Oh happy day

My Guzzi gearbox problem turned out to be a loose linkage. Tokk
slightly longer to fix that expected: I had to unbolt the starter
motor to get at the screw.

Next job: the bike's steering had been getting a bit... odd, and it
dawned on me that I've no recollection of ever greasing that
particular bike's head bearings. Whoops. Got the steering apart and
they were indeed dry and the bottom rollers were beginning to corrode.
I just caught it in time. All well now.

It's funny how these jobs seem to come in batches: I've only recently
done the R1 because I needed to adjust the bearings; as this entails
taking the top yoke off I figured it would be daft not to grease them
at the same time.

And Off Topic: I'd managed to crash both my model helicopters last
week. The indoor Sabre had lost a rotor-head bearing when I crashed it
in the garden: it suddenly spun 180 degrees and rolled and I got
disorientated. The other, an Eco-8, suffered a bent tailboom because I
was trying to teach myself to hover it nose-in and let it drift too
close to the shed. I fixed both today. I might start using a tether
and anchor plate while I get the nose-in hover sorted.

 

Well, doing it on simpler shite old bikes in one's yoof gives one the
experience and the confidence, though any experienced mechanic would
do the jobs in a third of the time it takes me to do them. I resorted
to the HBoL for the exact procedure for the R1, in case there were any
surprises, it being a new toy and all.

As for the Guzzi, I just put a jack under the engine and undid stuff.
Only problem was the fact that after removing the top yoke and
adjuster ring, the steering stem steadfastly refused to drop out of
the top bearing. My puller just slipped off, so after making sure I
hadn't missed anything I resorted to placing a short bit of mild steel
bar on the end of the stem and hitting it with a hammer. Sorted.

 

Des wrote

It takes several instances of dropping all the bearings on a gritty
floor, while rushing a job before the light goes, and then having a
forkless bike fall off its stand just as everything has been found, and
having to start all over again.

 

I think it's a consequence for many of us of having had bikes as a sole
means of transport when money was too tight to afford garages.

Haynes manuals (or similar) are your friend if you want to do this
stuff.

It's fiddly on the K fair enough but it shouldn't take more than 10
minutes once you've worked out how the bulb is secured.

 

....and pretty shit bikes at that.

Oh, how things change with age, money and experience.

 

Kinell. <mops brow>

 

If it helps, I did bung the bar into the lathe and face off the end
that bore against the stem.

It just needed... persuading.

Mwahahahah!

 

Talking of which, when I was checking the Guzzi's clutch cable out on
the drive, I heard the unwelcome 'clunk' of something falling onto the
gravel.

Couldn't immediately see them, so I waved a magnetic parts tray over
the ground and as if by magic, 'kerlunk' as the bits attached
themselves to the bottom of the tray.

 

Pip Luscher wrote

Nice one. Old hard drive magnets are useful too, for that.

 

If you do, you'll be buying more parts. Believe me, tethering ISN'T the way
to go. Think "inverted pendulum" with extra bits.

What you need is a bloody good simulator. RealFlight G3 or Phoenix.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

I get what you're saying, but it actually works OK. Been doing it for
years. This kind of indicates my progress!

Trouble is, they are rather expensive. I could buy quite a few tail
booms for the price of a simulator. Instead, I've got 'RC stunt
copter' for my old Playstation. Not a true simulator but has helped a
bit. I switch to 'fixed camera' view and fly the heli around in free
flight stunt mode.

 

And the efficiency of the method. Get the heli in the air, turn it round and
fly the fucking thing. It only takes a few minutes anyway before nose-in
flying becomes 2nd nature.

"Penny wise pound foolish" sound familiar?

For 100 quid you get a great sim and as many crashes as you could ever
handle. It's not just the cost of replacing a tail boom, it's the time it
takes plus the necessity to set the heli up again properly (if it was ever
done in the first place)

Not as much as you think. You may THINK it's helped a lot, but after flying
every sim on the market (including RC **** copter) plus having had an RC
heli school for 15 years, take it from me, **** copter does **** all but
throw up wrong muscle memories.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Yeah, lack of practice. The last garden was too small really and I
couldn't be arsed to lug it all out to a flying site. Then the heli
lost lift and got consigned to a cupboard. It's only the recent
purchase of an indoor flyer that rekindled my interest and I finally
got round to sorting the problem.

It's my life motto.

 

I've got a lovely Robbe Futura with a YS 90 going begging.

Snap



--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Hum. I did consider IC but I'll prolly stick to electric for now. I'm
also a little short of spare cash ATM.

 

Speaking of which, I'd best mail you.

Done.

 

And bounced.

De-mung it for me please, Pip - my addy in my headers works.

 

I've dabbled in leccies over the years, but they don't really "do it" for me
like the methanol heli's do. I like the smoke, the stink, the grief and the
NOISE of glo engined heli's.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

I love strokers and especially the smell of methanol/castor oil in the
morning. But electric models can be flown in the garden and my
'private flying site' has a house and horses nearby, though to be fair
they don't seem to be bothered by an Allen scythe.

 

Ahem. There was a cunning security typo in my user profile in Agent;
now fixed.