"Necessity is the mother of invention". I couldn't buy a GS 1150 stator rotor removal spanner at a reasonable price, so fabbed this from bits I had left over from my rally days. Not terribly pretty, but did the job. Was able to hold the rotor with it in my vice when re-assembling the starter clutch too, before using it when re-torquing the rotor nut. http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...hrepair013.jpg
I may ask to borrow it one day when I redo my starter clutch... being a cheapskate, I hate forking out unreasonable sums of money for tools I will probably use once or twice.
One tool I carried on me for many years was a tappet adjusting spanner for Triumphs.I made this out of a bit of 1inx1/8th - using a cold chisel for it's intended use,cutting steel cold....and you thought they were for smashing things.Just the right length,with the right angle,it was on my key ring for years. In my game we have to make special tools all the time...problem is,if you make the tool,you tend to be the one to use it.I once made the special tool for pulling apart steering idlers on Landrovers...it was an arsehole of a job,and from then on I did every single one.
Dadpole - Today, 19:11 I may ask to borrow it one day when I redo my starter clutch... being a cheapskate, I hate forking out unreasonable sums of money for tools I will probably use once or twice. Keith, I've got a myriad of gear and other special tools scattered around the countries workshops. Who's still got what, who knows? My latest creations are fitted with tracking chips! You know, the type DOC uses to track the Kakapo! Nah, you're welcome to borrow it M8.
In my game we have to make special tools all the time...problem is,if you make the tool,you tend to be the one to use it.I once made the special tool for pulling apart steering idlers on Landrovers...it was an arsehole of a job,and from then on I did every single one. That's the worst thing about becoming a specialist in any field. Everyone expects you to want to do it for the rest of your working life.
Trouble is these days there are so many specialists,for whom the speciality no longer exists....they are made obsolete by technology.
I know that feeling only too well Diesel. I have computer DVDs, parts and tools who knows where. The one I miss most is a tapered drill bit with a serrated cutting edge. i used that thing a lot until I lent it to someone, somewhere, sometime.
I've made a selection of pullers, holders for undoing bolts in fork legs, parts washer, tool post for lathe and just in process of making a polishing head to run off lathe motor. When I did my apprenticeship at British Aerospace we made heaps of tools. Toolbox (including making our own hinges), parrallels for surface plate, trepanning tool and tap wrench + the odd spanner and drifts / punches.
I made that Triumph tappetbspanner too, and a thingy for the clutch spring nut things (out of a tyre lever) and various other perverted Spanners. Last one I made was to turn up a clutch alignment tool for the BMW.lots of other bits too hard to remember
Still got my thingy for the clutch too.And my draglink adjuster modified to fit the Triumph sludge trap.Have a bent spanner to adjust ford OHC tappets,before you could buy them off the shelf.I needed a short 15mm socket today to remove a Commodore handbrake lever,and my SK socket broke - because I had thinned it down to a sliver for some obscure purpose.This was before the days when you could buy cheap Chinese crap to butcher,we just ruined the good stuff.Do you think I'll get a replacement,it has a lifetime warrenty after all.
This is a simple screw adjuster fashioned from an old hacksaw blade, for tuning the fuel screws on your VM 26 carbs. http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...djuster001.jpg Minimal clearance between the GS crankcase tops and the bottom of the carbs requires a magician with a special tool, tons of patience and small hands. One out of four's not bad!!
Eventually all my special tools, welders and the entire contents of a large workshop and several bikes on top will get taken to the tip. Probably drop the ute in there as well. No-one in the family has the slightest interest in bikes or engineering........ Older brother has had a major cull of racing cars for that reason too.
UNNA - Today, 10:13 Eventually all my special tools, welders and the entire contents of a large workshop and several bikes on top will get taken to the tip. Probably drop the ute in there as well. No-one in the family has the slightest interest in bikes or engineering........ Older brother has had a major cull of racing cars for that reason too. I have a son who also has very little interest in things mechanical. Sounds like you need to mentor a younger relative, as I have done. You need someone who will appreciate and value most of the treasures when they're passed on!!
UNNA - Today, 10:13 Eventually all my special tools, welders and the entire contents of a large workshop and several bikes on top will get taken to the tip. Probably drop the ute in there as well. No-one in the family has the slightest interest in bikes or engineering........ Older brother has had a major cull of racing cars for that reason too. You could adopt me!.... When I used to work at the freezing works I had a heap of 'custom' tools, now that I am a desk jockey not so much.....
UNNA - Today, 10:13 Eventually all my special tools, welders and the entire contents of a large workshop and several bikes on top will get taken to the tip. Probably drop the ute in there as well. No-one in the family has the slightest interest in bikes or engineering........ Older brother has had a major cull of racing cars for that reason too. You may need to wait for one more generation to find someone with similar interests. It often happens that way...
