Rob's Working Definitions
|
Level
|
Skill
|
Personally
Dirty
|
Work
Mess
|
Tools
|
Space
|
|
1
|
Dead
easy! Grandma could do it
|
Slightly
oily / dirty hands and fingers
|
None,
or very minor drips and leaks
|
Basic
ring and socket spanners, feeler gauges, torque wrench
|
Enough
space to walk round the bike
|
|
2
|
Easy
... why pay a mechanic?
|
Oily
/ dirty hands and fingers
|
Drip
/ drain trays needed
|
ditto
plus vacuum gauges
|
Car-sized
work area
|
|
3
|
Straightforward
if you closely follow the instructions
|
Oil
/ dirt up to elbows
|
Messy
and untidy
|
ditto
plus full socket and ring spanners, car type jack
|
Garage
or covered area recommended
|
|
3a
|
Engine must be removed from frame |
||||
|
4
|
Complex
or delicate inside-engine work
|
Boiler
suit / overalls recommended
|
Significant
mess in the working area
|
Top-level
home toolset and equipment
|
Double
garage needed
|
|
5
|
Major
surgery
|
Throw
your clothes away afterwards!
|
Major
disruption in the working area
|
Dealer
level facilities
|
|
Notes - from 40 years of spannering experience:-
These days I tend to use surgical rubber gloves when wielding spanners. They make a very significant difference to keeping your hands clean. However as soon as a glove is torn, discard it, or you might inadvertantly drop a rubber fragment, and block a water passageway or oil jet.
Never be afraid to ask a more experienced rider / mechanic for help. This will probably only cost you beer or coffee. Most good home mechanics are happy to be asked to help out.
A second opinion on a problem is always valuable.
If removing a petrol tank, do not place it at your only means of escape from a working area. In the event of a fire, you will be trapped. Don't ask me how I know.
A torque wrench is mandatory equipment.
Clean lint-free rags, an old expendable towel, are extremely useful items to have around.
Keep small children away from working areas. You'd be amazed what they poke down spark plug holes or open cylinder head spaces. I once recovered a Stickle Brick from a radiator hose.
After an engine rebuild, have a work break before starting the engine. On returning, refreshed and renewed, you may spot something vital that you missed before.
Use your old towel to cover exposed engines or electrics, if you are interrupted. This prevents foreign objects falling in. I've seen bird droppings fall into an open engine.
Label all unfamiliar removed components. Most engine parts are left or right handed and are not interchangeable. Generally, when working on paired components, deal with one side at a time.
If you are in doubt about a procedure, itemise it as you go along, dictate into a voice recorder or photograph the work.
Brush clean and grease engine to frame, axles, and other holding bolts before reassembly. This ensure that next time they will come out cleanly. For small nuts and bolts, spray them with ACF-50 before reassembly.
Most mechanicky jobs take twice as long as you thought they would.
An involved job is best done in stages of 3 to 4 hours. If you try and blitz a long job, you tend to get fed up and that's when you cut corners and make silly mistakes. Take work breaks and think about what you will do next, play the work through in your mind.