Easter Morning Ride

5.30am. The Mighty Kawasaki Rickman CR and me made it up the Mount Tamalpais on Easter Sunday morning to watch the sun rise. Wade Boyd and my best friend Christine Blunck are also here. They are Subculture Racing and I used to race sidecars with them - Wade sponsored us the sidecar, and Christine was my brave monkey, I mean, side car passenger.
Hard to tell who else is here yet, too dark. Lots of Aerostich people though, check out all those reflectors!

Here is another one of Wade. And Abi! She's looking like one happy Easter bunny, with one of the donuts that the Zeitgeist girls were giving out...Jeez, it's 5 in the morning and freezing! Don't look so happy!
Wade's not so happy right now, since after racing the Isle of Man TT for 14 years, they won't let him race this year. Island politics. It's a big deal, and it really sucks, with all the effort that went into getting everything ready for it, and Urban Moto Magazine sponsoring him this year, too. The race bike was prepped, tickets bought, accommodations etc. prepared for, and now the bike had to be pulled off the container that was just about to leave to England. Terrible disappointment.

How many of these people have Long Johns on, or two Long John's, like me? Kept me pretty warm! Highly recommended.

There must've been 500 bikes there. A lot of them lined up on the way to the parking lot. Last year, when it was raining down so hard that we were soaked to the undies in 5 minutes flat (it didn't rain on the way out of San Francisco, so why bother with a pesky rain suit?), only about 50 people showed up. It was nice to see everybody this time. And a belated thanks to Joey Perrault who lit the way for me when my head light conked out on the way up last year.This time, no electrical problems, only the fender worked it's way loose from the original hose clamps over the bumpy road, and dug a groove in my front tire...nothing that couldn't be fixed on the side of the road though.

All the way to the top, 300 gruesome yards steeply uphill from the parking lot in riding boots feeling big like the Michelin Man with all the layers I had on, with little food or coffee in my belly, this was the reward: the fog was blowing hard over the top, it was freezing, and beautiful. Totally worth it.

And this is the official start of the riding season. So Happy Trails y'all, rubber side down and shiny side up, enjoy all the beautiful sun rises and sun sets you can take, and have a great season!

Little Red Riding Helmet

Once upon a time there was a dear little motorcycle that was loved by every one who looked at it, but most of all by its owner, and there was nothing that he would not have given to the motorcycle, the problem was, he never really looked at it too closely, except he was giving it a bath all the time, but he never looked beyond the shiny parts.

Once he got the bike he also got a red helmet which suited him so well that he would never wear anything else; so he was always called "Little Red Riding Helmet".

One day while riding the motorcycle, Little Red Riding Helmet said:

"Oh! motorcycle," he said, "how come you make loud noises and seem to be skipping when I get on the gas like that?"

"Oh I was trying to be cute and just be skipping along" was the reply.

"But, motorcycle, how low to the ground your chain hangs!" he said.

"Low riding is where it's at these days, my dear."

"Oh! but, my motorcycle, how terribly round your sprocket is and all your teeth are missing!"

"The better for the chain to jump the sprocket, lock up your wheel and make you eat it! Harharaharharhar!"

And scarcely had the motorcycle said this, than with one bound the chain came off, locked up the rear wheel and Little Red Riding Helmet ate it.

So what did we learn from this, kids? If you want to trust your motorcycle, look at it every once in a while, make sure the nice parts didn't turn into bad parts with regular wear and tear, listen for the signs and funny noises, and do something about it or ask somebody that knows and you will live happily ever after!

P.S. Believe it or not, this bike was actually ridden to the shop, chain super tight, pure friction making the rear wheel go round, and it could've ruined the output shaft bearing, but it did not, so it must have that rider's lucky day...didn't die and didn't brake anything else...

Most Extreme Elimination Tire

So here are the first two items of
The Hall Of Shame. One's a front tire, one's a rear tire. Both tires actually lost air through the threads of the belt. I won't mention any names. Let's suffice it to say that both of them were products of trying to save money.

Both of these tires, had they blown up while riding, would have made the owner crash and would have cost them a lot more money then that tire. It could have just suddenly disintegrated -poof, magic, where did that black stuff around my rim go???

Looking at a tire like that makes me think of the TV show The Most Painful Extreme Elimination Challenge - in do-it-yourself mode. Pretty funny- except when it actually happens to you...

One worst case scenario: I had a customer once that had a damaged tire not as bad as this one, and despite warning, he really, really needed to go home on the freeway. He blew the tire and spent the next 3 months in the hospital.

Even if there is a little rubber still covering the belt the tire tread becomes so flexible that it sort of wraps itself around any nail in its path -xoxoxo dear nail, you want to come home with me?- and picks it up like Velcro...

So play the Can You See The Whole Head On A Lincoln Penny instead: stick a penny into the treads of the tire and if you can still see the whole head, it's time to replace your tires.

Trackday! My season is officially open!

So I did my first track day of the season, up at Thunderhill, organized by one of our suppliers, namely Tucker Rocky. They are one reason why we have a good time here at the shop, their service to us (and ultimately to our customers) is great.

But it wasn't just a track day for me. This time I made it a test-and-tune: I took my old trusty 2001 Suzuki GSX-R750 up there to dial in the suspension. It's something that is most easily done on the track.

Think about it: you can go the same speed around the same corners of the same track after every change, and you can feel every change and dial the bike in to suit you needs.

It's a good idea to note down the base settings before you start turning the dials. Find out from your manual which adjustment is what, and find the base setting by counting the clicks screwing the adjuster in, or turns if it doesn't have clicks, then turn it out to the exact number that you counted. Don't forget that step, it's easy to count, note it down, and move to the next step without resetting it. That will make for unpleasant surprises when you get back out there.

Then, note down the change, and when you come back, note down what the bike did, like "more bumpy now, will go back the other direction by 2 clicks" or something to that effect. Also, never make more than one change at a time, or do too many clicks, 1 or 2 is enough, otherwise you fool yourself into wrong conclusions. Good notes are very important: trust me, you WILL forget...

And most important: When doing this, go around the track at no more than maybe 60-70% of your regular speed, so if the bike does something erratic you will still be able to stand the bike up and get it around the turn, and not be fully leaned over without room for error. Remember, it's a test-and-tune. It's sometimes hard to let your friends blaze-by-ya, but eventually you blaze by them, since your suspension now works just great and you will have full confidence that the motorcycle is doing exactly what you want it to do when you throw it into the turn.

So have fun on the track, play with your suspension, hold your line, rubber side down and sunny side up!

Might see you out there one of these days...

Jennifer

P.S. In case you are wondering about the picture: when I went to try out my new camera to make pictures in turn 14 somebody crashed (didn't get hurt) and the session got red-flagged, and no bikes were on track. So I took the opportunity to photograph the cool checkered-flag-wrapped trashcan with the pretty flowers around it...not too often you see green at Thunderhill...

How I became a mechanic or Thank you, Dad

So I bought my first motorcycle: kick start-only: a 1978 Yamaha XT500 single cylinder. It was beautiful, fresh paint job in blue metallic. I bought this particular motorcycle not because I knew what I was doing. I got it on recommendation of some friends. My personal choice would have been a KZ440LTD. Now I'm 6'2". The LTD is a very small motorcycle for somebody my height. Jeez, I would've not been able to turn any corners at all...knees hitting the handlebars with any attempt to turn a corner...not a good idea. So I'm glad that I listened to my friends in that respect.

On the other hand: points ignition, kick-start only, single cylinder, not a high engine life expectancy, big vibration and numb hands, high speed max of 65mph, anything over that resulting in instability and upcoming trips to Italy and Greece from Germany? The XT500 was not really the perfect choice. But I was cool. Boy, was I cool.

So after having all kinds of problems and (literally) pains-in-the-butt on my various long distance trips I had learned to love my motorcycle. Even though it was a high-maintenance love. A very high maintenance love.

But what really made me a mechanic: my counter shaft sprocket fell off. Far away from home. I called my Dad to come and tow me home. And he came (Thank you, Dad). We actually put a rope around the steering (and please, never, ever do that-it's the most dangerous thing) and tried to get home that way. Of course, I crashed. Fortunately, I crashed right away, not going very fast. So that didn't work.

So my Dad remembered that there was a welding shop not too far away, so we pushed the bike there, and they welded my counter shaft sprocket to the shaft at at my insistence. They warned me that it wasn't a good idea. But cheaper than getting the tow truck, since I was fairly far from home.

Now how did that make me mechanic, you ask? Well, after a while, the counter shaft sprocket wore out, as counter shaft sprockets do. So I needed to change it. Looking into the matter I realized that I had to take the top end off and split the cases in order to replace the counter shaft that the sprocket sits on, since by welding the two pieces together, I had rendered them both useless.

Overhaul the engine? No problem! I've never done anything like it. What's a torque wrench? My Dad doesn't know about mechanics. But I can do it. I'm 18 and I think I know everything.

My Dad helped me haul the engine up my room on the second floor, where I cleared my table, laid out a bunch of news paper and started taking the engine apart. (Un)fortunately (for my Dad) he had no idea what he had just agreed to. He is a computer engineer, and computers are not full of oil and grease. Or maybe he just didn't want to hinder me expanding my knowledge. I any case, thanks, Dad, again and a lot, for putting up with me and all my ideas.

Starting with engine oil stains on my (fortunately dark) carpet over pleas for money to buy yet another tool that I needed for the job to making the oven in the kitchen unusable for a while, since I heated up the engine halves in the oven in order to split them (it actually worked great). On the downside of it: the oil that hid in the crevices came out with the heat and crusted itself to the oven walls. Phew, what a stink. Of course I had waited till my Dad wasn't there for a day. But despite a hard cleaning effort, the oven still faintly smelled like burnt oil for a (long) while after...And I got into big trouble. But my Dad did forgive me in the end. So thanks one more time, Dad, you are the best! And he let me finish the engine in my room.

Aftermarket manual in hand, and occasional advice from my friends, I actually managed to take the whole thing apart, and put it back together. Hardheaded as I was, I didn't ask too many questions, and tried it all on my own. There is something to say about trial and error, and I never made the same stupid mistake twice, but I did make almost every possible mistake once. Not the most efficient way to learn, and a kinda painful and expensive one, but I got through it. What doesn't kill you makes you better, right? And the engine ran!

Anyway, I did get smart after that, and when I finished high school I signed up at a Honda Yamaha dealership in Munich and absolved a three year apprenticeship, which made me a really good mechanic.

But if would've bought that LTD...and the countershaft sprocket would have been properly mounted...you guys wouldn't be able to learn off my mistakes.

As an old German saying goes...gotta build a house with the stones that are laid in your way (even if you laid them there yourself, and boy, am I good with that!)

My bike stopped running!

Your bike stopped running. It cranks over but won't catch. Everything looks normal, petcock in on, kill switch is on, lights are on. Nothing changed and it really should be running. Argh! Don't know what to do next?

First thing, always: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GAS! You might think this is obvious. Not so. About once a month I get somebody in here that has no gas, or didn't turn the petcock to reserve. Cost: towing plus the minimum shop rate. Looking in the gas tank is an easy way to check out if you have gas. Make sure you hold your breath: gas fumes are pretty bad for your lungs, and kids, no smoking while you're cap is open either. And beware: if there is a little gas covering the bottom, that might not be enough to start the bike.

Next: CHECK YOUR FUSES! Inspect them, make sure the little filament is not broken, and move them back and forth in their sockets (if they are glass fuses), or in and out (if they are plastic) to make sure that there isn't any corrosion that hinders the juice from going where it's supposed to go. Clean suspect contacts by scratching off the corrosion (e.g. your keys, nail file, clippers or whatever else your pant pockets will produce).

If that doesn't do the trick: try bump starting the bike. Have a friend push you, put it in second gear, pop the clutch when you reached about 10 mph or so. But please, make sure you wear your gear and a helmet. If the bike still won't start the rear tire will lock up, and if you are not fast enough pulling the clutch back in, you WILL crash. So caution, best is to have somebody do it that has a little experience.

But experience doesn't always shield you from doing stupid things:
I had a boyfriend once, that had experience, but didn't wear a helmet, trying to bump start a motorcycle sidesaddle. The bike started, stalled again, and bucked him off like a bronco. He couldn't remember his mother's name for a while, not did he know who the president was (which is something that a lot of us would like to be able forget right now, so maybe that is a good thing). He got himself a real good concussion. Fortunately, he didn't crack his head open. So wear a helmet. Thanks.

If your bike still doesn't start, it's time for more serious diagnosing. But don't be afraid: there are a lot of little things you can do with very little tools. Keep posted!

Motorcyle Apprenticeships

You want to learn more about motorcycles.

You can pay the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute $20,000 to learn how, in theory, without getting actual shop experience.

You can take Community College classes which will give you a good overview, but won't make you an efficient, real world mechanic that knows all the little tricks on how to work on a variety of motorcycles.

You can go to a European country where they still offer apprenticeships, learn the language, spend 3 years there, get paid $200 a month, graduate and come back here (that's what I did).

If none of the above appeals to you and you are a self-starting individual and you can spare part-time of your week:

Find yourself a shop where you can do an apprenticeship. Since it takes a lot of time for a mechanic to go over technical details of why and how something needs to be done, offer to run errands and do the odds and ends for the shop in exchange. We have been doing that here at Werkstatt for a while with excellent results.

Some people have moved on to become paid mechanics, others use that knowledge to be able to do the work on their bikes themselves, and save a bunch of money, especially when they have an older bike that needs constant attention.

Or: keep reading this blog, and email me with topics you're interested in, and I will do my best to explain how things are done!

Happy trails in the mean time,

Jennifer