I have done some stuff on my car, and have done general service on a John Deere, but I am totally new to bikes. My Dad made sure I knew how to check my fluids and change a tire before I started driving my first car and now that I have a bike I want to be able to maintain/fix it as well...or at least be able to if/when necessary...or at least know what the mechanic is talking about
So I signed up for a (ladies only) motorcycle workshop at the local community college. It is over 2 Fridays and is an intro to their motorcycle program. I'm hoping to get a good overview there, at least learn some good MC vocabulary and how to change the oil, lube the chain correctly, adjust brakes/clutch, etc.
Well first I wrecked it in a "soft" slide. Then I waited a year for someone to fix it who never quite could get it done. So, I bought the book and talked to a guy I know who used to ride a lot who is now blind and he talked me though rebuilding the clutch master cylander and then bleeding the line. And when it still wouldn't start I explored until I found the part that was missing (some plunger thingy that was lost by the guy who never got around to fixing it) and I found in on an OEM website and ordered the part, installed it and now it works ... except the battery is dead! And I am scared to death to try and tackle electricty! Now, I am just trying to afford a trailer so I can get the darn thing somewhere where the battery can be pulled off and replaced. Sigh... It has been a long long year.
It is a lot harder when you have no one but yourself, but if you don't do it, then it never gets done.
Becca
The only time when evil can triamph, is when good men do nothing!
Rebeccaatthewell wrote:Well first I wrecked it in a "soft" slide. Then I waited a year for someone to fix it who never quite could get it done. So, I bought the book and talked to a guy I know who used to ride a lot who is now blind and he talked me though rebuilding the clutch master cylander and then bleeding the line. And when it still wouldn't start I explored until I found the part that was missing (some plunger thingy that was lost by the guy who never got around to fixing it) and I found in on an OEM website and ordered the part, installed it and now it works ... except the battery is dead! And I am scared to death to try and tackle electricty! Now, I am just trying to afford a trailer so I can get the darn thing somewhere where the battery can be pulled off and replaced. Sigh... It has been a long long year.
It is a lot harder when you have no one but yourself, but if you don't do it, then it never gets done.
Becca
Hey Becca, the battery should be a piece of cake (assuming you already got to it under the seat or whereever it sits). Its just like a car battery, one ground (black) and the hot/power (red) wire. Just disconnect the two (mine are held on by a phillips head screw), pull the old battery out and drop the new one in place, then reconnect the leads and you're set
Well, the battery is underneath the entire bike on a little pannel that has to be lowered to get to it. If it was more accessable I might not mind so much, but it is massivly hard to work with underneath the bike.
However, thanks for the encouragement:)
Becca
The only time when evil can triamph, is when good men do nothing!
You can rent motorcycle trailers from U-haul for pretty cheap (I think like $35 a day or something like that, unlimited miles) - that might be a better option for you.
For me, I'm a visual learner. Manuals do almost NOTHING for me it I need to learn from scratch.
Now, if someone can show me a task, THEN I can go back and use the manual to reinforce it if I need to.
I just did a 6K service on my Rockster the other night (closer to 20K, than 18K oops)... valve adjustment (actually more a 'check' only one valve was out of spec), and oil/filter change.
I admit that I should have done the throttle body sync, but hubby had the ThrottleBody Master hooked up almost before I had my gear off from the warm up ride. And THAT too was a 'confirm' rather than any adjustment needed.
I'm getting there.
P
Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity - Alice Paul
Awesome! I have a hard time matching up what is in the manual, instructions to what is right in front of me. I can read the description, but then I go and look at it, and it makes no sense. Also, I have a little trouble with figuring out how stuff goes - like it will take me four tries to put the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle in!
I'm pretty mechanical -- of three kids, I was the one who took apart alarm clocks, found out how the talking doll talked, and eventually got into all sorts of tech-y things. But I'm not much good at heavy lifting and I usually need drawings to figure out complex mechanical things. (My brother and sister had other skills).
With cars and my scooter, if all it takes is determination and the instructions, I'll try it and usually succeed. If it calls for serious skills (setting the valves on an MGB, for instance), I try to find an expert. A lot of these things, though, you just have to be willing to take your time and get kind of dirty; there's no big secret to it.
