Doing your own work

I think it's just plain hard hardheadedness. People are so use to hydrolic lifters and 100,000 mile tune ups, they don't believe a bike needs them adjusted every 3-4,000 miles. A lot of the time a bike isn't kept much longer than that, then it's somebody else's problem. When getting a used bike of these ages, one would have to know it's been neglected. Well worth the $1-200 involved in keeping it running as well as it can be.
Steve

If you are even half dumb you can read this furum and figure anything out so that you can do it your self. I oncne bid on a quickway boring machine so i could bore my jugs myself but hell its cheaper to send them out

OH I will never ever do valve guides again

I bought a 1984 Pontiac Fiero in 1986 as my first car. Without going into it, bought the factory service manual and went after fixing every problem that came up, along with maintenance of brakes, cooling and electrical work. Drove the Pontiac until 1994 when I was able to buy a new car. Needless to say I learned a great deal about automotive work and enough to understand how expensive shops can be for routine adjustments. Skip ahead about 30 years and I found a KZ650 sitting in a semi-enclosed garage. It sat there for almost 15 years with the key in the ignition. Hauled it back home and started the same process all over again.

For me wrenching is part of the experience and getting to know the machine. Just like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I can tell if she is off and what needs to be fixed by sound and response (sometimes). It takes patience and sometimes owning a second moto to get through the time consuming mind games, but it's well worth the effort.

... just my 79 cents

Sent the head out and boring the cyl and never had much luck changing tires ........ other than that I've done everything else ..... mostly to save cash but alot of it is I don't trust anyone else too. No one else has the love needed to really do it right (or at least give it my darnest). To many models and with all the help here and a couple manuals almost anything can be figured out. My age and lack of energy has sure put a damper on things getting done though and need a kick in the butt ..... hoping the up coming cooler weather will help.

I do find working on my car and truck a major pain and have a guy in town do most....... when I was younger the hand full of fast cars were a diff story though.

Wow Line artist before and after pic = awesome job.

KZB2 650 wrote: Wow Line artist before and after pic = awesome job.

Thanks KZB2. The hardest part was hearing the owner say on the phone everything was there except for the keys. When I first saw it in the garage there was the key preserved in the ignition. It's been a steady amount of wrenching, polishing and learning but I would not have it any other way.

Nice work.
Steve

Always the best outlet for cussing. The more you do it the more you're f@#%ing left alone.

I learned a long time ago, if you get angry, it wins. :blink:
BTW, back in Sky Valley and the heat. Thinking about pulling her into my living room to do the pistons. :dry:
Steve

For me...doing my own work is a feeling a gratification. Taking something that is not right or not running and turning it into something that purrs like it was when it was new. That is the best feeling to me. Yes there are certain things I will have done such as boring and valve guides but then I will only send it to a place that specializes in this kind of work and I know will be able to do the job to my expectations.
Ty

Like most i work on my bikes myself because i enjoy it You also get to know your bike inside and out, at the same time i don`t have to worry if some unknown has been having a bad day and not done the work properly :woohoo:

If you need someone to work on it, try to find out who worked on the Police bikes - they haven't changed a lot. Around here they are riding BMW's.....

On another note, I always work on mine, but I'm getting so old now, it just isn't fun anymore. I guess it is time to liquidate the collection. :huh: