A five minute job, ten tops, and yet, hours later,...

The Sock

The Sock

Hero member
Location
London, England
We've all had them!
Tell your own tale of woe, here.
I went out to the garage, this morning, to remove my forks for an overhaul and my exhaust pipes for re-chroming.
Knocked off at six-thirty, having fought with it all day. Forks are out, after a bitter struggle, including a steeering stem locknut which had picked up on the inside of the top yoke. It eventually came out, fretted like a seized piston. I'll clean it up before it goes back in
The exhaust pipes, two of which refuse to separate from the collector are soaking in a bath of diesel, in the hope I can get the damn things out tommorrow.

Locknut looks like a seized piston.Steering Stem Locknut.JPG
 
Being basically lazy once tried to replace a top yoke over the steering stem and fork tops with the front wheel on the ground , meaning the forks and stem were supporting the weight of the bike within the steering head...tapped away to seat the yoke , kept going but realised this wasn`t the way to do it....having the wheel off the ground ( or better still removed completely ) would have lessened pressure between stem and steering head and enabled yoke to slip into place over both stem and fork tops much more easily...will make sure I don`t try to cut corners next time and take the trouble to do it properly...

Bash the pipes like you really hate them with a rubber mallet where they meet the box first one way and then the next with the system lying upside down on the ground ( cushioned ) ....usually worked for me...
 
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Doing some rear shock work and while removing the top bolt it Galled, yes I know now lube stainless bolts. I couldn't get room to cut it off so I eventually sheared it off with a big spanner, extremely hard work that took a few hours, they get lubed now.
 
The worst feeling in the world is to place a bolt or setscrew into a casing , start it off and then just feel it turning and turning without tightening.....usually the result of some previous heavy handed prat going by "feel" instead of being bothered to use a torque wrench...

I`ve had this on engines previously rebuilt by supposedly specialist dealers...
More time wasted putting right someone else`s mistakes...

Although going back to the title of this thread " A five minute job , ten tops , and yet , hours later " usually means it`s a nice day so I`ve gone outside to sit in the sun for a while...
 
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I decided to change a tyre on my Tiger Cub - bloke said leave it in the sun and you should be able to walk it on - I sweated more getting that old tyre on a 16 in rim than taking cylinder out of a combine harvester - I was physically wrecked - I bent every lever I had - resorted to big screw drivers in the end
 
My first and only tyre change at home, Trying for a Shane Watts 3-minute tyre change. Metzler 6-ply MX tyre, crazy tough carcass. Resulting in multiple tube pinches. I have a man for that these days. Changing tyres, not pinching tubes. Hi Marty.
 
It’s 1987, I’m 17 and have just bought a ‘cracking ‘74 Triumph Daytona, rode it home from Staines ( an omen?) and the pipes are chuffing at the head. They are only push /gun gum fit so I decide to remove head to have earlier 5TA stubs fitted, quick grind of the valves and the seats appear to spinning in the head! Send head off for seat,guides and stubs…
Pistons are on +60, barrels off and small ends are worn..as kickstart quadrant, gear dogs, clutch…
After being told repeatedly “ They all do that..” I sold it to Yvonne from Birmingham having only ever ridden it back home. And your worried about the forks being sticky!
 
I recently had reason to change the exhaust on a series 2 Atlas. Now I knew from previous experience that it wouldn’t be a 5 minute job but after two days or so battling with it, which ended up cutting up/off the old manifold and a deadline to meet to get the replacement fitted I am embarrassed to say I failed and left it to the new owner to complete the job.
Sorry Vince.
 
So no lap of Oz till the exhaust is fitted, boat arrives 1/12. Customs for X time. I can hardly wait. Been a pleasure dealing with you, Andy. And lots of fun coming getting to know the bike.
 
And after all those years, you're still surprised?
You know when you start, never when you'll finish.
There's no such thing as a straightforward job on these old heaps.

Paul
 
What I didn’t mention previously is that I will have a permanent reminder of this episode as I now have a scar above my left eye, but as long as I don’t start plucking my eyebrows nobody will notice.
And how come, I hear you ask.
Well, my friend Charles gallantly responded to my call for help and came around with, among other things, a heat gun, penetrating oil and a couple of large mallets.🙂
During one of the sessions with the bigger ‘persuader’, in my attempt to see if anything was moving, I got slightly too close for comfort and was caught on the upswing.
I don’t think I need to say anything more. 🤕
 
Andy J said:
What I didn’t mention previously is that I will have a permanent reminder of this episode as I now have a scar above my left eye, but as long as I don’t start plucking my eyebrows nobody will notice.
And how come, I hear you ask.
Well, my friend Charles gallantly responded to my call for help and came around with, among other things, a heat gun, penetrating oil and a couple of large mallets.🙂
During one of the sessions with the bigger ‘persuader’, in my attempt to see if anything was moving, I got slightly too close for comfort and was caught on the upswing.
I don’t think I need to say anything more. 🤕
Click to expand...
We have a saying here. You nod and I'll hit it, springs to mind.🤕
 
What turns a ten minute job into something lasting hours ( for me usually anyway ) is cleaning...

Replace a gearbox sprocket ? ...Take the cover off and see all the muck that`s built up in there ...a good hour spent trying ( not very successfully ) to try getting that clean again , never mind changing the sprocket...

New pads ? ...Calipers always look like they could do with a good clean , grease the pins , try to ignore sticking pistons etc. ...... never mind just putting the new pads in...

Even just putting new spark plugs in means an extra half hour or so polishing the cam cover and cleaning the underside of the petrol tank...whilst your`re in there it might as well be done hadn`t it...and you`ll feel a lot better knowing it`s been spruced up a bit...😮‍💨

And whatever you do try to avoid anything that might need doing regarding carbs...that`ll mean the best part of a morning armed with a toothbrush trying to get into all those little nooks and crannies....

It just goes on and on......
 
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rocketonarail said:
What turns a ten minute job into something lasting hours ( for me usually anyway ) is cleaning...

Replace a gearbox sprocket ? ...Take the cover off and see all the muck that`s built up in there ...a good hour spent trying ( not very successfully ) to try getting that clean again , never mind changing the sprocket...

New pads ? ...Calipers always look like they could do with a good clean , grease the pins , try to ignore sticking pistons etc. ...... never mind just putting the new pads in...

Even just putting new plugs in means an extra half hour or so polishing the cam cover and cleaning the underside of the petrol tank...whilst your`re in there it might as well be done hadn`t it...and you`ll feel a lot better knowing it`s been spruced up a bit...😮‍💨

And whatever you do try to avoid anything that might need doing regarding carbs...that`ll mean the best part of a morning armed with a toothbrush trying to get into all those little nooks and crannies....

It just goes on and on......
Click to expand...
Clean?
Paul
 
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