Stuff you learn(t) the hard way by being your own mechanic

[ChrisF]

2 minutes ago, Hairy said:

IF that was my friend I would have him walk to the top of the climb and then offer the link  ... next time he will bring a spare link with.

 

EXACTLY what I did  

 

Walked all the way to the restaurant clearing.  Simply no space to work on a bike without blocking the trail ....

[Shebeen]

14 hours ago, ChrisF said:

Uhm jaaaa ....

 

Good and well having a duffel bag full of spares and tools strapped to the seat ....

 

But HOW are you going to read which is the 10 speed and which is the 11 speed link next to the trail ..... dont laugh .... eventually your arms will get to short to read the fine print ....

 

 

Nou maar n LARGE PRINT nota gemaak ....

 

I'm confused here.

side by side the 11spd will the smaller one?

 

also why even have 2? my spare chain link is insulation taped to my gear cable, impossible to get confused then.

[BMXER]

On my 1000cc motorbike, moment laps in concentration and I put one brake pad in the wrong way (metal on metal).

Disc stuffed, a little over 8500zar later for a pair of front disks and a new set of pads.  Realised too late with engin noise and helmet on.

Best excuse ever to fit brambo, dark side of a train wreck.  Now I check twice.

[The Ouzo]

A recent thread on here about slipping gears pointed out that some chain quicklinks are directional.

I'm on my second SRAM PC1110 chain, but this one seemed noisier than the first, I put it down to the cassette or chainrings having a fair bit of mileage on them.

Yesterday  I was prepping the bike for the World Champs in Cape Town next week, whilst it was up on the workstand I thought I should check the quicklink. Well would you believe it has a little arrow on it and it was facing the wrong direction.

Only did a short slow ride with the kids yesterday after I worked on it, seemed to be quieter, but will do a ride later in the week to make sure.

[DJR]

On 10/4/2021 at 7:06 PM, ChrisF said:

Uhm jaaaa ....

 

Good and well having a duffel bag full of spares and tools strapped to the seat ....

 

But HOW are you going to read which is the 10 speed and which is the 11 speed link next to the trail ..... dont laugh .... eventually your arms will get to short to read the fine print ....

 

 

Nou maar n LARGE PRINT nota gemaak ....

 

My kit now includes reading, um, I mean bike fixing glasses

[DJR]

On 10/4/2021 at 7:56 PM, Hairy said:

You can also try dropping a dot of tippex on the 11spd or 10spd chain for a quick visual reference ... next thing you have been riding in the rain and that card gets wet leaving you with Egyptian hieroglyphics to decipher on the side of the trail. 

 

I used larger font should you not have your reading glasses on you.

Ha ha, yes, the Tippex dot sure works until your memory starts to go............or so I hear!🤪

[Dexter-morgan]

I recently installed fork on my MTB, I used he bearing that came off the bike and it had a plastic cage, well needless to say I dropped it, 2mm balls went flying all over my garage, wasn't fun at 8pm crawling around to get all the balls together again.

[TNT1]

I did an oil change on the car and drained the gearbox instead of the sump.

[Steady Spin]

SRAmano drivetrains don't always work as well as the internet suggests. 

Running full SRAM now and all my problems are gone. I wish I knew this R6000 ago.

[The Ouzo]

6 minutes ago, TNT1 said:

I did an oil change on the car and drained the gearbox instead of the sump.

Eish.

The other common one is forgetting to put the sump plug back in and then trying to fill with oil.

[Chadvdw67]

11 minutes ago, TNT1 said:

I did an oil change on the car and drained the gearbox instead of the sump.

I laughed way too hard at this one 🤣🤣

4 minutes ago, ouzo said:

Eish.

The other common one is forgetting to put the sump plug back in and then trying to fill with oil.

I did this 1 time, now I check the sump at least 3 times before putting oil in 🧐

[TNT1]

58 minutes ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I laughed way too hard at this one 🤣🤣

 

At first I couldn't figure out why it only took 500ml oil to get the engine oil at the correct level on the dipstick.

 

Then there was copious swearing at trying to locate and open the filler plug for the gearbox. 

 

Then about a week later I was ready to laugh about it.

Edited March 7, 2022 by TNT1

[Chadvdw67]

3 minutes ago, TNT1 said:

At first I could figure out why it only took 500ml oil to get the engine oil at the correct level on the dipstick.

 

Then there was copious swearing at trying to locate and open the filler plug for the gearbox. 

 

Then about a week later I was ready to laugh about it.

I can only imagine, I just recently changed the gearbox and diff oil in my van, what a *** job, and I have double cab, so there is at least some room to work, that job on car without a lift, no thank you....

[TNT1]

1 minute ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I can only imagine, I just recently changed the gearbox and diff oil in my van, what a *** job, and I have double cab, so there is at least some room to work, that job on car without a lift, no thank you....

Yeah, fortunately it was the Duster, so there's some space under it.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, DJR said:

My kit now includes reading, um, I mean bike fixing glasses

 

Where did you find such a pair of .... uhm "bike fixing" glasses ?

 

asking for a friend ...

[ChrisF]

37 minutes ago, Dexter-morgan said:

I recently installed fork on my MTB, I used he bearing that came off the bike and it had a plastic cage, well needless to say I dropped it, 2mm balls went flying all over my garage, wasn't fun at 8pm crawling around to get all the balls together again.

 

helping a friend fix their bike .... couple of those very small balls of the freehub made a successful escape ....  managed to get a few from CWC on a Sunday afternoon 10 minutes before closing time ....

 

 

when these "help a friend" jobs take on a life of its own ....