What have you done with your bike/s today?

[Joolstacho]

"Not looking forward to fiddling withat bloody spring crouched down"

There's a man who needs a motorcycle lift bench! (And earplugs!)

[groily]

It still stuns me how clever you guys are - I'm pretty stupid in comparison to your knowledge of engineering and rebuilding engines.  In another life, I may well have trained as an engineer, as I really like fixing, fabricating and problem solving, etc.  Hats off to you all!

Been pondering your comment there Worty.
My knowledge of 'engineering' is pretty patchy. I make no claims at all to any serious knowledge, but I have had a lot of practice over half a century owing to our perverse habit of liking older machinery. My 'real' working life was spent in the publishing industry, my private life in various sheds, pubs and beds. Like a good few of us here, I'm just an 'auto-didact' as they say, who had the invaluable benefit of an oily-fingered dad and uncles and a handful of good mates who are proper engineers. Plus I'm curious, plus I'm mean and don't like having to get other people to do things if I can do them myself.

However, for the 'proper engineering' (ie precision machining) bits of these jobs, it's essential to find, use - and pay! - competent professional people, otherwise things can end up costing a lot more and a lot of riding time gets wasted in the back of recovery vans and then having to revisit balls-ups.

You're definitely not stupid at all, comparatively or otherwise. You can do loads of stuff. In fact you're very wise, because you got the berger on side with his bro' with special skills to retrieve a pretty tricky situation with your A.
It's horses for courses, it needs practice and patience, it needs facilities (space and tools above all) - and some of us are lucky to have them. Best thing I ever did was take the risk over 20 years ago of moving somewhere where affordable space isn't at a premium, where I can do what I want without upsetting my not-too-close-neighbours and where the roads are perfect for old bikes. Just as well I'm happy, because it was a one-way street: if I wanted to come 'home' I might get a small terraced house and maybe a small garden shed somewhere inexpensive in exchange for this old farmhouse, barns and 4 acres.

[Worty]

Thanks Bill, much appreciated.  Looks like you're living in a place I'd love to live - out in the country with loads of space.  I have to make do with a normal garage and a couple of average sheds, but I do have a decent selection of tools.  I'll have a go at pretty much anything, but putting engines together with such fine margins for error is a bit scary for me, especially when it comes to knowledge of engineering principles like line boring (Bergs/MWAS) which I'd never heard of before!  

Having said that, nobody can be an expert at everything.  My working life was mixed, but primarily in managing non-profit making organisations in some of the dodgiest areas of West Yorkshire (the Projects, as Musky would call them).  Never got bikes out of my system, thankfully, I was hooked at 14.

As for knowing how things worked, I always took my toys apart when I was a nipper just to see how they worked.  This extended to trying to cut a golf ball up and spraying the ceiling with 'something'.  That was at about 4 and I got a wallop for it.  Later it was taking a differential apart as I couldn't envisage how it worked with the sun/moon gears, etc.  I even took an old FSI-E engine apart and put it back to working condition.

There's just something so satisfying in building and fixing stuff.  Can't explain it but it's been with me all my life.

Nice to be with like minded people who also suffer from the same condition

Oh, and it's my birthday today - special prize for working out which one based on previous posts   Birthday treat from Sue is a French trimmed rack of lamb and crispy chips

[berger]

worty happy birthday to you now if you like taking things apart get down here and dismantle all the front end on Christine the possessed then try and get the exhaust manifold off JUST to get the turbo off or access to the waste gate. bare in mind the subframe has to be dropped once AGAIN to get the rad out    it's ok mate this time it is going to the garage where they have lifts etc and spanner modern cars every day. i will be dropping Christine off and going to the pub, have a nice day

[groily]

 More and Happy (big?) Birthday Worty. No cakes with candles on the emoji list here as far as I can see  . . . would send you one!
Just can't beat a chunk of lamb. My #1 fave - that girl spoils you!
I'll think of you as I gag on the skin of a herring and a stale crust later  . . . .

[Worty]

Bergs - I would gladly do it, but it's my birthday (for the next 12 months at least)

Cheers Bill - at least I get spoiled once a year   I think I'm a bit of a whippersnapper regarding my age, but I'm not far off a reasonably significant round figure (bit like me really).

Love the herring 'gag' (geddit)🤣🤣

[Topdad]

Worty Happy birthday to you . Groilys meal was french "haute cuisine " so  wonder if he will be having a bowl of gruel as well to round it off 

[Joolstacho]

It IS "my bike" but ain't a beezer.
My Velocette Clubman needed new fibre inserts in the clutch chainwheel. When you look at it, a prick of a job because they have to be inserted so they are equally protruding from each side of the chainwheel. Easier said than done. After losing a bit of sleep on it I sorted it. Made two 6m polycarbonate plates and routed 1mm deep depressions over the fibre insert positions (they're about 1/2" square). Then I made a sandwich of plate, chainwheel, plate, all aligned, then clamped them together with a G-Clamp, which pressed them in nice and level. Jeez aren't I a clever clogs!

[Angus]

Loaded the A7 into the van ready to go to the VMCC Cornwall touring week  . The below if what we will be up to  . The weather forecast keeps changing  .

[CheeserBeezer]

Got the silver single-seater out ready for tomorrow's run to see The Warrington lads. Wired up most of the electrics on the Road Rocket project. Oh how I hate those switch panels on the Goldie type headlights! Why do people who design anything electrical have an obsession with having to make things small and cramped?