Can you fix it or are you helpless?

[MarkH]

I haven't yet had a breakdown while riding - if that ever happens I will worry about it at the time. I have some tools and a cellphone so if the tools can't fix it I can ring for help.

I do what maintenance I can - like so far:
Oil & Filter change
Spark plug replacement
replacing exhaust gasket
changing the final drive oil

I have a workshop manual and can find how-to guides on the internet, I should be able to handle most things except tire changing.

[Ocean1]

Ive ammassed thousands of dollars of diff taps and dies and stuff and i treat them all like gold as you never know when you need them. I had to sort an old Norton spoke recently and i managed to identify it as a BA pitch lol.

Cheers Paul.

Me also. I’ll lend out the common stuff, and you might catch me without an M6x1 or some other common tap, but I can buy that stuff from 6 places within a 5 min drive for threepence ha’penny a dozen. I've got stuff not mentioned in any standard ever published, there's a 3/4"x1.75mm plug tap out there somewhere. Honest. A full set of L & R hand BSF, (actually I think I gave those to an early Bentley fetishist), L & R hand M10x2... acme profile. You'd be lucky if I've used 10% of the really weird shit, but when you do find a use for one it REALLY pays off. I don’t lend it.

[roadracingoldfart]

Me also. I’ll lend out the common stuff, and you might catch me without an M6x1 or some other common tap, but I can buy that stuff from 6 places within a 5 min drive for threepence ha’penny a dozen. I've got stuff not mentioned in any standard ever published, there's a 3/4"x1.75mm plug tap out there somewhere. Honest. A full set of L & R hand BSF, (actually I think I gave those to an early Bentley fetishist), L & R hand M10x2... acme profile. You'd be lucky if I've used 10% of the really weird shit, but when you do find a use for one it REALLY pays off. I don’t lend it.

Damm straight , im with you on all that .
And you try telling the missus its not all just tool crap , she just wont understand. Fix something using them though and thats ok but all the others are just tool crap lol.

Cheers Paul.

[Mikkel]

DIY story of today:

Bought one of these quick-self-assembly cupboard thingy-mabobs (made in PRC of course). On piece was slightly too big - nothing the breadknife couldn't handle though, so I didn't have to call the shop.

[awayatc]

Anything that does not work anymore to me is like a puzzle.....
I like to understand why it doesn't work, how it is meant to work, and how to go about sorting it all out....
Not a matter of dollars.....
Some things I quite happily pay somebody for.....but admittedly not all that many.
My cars and bikes I definitely want to repair/maintain myself.
However Both the Aprilia and Harley are very straight forward bits of commonsense technology....

[Bonez]

Damm straight , im with you on all that .
And you try telling the missus its not all just tool crap , she just wont understand. Fix something using them though and thats ok but all the others are just tool crap lol.

Cheers Paul.

Luckily my missus has spent more on her "hobby crap" (was stain glass work now its carving)so shes very understanding with regards to tools having raided my collection on the odd occasion. Found it tis good idea to set aside a space for her-in-doors to do such hobbies. That way if your tools go missing it's the first place to search to retrieve them.

[Voltaire]

[QUOTE=Ixion;1935913]

I have most bike sizes in BSF/BSW, plus BSP, UNF/UNC/SAE. Not much in BA, I find one seldom needs to cut those. And some CEI, but I have gaps. Gaps is bad. Murphy says the one you don't have is the one you'll need. Dies is not so critical, probably can put it up in the lathe . Taps is more important. I can get them from the UK if I have to.

I used to get CEI from Trade Tools, back when they were in Federal Street. Went back there and the bastards have gone! Tracked them down in Souf Auckland (WTF) , asked some young guy about CEI and he just gaped ta me. Never ehard of it I suppose, couldn't have been more than 40, so he wouldn't know much about anything . It was just a general enquiry, so I didn't do the "Please fetch the old guy from out the back" thing. No idea at all where one would get generic CEI bolts or nuts nowadays. Worlds gone to the dogs.

Ken McIntosh does nuts and bolts, over in Panmure.