OUCH! and weekend ride report

My Husqvarna cost $899 + accessories (low end farm range) but they have
home use type Huskies for $399.

They actually work surprisingly well although obviously being a small
bar they are restricted to pruning or small trees.


G-S

 

That'd be safer yes... but it still wouldn't pass most OH&S
guidelines... those pretty much ban everything except fixed ladders


G-S

 

Well yes, it would ultimately depend on how anal you were, and most OHS
guidelines (if followed to the last detail), would require an excessive
amount of analness (is that even a word?).

But either way, I still like my procedure better than Ben's!

 

But not just any fixed ladder.. the building engineers at my workplace
aren't even allowed to change a light bulb on an aluminium ladder.

Nev..
'07 XB12X

 

Sounds like a comedy of errors for both you & BT Betty. I didn't know
whether to laugh or cry. lol.
And don't worry about the Broken Butt Betty, Mines had a crack in it for
Yrs, And I'm doing ok.

Aido. >

 

Far-canal Betty; at least you had someone to fall on!!
Chemists-Own brand pain-tablets are good value.

 

Oh, the Anzac day incident just capped off the fortnight nicely for
me.

It started when I went to unload my GPZ900 from my truck.

Here's a picture of the truck, so you know what kind of vehicle I'm
talking about:

http://www.humbletown.org/unaugural2008/index.htm

I've been carrying motorbikes on it for years, and loading and
unloading them without any incident. My ramp is one of those big 2.4m
long treated pine landscaping sleepers, with a hook added to one end
that locks it against the (lowered) tailgate.

I was outside Eurotune Motorcycles in Queanbeyan, delivering the bike
to be serviced. I untied all the ropes, backed the bike onto the ramp
so that only the front wheel was still on the truck's tray, then
stepped down onto the tow bar and thence the ground, while still
holding the handlebars and front brake...

Unfortunately I brushed the gear shifter on the way down, and snicked
the bike into first gear.

More unfortunately, I didn't notice this until I'd tried to back the
bike the rest of the way down the ramp, so that the gearbox was now in
tension, holding the bike up.

Most unfortunate of all, the bike hadn't been started since the I
returned from the GP, so the clutch plates were all stiction-y and
pulling the clutch in wasn't sufficient to release it. I also wasn't
able to exert enough force in the position I was in (standing on the
road, hands up above my head holding onto the handlebars) to break the
stiction.

As you might expect, I was muttering a few things to myself that could
best be translated as "Oh bother! This is certainly a dilly of a
pickle!" when a bloke riding a sports bike stopped on the street
behind me and helped me finish the unloading process.

I thanked him.


BTH

 

[applause] (and a relieved sigh)

bbbetty

 

lol - at the time I kept saying to myself "come on betty, you can do it -
Clem's done worse!!! Must....keep....going....!"

betty, all dosed up now and
feeling Hardly Any Pain

 

Snip

I had not ridden my GPz900R for several months, the clutch plates were
firmly frozen, and on the advice of my trusted mechanic I started the bike
in neutral got it nice and warm, rolled it down my driveway and dropped it
into first gear. Rode it out onto the highway (avoiding traffic as a frozen
clutch is the same as no clutch) took it up to 140 KPH and pulling in the
clutch then I wildly varied throttle input to try and release the frozen
clutch plates, after about 10 kilometres of this abuse it freed itself with
a very loud bang.



I now know why I prefer dry single plate clutches in my BMW's.



Boxer

 

Betty's butt's in a sling?

Boxer

 

So, you're not a Monty Python fan then?

 

bikerbetty wrote...

Sounds like you had quite a time.

Sometimes you wonder if it's fun, at the time. But afterwards, when
relating it, it sounds like a fun adventure.

Certainly, you covered some of Oz's best roads for riding.

Better luck with your next ride.

 

BT Humble wrote:
I extended my

er... Nice safe 45 degree angle?

I think I see your problem.

In my experience, a ladder propped at low angle like that is (a) more
likely to cause the ladder legs to slide along the ground[1] (Look up
parallelogram of forces) and (b) likely to make the ladder flex
somewhere beyond its design specs, possibly causing its latching
mechanism to malfunction.

Something more than a 60-70 degree angle is much safer. Most quality
ladders are designed so that when erected at an appropriate angle, the
pairs of rungs that overlap form horizontal steps.

Moike
[1] I can still see the scar from where I nearly lost a finger in
similar circumstances, except my ladder had pressed-steel treads and was
resting on a square beam when it slipped.

 

I'm surprised they still let firemen use them.

My nephew had an accident a few weeks ago (OK, he's 25 and never had any
clues). He decided to install an sensor light, so turned off the light
switch, put up his aluminium step-ladder, and started fiddling with the
wires. When the electrical gods bit him, he fell off the ladder. It took me
ages to stop laughing. He probably didn't learn either of the two lessons
from it.

Theo

 

Yes, 45º is a tad low. My ladder has a right angle drawn on the side rail.
When this part is vertical and the other line is horizontal, you have the
correct angle.

Theo

 

It probably was more like 60 degrees than 45 - the real problem was
that I didn't double-check the latch mechanism before I started
climbing the ladder. I can assure you that I *did* check it carefully
for the subsequent operations!


BTH

 

Do they make electric start chainsaws?

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Probably the V8 ones that those nutter Canadians make.


BTH

 

Yes, of course. I have a little baby one I use for pruning small stuff.

Needs a cord.

Theo