There are a lot of guys who never learned how to read who are very good at hiding it. I once had a supervisor who made a point of having any prospective new hires write something on the application in his presence, just to make sure they knew how. He'd apparently been burned before.
Out local forum had this post once.... After pages of asking for the pictures and no responce.... Finally....
I've done a lot more than that when I was tasked with installing transformers for the City of Austin Electric Dept. Rear steering is a bitch, too
...it gets worse the faster you go...rather than being more stable. No story, just some narrowly avoided problems on a narrow bridge.
when rebuilding a -32 hydrlic hose with reuseable fittings make sure you put the sleve on before you hammer down the fingers on the fitting so you dont have to start over
When riding your trusty C90 down the dual carriageway, if you happen to look down and think 'that's odd, I don't remember that bolt sticking out that much before'... DO: Push the swing arm bolt back in and hold it there with your foot until you reach the nearest DIY shop, take the bolt out (very carefully), leaving your bike balancing in the car park while you run around test fitting bolts in the shop. Re-assemble and continue.
Never plug in a tire pump without making sure the on/off button is in the off position! ESPECIALLY if it is one with a built in Slime canister! Jim
Several notes to self here... a) When you're done reading your plugs, reinstall them per usual and oh, don't forget to reconnect the plug wire on #1 before hitting the starter. The bike will sound strange, feel stranger, and have you going, "WTF is wrong now? Feels like it's on one cylinder." b) If you're going to use up the last "dibble" in the Seafoam can, kindly see to a pair of important facts. Those being 1) the "dibble" is really half a can and 2) there's more than a gallon of gas in the tank. If you don't, the exhaust will look like a Cuban smoke shop is doing business in the pipes. Did this a few days ago. OTOH, it has never run so smooth! c) A Work Sharp 221 will take your Leatherman Wave's serrated blade from "can't cut mustard" to "cuts with a wish." Use your thumb to trip the liner lock, but get that finner out of the way before you snap the blade shut. Lest the aforesaid piece of toothed cutlery remove a dime-sized volume of tissue from the pad of your phalanx, right down through and transecting the sub-q. Bleeding? Yes, yes there was. I've never seen rubbing alcohol turn Hot-Rod Red that fast before. To the inmates: buy a Work Sharp 221. It is compact enough for a tank bag, handy on anything from pen knives to axes, and when they say "shave sharp in minutes" they aren't kidding. Best $30 I've spent in the past year. Instructions are rolled up under the rough diamond plate. Read them, and you can sharpen anything. d) When you're done playing with the zoom-zoom, use those two glassy spheres in the front of your head and LOOK at the ignition. See that black-capped stick with the two little silver sticks on a ring? Those are called "keys." Ignore them, go inside the house, and go about getting dishes n' stuff done. When the motor suddenly fires up two hours later, it will scare you shitless that some inbred, half-ganked felon is trying to steal your baby. Storm outside with a bat to wallop that hood-rat into the ICU. Instead of a toothless, cracked-out vagrant in the saddle, it's really the neighbor boy. This kid -- all by his nine year old self -- figured out the petcock, choke, kill switch, ignition, and starter button. See? Keys = important.
If you're installing frame sliders which come with a long bolt intended to replace a bolt that goes through the engine, it might be a good idea to look at the entire bike in case there are actually two (or more) identical bolts that go through the bike at different points. Even if you do decide to just knock out the first bolt you find and set to screwing on your new sliders, you should probably look down from the sliders once they're mounted. In case your foot pegs are directly beneath them. Otherwise you might have to shift gears with your heel when you find out the next morning as you're late to work.
When the bike is up on the centerstand with the sidestand down also, don't be wearing sandals when you roll the bike off the centerstand. My foot was positoned perfectly under where the sidestand should touch the concrete when the bike rolled off the centerstand. :eek1
I was gonna say, I thought it was kinda odd everybody was complaining that they just had an owie. Seems like an almost surefire way to break a bone even with a relatively small bike.
When lubing your chain....And not wearing gloves like the label says.... you know with that really sticky spray stuff?.... Remember one of Murphy's Law. "The severity of the itch is direct proportion to the dirtyness of your hands." As the wife comes home later and says.........."What's all over your nose?"
when rolling bike off of centerstand and going to the sidestand, make sure side stand is ALL THE WAY FORWARD !
...and if the sidestand is deployed.. make sure your foot isn't in line where it's going to whack the ground as the bike's weight transfers
