etc.

[sidmonsters]

I am dumbfounded at the level of expertise on this forum.  I can dry stack stone retaining walls, build various s--t in wood and bolts, stabilize a blown ACL in a dog, but electricity and motorcycles?  My life and my family depend on those, and I am happy to leave it to the experts.  Doing my part for the local economy!
PS-don't try to spay your dog in your shop.  It's not really trial and error work...nor, for me, is changing brakes on my motos.  Or any other critical stuff. Stuff that makes the bike go.  or stop.  or stay upright.  I did put LED lights on (plug and play), changed windshield out, and put Euro mirrors on.  That'll do, donkey!
Steve

[oldbike54]

 Steve , this is why we network .

 Dusty

[redrider90]

old technology or new tech?
Old techology I am an 8 if I have the speciality tools. Electronics I am a 3 and if I have someone like Triple Jim to lean on then I am a 9.
Transmissions I'd rather pull off the motor and send someone good.
New tech MCs  with mapping and computers and funky in the tank fuel pumps that I am a 1. But then I have never worked on one.
Cars: old school I have completely restored a 68 Cutlass convertible. The automatic tranny  I did not do the work. Nor did I tackle the new top. Automatics are foreign to me.
I did have a 3 speed stick 68 Chevy pickup in my lap one day after the rear needle bearings got dirt and water in it when I was doing a clutch and flywheel replacement. I managed to take it apart clean it and put it back together sitting there on the ground.

[Huzo]

I don't pretend to know any more than Joe average but out of interest, would re phasing the front engine so that front left fires 180 deg later than rear left therefore giving 180 deg intervals throughout  720 deg, result in a more measured torque load on the drive line so as to remove some of the shocks down the stream ? I remember Troy Bayliss' Ducati could be re fitted with a Big Bang configured engine essentially two v twins side by side. He said it was easier in the rain but lunched itself with monotonous regularity. Now if I'm not mistaken (probably am), but I think they went to a "long bang" some bloody how by getting one bank firing a bit further apart and got better longevity, but I might be talking rubbish there.

[Phang]

I wanted to say 2 but I often assemble IKEA furnitures wrongly even after reading the pictorial instructions. So that put me back to 1

with Internet access  +1
ask questions and get replies from forum members +2
having the right tools for the job +1

so I can be as good as 5

[pete roper]

I wanted to say 2 but I often assemble IKEA furnitures wrongly even after reading the pictorial instructions. So that put me back to 1

with Internet access  +1
ask questions and get replies from forum members +2
having the right tools for the job +1

so I can be as good as 5

Too much logic!

I'll be in Changi, (The airport, not the prison!) in about twelve hours. Pity I don't have more than three hours, we could catch up!

Next time......

Pete