South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

just wondering really how many people round here do work on thier own bikes, as it was bought up in conversation today whilst out riding !

I personaly do all the maintanance i can on my bike, and attempt all jobs exept the majoy ones (like engine internals), for anything that i dont have the tools for i go out and buy them, and learn stuff as i go (having fiends who know stuff can really help too )

So what about you ?

i do what i can. Can normally do most things tho sometime will team up with dynamight for the trickier or longer jobs. Sometimes its better to have another brain there to bounce ideas off of or gain knowledge from. Plus some jobs on bikes are definately 2 handed. A couple of years ago there were a few 'mechanic days' where members who had major issues with their bikes provided food and drink for the day for whoever turned up to try and sort them out. Was good fun, a learning experience and a social day out helping mates.

I do what I can, or simon does it...

With all the literature I have available to me at home I'll have a go at anything and if it goes wrong will take it to a local mechanic/friends to sort

i am a deep believer in if you want something done properly do it yourself
Merv

SInce my first moped ive always tackled mechanical issues myself, i remember feeling really chuffed when i first changed a spark plug (mind you i managed to cross thread it too!)

Last 'major' thing i did was probably new valve shims on my bike and new head gasket/valves/belts on a car.

To be honest you cant really go wrong with service/haynes manuals and lots of background research before you attempt anything big, especially on something so important as brakes.Obviously be aware of the advice of 'internet mechanics', you know the ones who recommend cleaning brake discs with wd40 etc...

The amount of money you save is amazing, you really get to know your bike and its soooo much fun!
On the negative side you find yourself looking for excuses to take your bike apart every weekend and the misses gets annoyed with you always in the garage....

thelastsuperpower wrote:SInce my first moped ive always tackled mechanical issues myself, i remember feeling really chuffed when i first changed a spark plug (mind you i managed to cross thread it too!)

Last 'major' thing i did was probably new valve shims on my bike and new head gasket/valves/belts on a car.

To be honest you cant really go wrong with service/haynes manuals and lots of background research before you attempt anything big, especially on something so important as brakes.Obviously be aware of the advice of 'internet mechanics', you know the ones who recommend cleaning brake discs with wd40 etc...

The amount of money you save is amazing, you really get to know your bike and its soooo much fun!
On the negative side you find yourself looking for excuses to take your bike apart every weekend and the misses gets annoyed with you always in the garage....

Veruy true i keep buying old wrecks to rebuild , could never do speedys job would be wanting to rebuild em all.
as for cleaning brakes discs with WD40 do not try this a home folks you need to be an experienced kamikaze rider to do that properly
Merv to

I try and do most myself but anything inside i leave to the professionals, you never know what you find, like my GPZ in the garage now with a big chunk of alloy snapped off in the engine due to hidden accident damage. i did strip a GS1000 once down to the frame and it was a good feeling when it was all back together painted and new ....

Budgetary restrictions prevented me going to dealers when i started riding, so I did it myself out of necessity (yes Princess, there were dealerships back then ), and have done ever since - along with modifying them as well. Only owned one "standard" (ish) bike in the last twenty-odd years

I would say the biggest thing is not learning what you can do yourself, but rather learning when to stop because you have surpassed your limitations ....... i.e. you snap a bolt and proceed to do even more damage trying to get it out rather than take it to an engineer and get it done properly first time

do all my own stuff working for an engineering company helps plus my dad was a great believer in child labour and have been working on cars and bikes since nine sometimes need help with fault finding plus the more modern you go the less you can do, i.e not having a ten grand crypton in my shed

Love the mechanical side especially finding a problem that I can fix myself.
Hate shims / love tappets.

Generally hate electrical stuff other than basic problems like broken wire or blown fuses, if I could see those ohms and amps etc flying about like good old nuts 'n bolts 'n widgets then I'd have no problem

Blue job!

(ie it's the boyfriend's job..)

Lady G wrote:Blue job!

(ie it's the boyfriend's job..)

I agree on that well the husband with the help from simon to repair it twice

Nop, don’t know one end of a spanner from the other.

When bikes were 'simpler' i managed to repair/rebuild them myself but now I only touch the external bits. Anything else and it's of to the garage. Problem I see is that if I balls it up it's gonna cost to get it sorted out again. As with cars, too many computers/CPUs in them now.