Top 5 newbie screwups?

[kfsrq]

Here are some mistakes I have made.

CHECK YOUR WORK THOROUGHLY.
In 1965, I repaired my CB77's transmission, when second gear wore out. I thought I was careful, but it seems that I left a bolt loose, way inside the gearbox. Perhaps the bolt fell into the bottom of the crankcase, allowing the transmission to select two gears at once, or otherwise jam the works. Anyway, I rode a short distance, and some ghastly crunches inside the engine told the tale of my sloppiness. The guts of the transmission were totally ruined. I found a replacement engine instead of buying new pieces to replace the entire transmission.

USE A TORQUE WRENCH.
Damn. The torque wrench is way over there. I will just tighten this carefully instead.
And of course the stud breaks off. The process of extracting, buying, and reinstalling one lousy stud took over 1000 times the time and effort of standing up, walking to the torque wrench, and bringing it back to the work site.

(This was somebody else's mistake)
I AM AN EXPERT.
A fellow disconnected the capacitor in my central air conditioner to check its capacitance with a meter. Then he put the four connectors back onto the capacitor and closed up the cover and handed me the bill for the service call. I paid and he departed. The next day, the weather got warm, and I turned on the air conditioner. No go, so I called for help, and the same serviceman came and corrected the connections to the capacitor. Sorry, pal.
So test your electrical circuit after you have made changes to it. Easy, huh?

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The above blank space is for you to write in your own mistake.

[Tango911]

and dont use an sos pad on the chrome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P

[houseowax]

I'll add mine (although if you're splitting the crankcases it won't matter):

I dropped the cam chain into the crankcase. I wired it to the studs as Silver recommends but somehow STILL managed to drop one end in the case and get it all jammed up in there.
I did it again while reassembling the head but managed to fish it out with a coat hanger. It's a major drag.

PUT SOMETHING IN THE CYLINDERS- tape over them, stuff in a rag or what have you - SO YOU DON'T DROP THE MASTER LINK CLIP (or anything) IN WHILE REASSEMBLING YOUR CAM CHAIN. You will probably be able to retrieve it by removing the oil pump, but you might not. Why risk it?.

Also, when using solvents of any sort, wear gloves. It's really just a good idea: your skin is absorbing all those chemicals.

I'll come up with more as I get my first CB77 engine back together.

[OldHarley]

My list of top five newbie things to remember are these:

1. First of all, why pay $2500. for a running, mostly complete bike when you can get a deal on one for $300. that you can restore? Don't worry that these bikes are 50 years old - that doesn't mean that the parts you desperately need aren't available on eBay. Sure, all the missing parts are expensive and hard to find, but that only makes this project more of a challenge.

2. Of course you also want a fast bike. Why waste your money on a modern bike that will go fast when you can start off with a 50 year old bike with only a 250-300cc motor, drum brakes and antiquated suspension - what better start for that racer? Find a vintage cam, and bore that puppy out to 350cc or so, and you should be able to then go out and blow away a Kawasaki Ninja 1000.

3. Luckily for the newbie, it takes no mechanical ability to keep a 50 year old bike running. Maybe you tried to change the oil and thru no fault of your own, have broken off several bolts by trying to remove the entire oil pump. You can drill those out. If also you broke the EZ out trying to remove what is left of the bolts, that adds to the story. Remember that forum members especially like hearing about these adventures and after all, it is not your fault since you were likely not told you needed some basic knowledge of tools to work on these bikes.

4. Although number 4 on my list, one of the most important things to remember is once you get your new bike home you should begin by disassembling it completely the first week. Most nuts and bolts are the same size anyway, so put them all together in the same box. It may take three years to get it back together, but it will be worth it - that is, unless you lose interest, or forget where things went and end up selling it as a basket case.

5. Last, but not least is to be sure that before you have a basic knowledge of your bike you begin asking questions on the forum about things like: "Will pistons from my grandpaw's 1950 DeSoto fit and will they raise the compression on my bike?" BTW, the less you know about the question, the better it is.

I hope this list helps; however, if somehow, you manage to FORGET all the above, then, you may be able to get thru an old bike project with success. ;-) wink

[Downunder dream]

You know what, I may just tackle the engine myself for a laugh. Worry about failure and breaking stuff has taken 10 times the time and effort than actually giving it a go. Worst case, it gets dropped off a an engine rebuilder with my head and pants down. Or, it could even work.
Either way there will be stories.
Cheers,
Scott.

[G-Man]

A wise man learns from his mistakes. A lucky man learns from everyone else's

G

[G-Man]

A wise man learns from his mistakes. A lucky man learns from everyone else's

G