Have you ever wished that you were a better mechanic???

This forum does seem to be clear of the usual keyboard warrior syndrome that infects the majority of forums.
A nice refreshing change !
No one gets upset with a bit of humour once the question / advice / request has been resolved.

 

That's cos we're a bunch of old farts, and treat others as we would wish to be.

As ye sow, so sha'll ye reap - my motto in life.

 

I'd love to be a better mechanic but these days it aint gonna happen. I can't see what I'm doing for starters and for seconders I'm getting a bit of arthritis in my fingers. So, I get hold of the nut carefully between my thumb and first finger, thread my hand through the gap and around all the obstacles, offer the nut up to the bolt, then drop the bastard nut.
So then because I can't see I can't find it. I usually end up on the garage floor, crawling around.

 

Thanks for the warning Andy, that's well worth knowing about magnetising the brake disk, I would not have thought about that.

 

I too always find a way of getting things wrong mechanics wise, had a 2 stroke gilera runner 5 or so years back and was always tinkering and fiddling or should i say fixing what wasnt broken! They pretty simple machines to do yourself when youve no real experience or no how.. or is that where i went wrong I remember one incident where id taken the head off to change piston rings got it all back and bolted into the frame, went for a ride and to my amusement (and horror) there was water pissing out the exhaust! It still rode though! What id done was either fitted the head gaskets wrong or not used enough gasket sealant

 

Hey at least you're having a go Matt, tinkering and fiddling is how you learn.
Watch YouTube clips, photograph stuff before you strip it down, use the Haynes manuals.
Just be really careful with stuff like brakes, we don't want any mishaps.

 

It always helps to go into any jobs in a good frame of mind. I constantly re-remind myself "self put it back where you found it, take your time, keep it tidy and make it bling"

 

I am a mechanic

It's my boss that wishes I was a better mechanic!

Bet I would have found that bolt with my kneecap

 

On my previous little 125 Suzuki I did all manner of bits and bobs, none of the stuff I did was perfect but half the 'fun' was reading up about a new mod, or job and then getting the bits together and finally trying to actually do whatever it was I had planned.

I remember my first oil change. I spent the best part of a week reading a guide on a forum that told me exactly what to do. I spent so long reading it there was no way I could make a mistake!

On the bike the sump plug sat next to the bolt I needed to remove to drain the oil. Everything I had read said DO NOT remove the sump plug as it has a couple of small washers and a spring that sit on top of it. These are quite easy to lose and MUST go in the correct order. Anyway I got under the bike and identified the correct bolt I needed to remove to drain the oil. Sat back up to get my tools together then back under the bike.

I start undoing the bolt, turn, turn, turn ……and out pops a bloody spring and some washers!

I can’t believe it I’ve only gone and un-done the wrong bolt! After a week of going over and over the same guide FFS!!

I managed to get all the bits back in the right place but in my rush to get it back in the bike I ended up destroying the thread. Not the thread on the bolt that would have been easy to replace. Oh no I've ruined the thread of the hole inside the bike

The bolt wouldn’t catch and oil just continued to pour from the bike.

My simple oil change ended with me calling my mechanic and the bike going off on a trailer to his garage to be fixed.

All part of the fun eh?!

 

Stop tinkering and start mechanicing then! lol

 

It is with great delight that I can categorically tell you that it is.
A mechanic does mechanicing.
An engineer does engineering
And a tinker does tinkering.

 

Google it BS, there are dozens of mechanicing entries.
I have a genuine Yorkshire passport and admittedly it's not listed in there, the nearest similarity is 'grease monkey'

 

Well you two have really confused the hell out of me now !
I thought mechanicing was chinese for I can ice cakes.

 

Nice to hear that someone still refers to nouns and verbs in this hi-tec age where ridiculous spellings and wrong words are automatically 'corrected'

 

reminds me of time I replaced crushwashers on oil line to zrx sump put spacer in wrong order wrecked sump thread,over £145 new sump forum member cut new thread and machined new oil supply stainless fittings from scratch top guy,only cost me 2 lots Smirnoff just shows forums and members invaluable to each others,sold him wiring harness and seat for bargain price 1 good turn deserves another.