"How to" section in mechanics forum?

[dynamite9585]

been trawling the net for how to stuff, and always seem end up back here asking questions.
was thinking this site could benifit from a how to section that things can be posted in there.
from oil changes, to carb cleaning and balanceing.

i have found enough info on the interwebs about home made carb balancing tools to make one of my own and plan on making a rather detailed guide on how to do your own.

just an idea that might give us newbies a good starting point before heading down to the bike shop or pestering the wise ones for the answer to a question they have been asked 5000 times.

[SS90]

So you would like that some experienced people sit down for hours and hours a day typing out " how to do things on your bike"?

Good luck with that mate.

Something worth pointing out..... The majority of the people who REALLY know what they are talking about on this or any other site are, infact from the industry, and, as such, make a living from repairing and or servicing customers bikes.

The idea that the same people would spend hours and hours typing this hard earned information out so that you can erode their business seems somewhat unrealistic.

The Internet is now full of " experts" who, thatks to the magic of keyboards, can, with a few posted links and clever wording, come across as " knowledgeable"...... Be careful what you take as gospel when it come to information off the web.

[dynamite9585]

i'm not asking for people to spend hours typing stuff out.
and i do understand that there are alot of people earning thier crust from repairing bikes. so when i mess it up i'm glad they are there to laugh at me, fix my mistake and remove an arm and a leg for the hassle.

there are also alot of people out there who are garage warriors and don't mind sharing the info they have aquired over the years, most of them just as knowlegable as the guy earning his crust.

[SS90]

there are also alot of people out there who are garage warriors and don't mind sharing the info they have aquired over the years, most of them just as knowlegable as the guy earning his crust.

Yes, fair enough, but I would take exception to the comment that " Garage warriors are just as knowledgeable as the guy earning his crust"

There are some experienced "with it " guys teaching themselves, but there are also many that " don't know what they don't know"

Just be forewarned that there are many people who write how " that is easy" and so on, when the reality is somewhat different.

Most of the time, it is like going to a Tattoo artist, we all hear stories about the guy with the "home job tattoo".

Best advise I can offer is to get a Haynes manual for you bike... Any bike mechanic I know would agree. They are well written great pictures, and even show you how you can make your own special tools.

[dynamite9585]

Yes, fair enough, but I would take exception to the comment that " Garage warriors are just as knowledgeable as the guy earning his crust"

that was poorly worded sorry.
what i was getting at is that a mechanic has the advantage of knowing damn near everything.
the garage guys are generaly specailists (frank does carbs, john does eletrics ect)

[SS90]

That is actually quite true.

I remember meeting a guy who really did know all there was to know about Norton Commando's..... in talked with him at length a few times, and he was really interesting and a wealth of knowledge.... Never worked in the industry in his life, and I would be 100% certain that there would not be a mechanic in NZ that knew more than him.

He had no idea about any other bike though!

Like I say, Haynes manuals are bloody fantastic, and generally speaking, you can get one from your library.

And, they also make manuals specifically dealing with Japanese carbs, from most models ( assuming that it is information on carbs you require)

[dynamite9585]

carbs are just the current topic in the forefront of my mind.

as for the hynes manual, sadly they didn't make one for the suzuki IL4, plenty on the twins tho.

[tri boy]

The knowledge is one thing. The ten-twenty thousand spent on tooling is the other thing.
But all bikes come to bits with a screw driver and a hammer though..........don't they.

Learn the basic maintenance well. That gets you up close and personal with things that develop into bigger problems. Cleaning your ride is the best learning curve ever.

[SS90]

carbs are just the current topic in the forefront of my mind.

as for the hynes manual, sadly they didn't make one for the suzuki IL4, plenty on the twins tho.

Oh, I see you have a GSXR250...... They have a big problem with the emulsion tubes and needles wearing prematurely, and causing rich running, hard starting, and cutting out when hot..... Contact R1madness on here via pm, he is the owner of just motorcycles in ChCh..... He has worked out a perminant fix for this problem, by making stainless steel emulsion tubes and fitting new slide needles,

The problem is well known in the industry.

[doc]

So you would like that some experienced people sit down for hours and hours a day typing out " how to do things on your bike"?

Good luck with that mate.

Something worth pointing out..... The majority of the people who REALLY know what they are talking about on this or any other site are, infact from the industry, and, as such, make a living from repairing and or servicing customers bikes.

The idea that the same people would spend hours and hours typing this hard earned information out so that you can erode their business seems somewhat unrealistic.

The Internet is now full of " experts" who, thatks to the magic of keyboards, can, with a few posted links and clever wording, come across as " knowledgeable"...... Be careful what you take as gospel when it come to information off the web.

Where would we be with out the backyarders like "Burt" ?

[F5 Dave]

Where would we be with out the backyarders like "Burt" ?

Sleeping in?

Have a good poke around the Factorypro website. heaps of info if you dig deep enough & there is a bit about emulsion tubes as SS describes (although 250s won't be covered).

[dynamite9585]

this has gone slightly off topic.
as for my issues, they all fixed now, the tube and needles wernt worn, just dirty and a couple of perished o rings. had been cleaned and tuned now and not blowing any smoke even at 16k RPM.

[Brian d marge]

So you would like that some experienced people sit down for hours and hours a day typing out " how to do things on your bike"?

Good luck with that mate.

Something worth pointing out..... The majority of the people who REALLY know what they are talking about on this or any other site are, infact from the industry, and, as such, make a living from repairing and or servicing customers bikes.

The idea that the same people would spend hours and hours typing this hard earned information out so that you can erode their business seems somewhat unrealistic.

The Internet is now full of " experts" who, thatks to the magic of keyboards, can, with a few posted links and clever wording, come across as " knowledgeable"...... Be careful what you take as gospel when it come to information off the web.

Yup +1 on that , and some in the Industry ( present company excluded ) are a bit of a worry too

Stephen

[SS90]

this has gone slightly off topic.
as for my issues, they all fixed now, the tube and needles wernt worn, just dirty and a couple of perished o rings. had been cleaned and tuned now and not blowing any smoke even at 16k RPM.

I'm not sure it would be considered "off topic", interesting to hear that you bike was running rich and a few o'rings and cleaning jets fixed it.

at the same time where new plugs fitted?

I would be interested to hear how it runs over the next few weeks.... I spent 5 years working on Japanese imports, straight after I finished My 3 year apprentiship working on new Suzuki's Aprilia's Guzzi's and Harley's.....and most of that was on the 250 ILF's..... They can some times break your heart with running problems ( the GSX-R 250's that is)

keep us informed, I always like to hear about 250 IL4's and keeping them running..... They always a place in my heart!

[dipshit]

I agree with SS90.

Reading the workshop manual and/or a Hynes manual should give you enough indication if you are up to tackling a particular job or not.

Reading stupid "how to" threads on the interweb written by god knows who (usually a computer geek idiot) is like the blind leading the blind at times.