Thanks

[melloncollie]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed to the forum over the years and kept it going.  With all of the information here I've been able to do a lot of repairs and maintenance on my FJ.  And because I did enough learning over the last couple years I felt comfortable enough asking for a job at a local motorcycle shop.  And they said yes!

I could confidently say that without all of the information here I would not have the job I have today.  I've been at it a month now and still have a lot to learn but its been a lot of fun and rewarding so far.  Oh, and its mostly older bikes.  So far I've worked on a 93 Virago, a cb350, an 88 Goldwing, a cb750, a Triumph Thunderbird Sport, and a couple Harleys.

Looking forward to what the future brings with this job and learning more about motorcycles along the way.

[Pat Conlon]

Good for you! Kudos on your new job. I hope you continue to enjoy your profession.
Not many of today's young motorcycle mechanics can work on carbs so you have a leg up on them.
Keep learning. Learn ecu programing to help you with fuel injected engines, understanding that ICE's are on their way out. We are in transition. Understand the future trends. As the gravimetric battery energy densities approach the 500Wh to 1kWh per kg realm, electric motorcycles will become commonplace.

Cheers

Pat

[melloncollie]

Thanks Pat, I appreciate it. 
A lot of the work given to me so far has been carb work.  In fact I don't think I've seen a fuel injected bike in the shop yet.  Seems like the shop is becoming the place to take your old bike that no one else will touch it.  But ecu programming sounds fun.  I'm always interested in learning something new.  An older buddy of mine likes to say "If you think you're done learning you might as well be in the ground."

I hadn't thought too far into the future regarding electric bikes.  Even though I'm not a fan of electric motorcycles (at least not yet) that won't stop them from coming.  I test rode a Livewire at the Harley anniversary in Milwaukee this year.  It was fast but it just didn't feel right to me.  No exhaust sound, no clutch, no shifting.  But very fast.

[Millietant]

I'm a little like you........in terms of the new job I started late last year.

After retiring in 2016 I just did volunteering and unpaid community work to help fill in the time between my hobbies (mostly working on my bikes and riding them).

Over the last 45 years, I've been working on, maintaining, improving and building my own bikes, without any formal training (although I have a degree in civil and structural engineering) and most of my knowledge was picked up from my father (a tea salesman, with a love of all things mechanical), a few friends, Haynes manuals and groups and forums like this one.

Late last year, I took my FZ1 (Fazer 1000), to a local shop for its annual "MOT" safety test. Just a few days before that I asked the shop owner if he could strip, clean and rebuild the carbs before the test, as the bike had been stood a little while was running poorly. He said he would happily do it, but he was fully booked with work for around 6 weeks. I took the bike in for its test a couple of days later at 9am and went back to collect it around 3pm. When I collected it he mentioned that my 21 year old bike was the best maintained bike he'd seen through his workshop in many years, and he said I didn't need him to do any work on my carbs because the bike was running beautifully.

When I told him I'd cleaned, rebuilt and set them up myself (over the 36 hours since I'd talked to him about them), he started asking me questions........and 10 minutes later asked me if I wanted a job, as he was so busy he needed help to keep up with the work that was coming in.

At first I said no, but after talking it over with my wife, she encouraged me to say yes, to part-time working, a couple of days a week.............and I absolutely love it.

I'd always wanted to work with bikes, but could never afford my lifestyle on bike-shop wages, yet here I was, at 62 starting my first job in a bike shop.

Over the last 10 months I've learned so much and enjoyed working so much, it's given me a renewed love of bikes that I never knew I was missing.

Our shop, being just a small servicing and repair shop (no bike sales) also seems to get all the bikes main dealers don't want to bother with - so lots of older bike re-commissioning, servicing of bikes from the 70's through to the early 2000's and a lot of Harley's and newer Ducati's.........but also a LOAD of cheap Chinese scooters 

Most days I feel like I'm in biking heaven (with lots of new biking friends from the shop customers) and I wouldn't be there if it hadn't been for groups like this and knowledge gleaned from other members.

Here's wishing you all the best in your new job and hoping you get as much of a buzz out of it as I do 

[Pat Conlon]

Very cool Dean...you have consistently been a valuable contributor to this forum. Have you learned the intricacies of the Desmo valve adjustment on the Ducati's? When I grumble about my FJ's valve service I think about those poor bastards.

Cheers   Pat

[melloncollie]

Pat, I just remind myself my shims are over the buckets and not under.  Then I smile and bolt everything back up.  Which just got me thinking, are your shims under?


Dean, thanks for sharing your story.  That's awesome you were able to find something that enhances your hobby, keeps you busy, and gets you some extra cash.  One thing that stood out to me was finances on bike shop wages.  Right now it works for me but its something I'll be mindful of moving forward in life.  Business is still picking up here but the owner's dream is to have the shop become a sort of motorcycle hang out.  Where people can pop in after work and see whats going on.  I'm hoping to meet some local like minded (bike minded?) people in the process.

There are some challenges but I'm finding out I know more than I realized.  And getting an older bike back on the road has been a good feeling, no matter the bike.  Even scooters!  That's still someones two-wheeled ride that they want fixed.  Feels good making that happen.

[Pat Conlon]

All FJ's are shim over bucket (thank God).... unless modified.
Race engines with aggressive cam profiles along with high RPM's can spit out the shims with the shim over bucket design so they convert their engines to the shim under bucket design....which is a PIA as you know.... Pulling the cams to replace the shims, yuck.

[red]

Business is still picking up here but the owner's dream is to have the shop become a sort of motorcycle hang out.  Where people can pop in after work and see whats going on.  I'm hoping to meet some local like minded (bike minded?) people in the process.

Melloncollie,

If you want a biker's hangout there, add some thrift-store couches/chairs and a canned drink dispenser.  Occasional fruit and pretzels/snacks might help too.  Add a slot for money in the table, to defray snack costs.  Put up a sign requesting logos, pix, posters, memorabilia.  That atmosphere might do it for you.

[Waiex191]

Very nice melloncollie. And cool story Dean!

[melloncollie]

All FJ's are shim over bucket (thank God).... unless modified.
Race engines with aggressive cam profiles along with high RPM's can spit out the shims with the shim over bucket design so they convert their engines to the shim under bucket design....which is a PIA as you know.... Pulling the cams to replace the shims, yuck.

Right, wasn't sure if yours was modified so.  Haven't had to do shim under valve work yet, but yeah sounds "fun."

Melloncollie,

If you want a biker's hangout there, add some thrift-store couches/chairs and a canned drink dispenser.  Occasional fruit and pretzels/snacks might help too.  Add a slot for money in the table, to defray snack costs.  Put up a sign requesting logos, pix, posters, memorabilia.  That atmosphere might do it for you.

Couches are in, tables and stools are in.  Drink dispenser would be a good addition and snacks are always a plus.  There is a brewery next door.  Not my cup of tea but others seem to like that a lot.  The shop space is pretty new, I think we're on the right track so far.  We're a little tucked away so you've got to know we're there to stop in.  There was an event they hosted before I started, below is a quick picture I took during the event.  You can sort of make out the couches and tables to the right.

And thanks Bryan, I appreciate it.

[Millietant]

Very cool Dean...you have consistently been a valuable contributor to this forum. Have you learned the intricacies of the Desmo valve adjustment on the Ducati's? When I grumble about my FJ's valve service I think about those poor bastards.

Cheers   Pat

Thanks for the kind words Pat, I really love being a part of this community - and one day, I WILL make it to a FJ rally over there 

I haven't gotten into Ducati valve adjustment yet, with the time/workload constraints (and that we've only 4 of them requested), Raz the owner has done the Ducati valves so far, simply for speed. Mind you, I am fed up of removing cams to change shims  and if I never have to do a plug change and valve clearance check on a CBR 1000 RR again, it will still be too soon !!!!

[Motofun]

Both my race bikes are shim under bucket.  Since I pound on them pretty hard over the course of a year they both get a valve check over the winter.  The first time is (was) a PIA as It had to be done twice.  First take measurements and record data.  Second, disassemble inspect all shims and mic each for thickness and record data.  Third, replace any shims and reassemble then recheck gaps to assure all is good and record data.
Now that that was done all I have to do is check the gaps.  If I'm lucky all is good and if I'm not then at least I know what is in there and what I'll need in the way of new shims in order to make it right.  As with most things keeping good notes and not rushing seems to be the key.

[Millietant]

As with most things keeping good notes and not rushing seems to be the key.

I couldn't agree more and Microsoft Excel is perfect for the job ?

[Millietant]

Very cool Dean...you have consistently been a valuable contributor to this forum. Have you learned the intricacies of the Desmo valve adjustment on the Ducati's? When I grumble about my FJ's valve service I think about those poor bastards.

Cheers   Pat

Just replaced the cam belts on a 2016 Monster, and you set the tension using a frequency meter and strumming/twanging the belts, almost like tuning a guitar string 

I know some older car engines had their cam belts tensioned this way, but didn't think anyone still used this method on modern bikes.

[Millietant]

Reading through this again just made think of the last couple of weeks at work, and some of the bikes we've had in for work - here's a few photos.

The GT 500 was picked up last Friday (won't run consistently), and the NS 400R earlier in the week (rough running, LOTS of smoke and fuel spilling out of the carbs).

The Z 900 had been leaking oil from the cam chain adjuster and a mobile mechanic had "fixed it", but then the bike sounded like a bag of hammers being thrown around when it was running and he'd given up trying to get it to run properly, after also messing up the ignition timing.

The VF needed a complete exhaust system and none of the main dealers would touch the bike.

The CBR 400 RR "Baby Blade" was in for a full service and carb cleaning, the local Honda dealers didn't want to know about it all.

The RG 250 in the photo is a customers bike, who became a friend and which recently came in for a new water pump  shaft and bearing and to have a leaking gear shift shaft seal replaced.

These are the kind of bikes I always dreamed of working with and they're so much easier to work on than the newer stuff  (Try changing the spark plugs on a CBR 600 RR, adjusting the valve clearances on a modern Fireblade, or even doing any basic engine work on a K1300 BMW and you'll understand !), but I'm just disappointed that we've not had a single FJ in for any work since I started  

But........we do also get some nice modern bikes in to work on