Magazine mechanics

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mikenixon
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#16

Post by mikenixon »

:)
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#17

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I always thought "Squid" was short for "squirrely kid"...

There is probably almost as much worthwhile, well presented information on the web as there is garbage. But it takes a bit of knowledge about how things work to figure out 1) which information is good and 2) how that applies to your situation.

And that does apply to medical stuff too. A few years ago I had terrible eczema and doctor prescribed me something for it that helped at first but then it got even worse. I ended up researching it online and found that eczema is a symptom, not a disorder and that it is usually triggered by an allergy. I was already seeing an allergist for other problems so I took her what I had found on the web and asked if it sounded like it made sense. She looked at it and told me her job would be a lot easier if she had more patients that were willing to spend time researching their problems instead of just trying everything she thought of in hopes that something might help.
BTW: The allergy trigger is Propylene Glycol, a common emollient (ingredient that makes something absorb into the skin better) that is found in everything from hand lotion to shampoo and deodorant. It happens to also be a close relative to Ethylene Glycol that is used as engine coolant and if I get that on my hands I need to wash it off quickly & thoroughly before i have a reaction; It isn't as bad as a reaction to Propylene Glycol but it isn't pleasant either.
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#18

Post by mikenixon »

Good input. I am not ready however to give powersports user forums the 50/50 grade. :)
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#19

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Ah, but there are sites like yours that help with that...
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#20

Post by mikenixon »

:)
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#21

Post by desertrefugee »

mikenixon wrote:Good input. I am not ready however to give powersports user forums the 50/50 grade. :)
C'mon, Mike. We're doing' the best we can. Sometimes the school of hard knocks can be a viable skill path.

But then, stepping back just a bit from mechanics and considering a bigger <gulp> philosophical picture, Einstein once opined, "Let us not forget that human knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life".

I may have sipped a bit too much cider this Independence Day, but I think what I'm trying to say is that I respect any man (or woman) who is willing to attempt their own motorcycle fettling on an old scoot when they could have opened their wallet and bought a new one. That would be too easy - and we are all somewhere on that skills continuum.

If nothing else, it's all entertaining!
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#22

Post by mikenixon »

Well said and also valid.
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#23

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Sometimes Internet sources know more than the pros. The FSMs for the CX/GL500/650 bikes say that you have to drop the engine and take the rear cover off (which involves removing the ignition timing bits first) in order to replace the water pump's mechanical seal (about 4 hours labour for someone that is familiar with them, 1 or 2 more for a tech that has never seen one before and a couple more if it is an Interstate model) but a few years ago a clever fellow in the online community figured out a method for replacing it with the engine in the frame that can be done by an amateur who is familiar with his own bike in a couple of hours.
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#24

Post by mikenixon »

:)
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#25

Post by mikenixon »

desertrefugee wrote:C'mon, Mike. We're doing' the best we can. Sometimes the school of hard knocks can be a viable skill path.
Yes but forum "experts" are forcing on their members those hard knocks by misleading them, grossly in many cases. https://www.motorcycleproject.com/text/real_issues.html
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#26

Post by mikenixon »

Sidecar Bob wrote:Sometimes Internet sources know more than the pros. The FSMs for the CX/GL500/650 bikes say that you have to drop the engine and take the rear cover off (which involves removing the ignition timing bits first) in order to replace the water pump's mechanical seal (about 4 hours labour for someone that is familiar with them, 1 or 2 more for a tech that has never seen one before and a couple more if it is an Interstate model) but a few years ago a clever fellow in the online community figured out a method for replacing it with the engine in the frame that can be done by an amateur who is familiar with his own bike in a couple of hours.
I'm familiar with the job, but not with the forum. A better way to characterize this situation is forum people have over a period of almost 40 years come up with some tricks, ostensibly at any rate, that neither the factory or its dealers ever would have in the context of the normal "life cycle" of the product. I don't call that knowing more. There are literally thousands of aspects of powersports products that those outside the industry will never know, and don't know they don't know, and in countless cases even refuse to know. Such is the nature of pooled ignorance.
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#27

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youTubePatch.jpg
youTubePatch.jpg (13.31 KiB) Viewed 214 times
Hey! I got one of those!

I think it's important to remember the context here. Mike is speaking from a professional vantage point where your knowledge and skill are for hire. Seeing someone in a shop not take that seriously or worse, superficially, is worthy of disparagement.

However, the vast majority of the folks on this forum are not professional mechanics and are simply seeking to further their knowledge by any means necessary. That may be asking fundamental questions that have been answered a dozen times in the last 6 months. Making mistakes that in hindsight, are really embarrassing. Or maybe just past the time socializing over mutual interests. All of it is The Journey. Doesn't matter where you start, doesn't matter where you end. Perspective.

Personally, watching videos have saved me hundreds of hours of research and literally thousands of dollars. And there's no way to quantify what I've learned on this and other forums. But I sure as beans wouldn't hire out my skills.

So before this pack of amateurs start being all judgey it's best to remember we're all PO's.

That being said, I literally cannot take too much of the FaceBook NGW because NO ONE does any research there - or owns a manual evidently - they just blurt out poorly formed questions at an alarming rate. Sunnbob deserves a rather large plaque for maintaining that space.
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#28

Post by mikenixon »

Point very well taken, sgwilly. Let me add I don't fault folks gleaning, acquiring, learning from mistakes. It's life. All of us are on a curve. I can't however not be pained at seeing unsuspecting inquirers mislead. Thank you for being kind in your gentle rebuke.
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#29

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mikenixon wrote:I'm familiar with the job, but not with the forum. A better way to characterize this situation is forum people have over a period of almost 40 years come up with some tricks, ostensibly at any rate, that neither the factory or its dealers ever would have in the context of the normal "life cycle" of the product. I don't call that knowing more. There are literally thousands of aspects of powersports products that those outside the industry will never know, and don't know they don't know, and in countless cases even refuse to know. Such is the nature of pooled ignorance.
I'm not faulting the people that wrote the manual for not thinking of this method (or countless others that have been developed by other talented amateurs over the decades). It is only natural that given enough time people will start to figure things out that the factory people didn't and that they will share those things with others. And I'm not saying that the pros don't know a lot more about what they know than we amateurs do.
My point is that it would be impossible for any professional mechanic to be aware of every new technique developed on every forum for every model of bike and that it is possible (& even likely) that some of the stuff that on the web that professional mechanics are unaware of is actually valuable.

BTW: In the CX water pump example, the technique, referred to as the "Shep method") involves leaving the mechanical seal's cup in the engine cover while removing the rest of it, then removing the new seal from it's cup and gluing it into the original cup with sealant (installing the impeller clamps it while the sealant sets).
This is particularly valuable for those with early CX500s because Honda changed the size of the cup (& the hole it presses into) in mid production but the parts drawings on dealer websites call for the later, larger one (which won't fit the earlier engines) for all years.
Many seals have been ruined trying to press them into the smaller holes and many of the covers have been machined to accept the newer seal.
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Re: Magazine mechanics

#30

Post by mikenixon »

Gotcha. I agree. Another example is the neutral switch on the GL1100 which when Honda finally listened to mechanics changed in the flat rate manual, to the disappointment of many.
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