Workshop Rants...

Not quite the same but I lifted (tilted) the tank on the speed and it has little plates underneath the rubber mounts. One fell in the top of the bike/engine and I spent 3 sodding hrs trying to find it. Still no f ing idea what happened to it as it’s never dropped out (as far as I know)

 

Did you make the cables? I’m a champ at forgetting little things like cross over between pins… output pin on one plug is input on the remote end equivalent plug (sometimes).

Only after making the same mistake for a zillionth time do I occasionally get it right.

Oh, I think orange LEDs illuminated means you have accidentally wired your Yamaha (bike) indicators to your Yamaha (organ)…

PS: what’s the pedal end look like? Where’s the power for them coming from? Got a scope? If not how about using the GPIO on an Arduino to monitor the electrical connectivity on the pins - are they doing what they should?

PPS: It can all be reprogrammed with a large hammer if you get really cross.

 

I have a Skylift and swear by it, not at it. A brilliant piece of kit IMO although first time I used it and took the bike off for a run I left one of the adaptors stuck in the swing arm pivot which obviously fell out and was lost. The guys at ABBA very kindly sent me a new one FOC

Back in 1990 I was doing a valve service on a GSXR1100 I had at the time and was using a 240 volt inspection lamp with no guard over the bulb. All was going well until I dropped it on top of the engine, shattering the bulb and covering the valve gear with broken glass. Many hours were than spent scrupulously cleaning out every fragment I could find. After reassembling and running the engine for several minutes I decided to remove the exhaust and the sump to see if any fragments had been washed down the cam chain tunnel. I then bought a new inspection lamp complete with guard. Tosser!

 

Use the Mirror, flashlite & telescoping magnet from your tool box....
Sweep the floor good, before you start working on the project.

 

I did. I have a bahco light and magnet but still couldn’t even see it anywhere.

 

Topping up the 2 stroke oil on my RD 250 ( the tank is under the seat) . Undid the seat lock with the key, placed key on the tool tray under the seat. Filled up the tank with two stroke. Put lid on tank, shut seat. Locked out of my own motorbike…..Just hilarious now, how can you lock yourself out of a motorbike? I’ve heard of people doing it to them selves with keys locked in the car, but this was a motorcycle ffs….!

 

Fitted the EvoTech tail tidy to @Mrs Visor's Street Triple and one of the securing bolts rolled down the left hand side of the chassis. I saw it initially and tried to retrieve it but it dropped further down Seat off, battery out, searched everywhere, Halfords trip for magnetic probe and mirror, more searching and probing never found it, now been for initial service and a couple of hundred miles, still remains at large

 

Is it worse to be one bolt short at the end of a rebuild or have two left over ? Asking for a friend

 

Car wouldn't start, lights on, relay click etc. Just not turning over, so charged the battery and it worked. Then a day later wouldn't start. Removed all devices from sockets in the car, turned interior lights off, charged battery again, but this time it didn't work. Booked into garage, but not able to see for a week and I had a trip planned at the weekend. I had recently fitted a new starter and battery, so ordered an alternator (couldn't now test as couldn't start it), in the meantime removed all earth straps and the chuncky starter cable, cleaned the connections. Still not turning over. Tried jumping, but no luck, now thinking alternator not the problem.

Get wife to turn the key so I can check voltage under load, but looks good. Then decide to push the starter control terminal and the bloody thing starts turning over, it was just loose from when I fitted it! To cap it all I drop the 10mm socket into the depths of the front wing/bumper...

 

Been there done that. I did eventually find mine though. Now I always make a point of removing them as I lift the tank after stuffing any gaps with paper towel that they might disappear down. I think a modified design is in order.

 

Me too, I think there needs to be a sub-section/club for SpeedTrip tank plate losers (usually catches on the battery cables as you're lifting), so far I've always managed to retrieve them (usually with aid of a magnet stick).
Getting the cam cover out off the frame is another good one, spent half an hour trying to extract it as described in the Triumph factory manual (towards the rear), didn't work for me - comes out sideways under the frame rail though.

 

Had a similar problem getting a Bandit 1250 Cam cover off. If I'd have had a dog, I would have kicked the poor sod to death. Yet when I put it back on, it just slipped into place first time.

 

Don't mention cam covers to me. The time I have wasted removing and then refitting the damn things. I am sure the computer aided design said it fits just fine but in practice just an extra 5mm or so of clearance would make all the difference.

 

I never fancied a moped at 16, so I bought an RD200, the round tank model with drum front brake, it was lovely and went like stink though I had to ride it within a mile of school then park it up and walk in as the teachers would have grassed me up. Anyhow I was offered a set of crash bars cheap but not for an RD200, I managed to get the rears to "fit" but nearly ditched it on the first ride as I'd "accidentally " hard tailed it, yes in getting them to fit, I'd bolted them to the top and bottom rear shock mount, 44 years later..I'm still learning.

 

Had a welder mate who made me a maintenance lift . We used a standard trolley jack to lift it .
One of the most important things was to make sure having removed the ramp after getting the bike on was to make sure the jack was correctly positioned.
Having done a full service including shims in record time I needed to lower the bike . The jack was a sealy one and to lower it you rotated the jacking handle anticlockwise. It was stiff , I gave it full effort . . You've guessed it ! The lift went down like a rocket the bike dropped off its centre stand and then fell off the stand .
Miraculously it fell onto the handlebars and just the exhaust pipe . Incredible really . I had to run and get my neighbour to help me pick it . Trust me that takes some effort with the wheels still on the ramp. I now ratchet straps it to the bench .