Brake calipers

Well there ya go. In some weird way we've decreased the ever
decreasing circle without a fundamental orifice in view!
I am in complete agreement with your last paragraph, and it neatly
sums up what I've been trying to say for the past day or so.

 

Money of coarse
I am a devout Capitalist

 

Ah ha, there you go..............
What has become of adventure, of pioneering the unknown?
Where would we be, if someone didn't experiment on something or other?

 

Of course there is. It's just that overconfidence combined with
ignorance has brought many a fine machine undone.

Yes. A thoughtful approach results in fewer problems, it's true. We
all have to start somewhere.

Taking your time, understanding what you are doing, following the
manual...
I have no problem with that, just so long as your learning steps are
confined to areas that don't have the potential to kill you or me.

[...]

Amen to that - not only bikes either.

 

I'm glad to hear SOMEONE knows how to deal with no brakes around here.

The first bush buggy dad built me (I was 7) had no brakes and a solid
rear axle - taught me how to slide (crabbed sideways pushing the front
if you didn't break the rear loose) and stop without brakes -
excellent skills training, although a little bit hard on horse troughs
and fences until i got the hang of it

JL
(helmet what helmet ? How the hell i survived childhood i have no idea)

 

I may have posted this before - I forget.
Our primary mode of transport on the dirt poor farm of my pre-teen
years was a 1930 3 ton Chev truck. There were other things used on the
farm, like a '27 Hupmobile, a '28 Chev 4, a litany of A models, T
models, and so on. As kids, it was our responsibility to learn to
drive them all.
It's the Chevy that was the most fun.
The engine would always start on the first turn over compression, and
it would idle as sweet as a nut at around 500rpm.
The starter had long since expired, as had the clutch. As for the
brakes, what the hell do you need brakes for son, they only slow you
down!
So the starting procedure was to put it into low low, walk to the
front and insert the crank handle, give it a turn, then step back and
sideways deftly removing the crank handle as you did so. The engine
would now be ticking over and the truck would be crawling forward.
Step aside to let it pass's, and jump onto the running board as it
went past. Slide onto the drivers seat and take control.
Gear changes were done clutchless - we became very adept at matching
the engine speed to the relative gear meshing speeds - it was a talked
about shame if you were heard crunching the gears.
Stopping was by going down through the gears, double clutching all the
way, with the last gasp in low low with the ignition off.
We mostly got this right, but sometimes we were as bit hot, so the
emergency speed reduction was done by lock to lock steering movements,
bloody hard work when fully loaded and 30 or so steering wheel
revolutions between locks.
A family contest was to come through the home gate in low, go up
through the gears until you were in top, and about 100 feet from the
shed, start going down, not missing any gears. If you judged it
properly (which we mostly did) the truck would be neatly parked with
the ignition off and with just enough room between the back wall and
the radiator to get the crank handle in.
I was the eldest - at 12-13 yo. The younger brothers were my
competitors - basically they could just see over the bottom of the
steering wheel, but were superb drivers.
And don't get me started on driving that thing on black soil
formations just after a downpour. That was fun on steroids!
So yes, I have some knowledge of stopping without brakes.

Yes, my own injury collection involves the half broken horses of my
childhood. As my chiropractor says, there seems to have been a preteen
history of falling from heights. How little he knows

 

There was a very good reason I didn't wear a helmet on my bicycle when
I was young, or a motorcycle helmet when I got my motorcycle. There
weren't any.
I have a 2WD Quad we use for carting stuff for the garden. Helen has
trouble getting to to corner. She doesn't get it when I tell her to
take all the weight off one rear wheel.

Theo

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:42:47 +1100

Big not BTH I think you will find.

ANd you then need to look at frequency. What's the rate of stuffups
per thousand jobs of the pro compared to the amateur?

Zebee

 

1%

 

And history shows that you have to watch those damn 1%'ers

 

Well, it did happen to BTH (Hyosung 650) but I don't remember him blaming
the servicing mechanic, more the selling dealer and Hyosung.

 

On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:13:23 +1100, GWD wrote:

[...]

[...]


OK so how do you double clutch without a clutch?

It's the same process, but clutch less:
1. take the tension off the gears by throttling back, pull
gently back on the stick.
2. when you feel the gears start to slide, slip into neutral
3. use the accelerator to match engine speed with that of the gears.
4. When all feels OK, slip into the next gear (it's
continuous movement, done very quickly).
5. keep accelerator adjusted to reducing speed
so that load on the box is not excessive.

You need an old crash box to do it properly - don't try it on your
nice new car or bike - it can be done but the learning curve will
result in severe damage to synchro cones and dogs.

 

Yeah you probably are. Mere mortals will require a learning curve
before they become good at it, let alone fucking good.
It was a standard disclaimer Nev - you know, like don't try this at
home. Not that I give a FF anyway...

 

*shrug*
You really love making these weird non-points and then backing down as
soon as they're queried don't you George?

 

Provided you *do* do the maths that'd be a fair consideration.
If you compare even a major mechanical failure every few years or-so
with the cost of having *all* your mechanical work done at the shop I'd
be surprised if the home handiworker still comes out behind.

 

But what possible "mechanical damage" do you imagine cleaning or
dismantling a brake-calliper could cause George?
Do you actually know what a brake-calliper is and what it does? It's a
very very simple device.
Has someone been telling you scary stories or something?

 

In aus.motorcycles on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:15:17 GMT

Don't forget to factor in the cost of your own time.

Zebee

 

Does that count?
It's like gardening; you should probably be subtracting the
therapeutic-value you're receiving instead!

 

OK. The conclusion I drew from this thread is that arrogance mixed
with lack of fundamental understanding is an all too common mix in
back yard mechanics. I thought that I was clear enough but I am happy
to repeat it ad infinitum if it makes you happy. Alternatively, you
could take a course in reading 101 and save us both a lot of trouble.

 

I think the idea is to try to score points no matter how silly he/she
looks. Might even succeed one of these days - you never know...