random, miscellaneous tips

[elishatarvin]

so im sitting here watching tv and just thinking about bike stuff (like usual). one thought led to another and i thought it would be a good idea to start a thread filled with, as the title states, random, miscellaneous tips u have learned from working on ur bike(s). for example, a few that come to my head right now are:

1. the ground wire on the fz6r (and im assuming all japanese bikes?) is black, not green like is standard in the states. and blue is the running light wire on all lights

2. if u need the rear wheel to ever stay stationary like when replacing the rear and front sprockets, stick something strong (i use a 2 and a half foot piece of tubular 3/4" weldable steel from ace hardware; it has smooth edges and doesnt scratch anything) through the wheel and over or under the swingarm (will depend on if ur tightening or lossening nuts). i found this to be the only way i could brake a few of the nuts loose. holding the brakes and wedging something in between the tire and frame just didnt hold strong enough and i wasnt about to put my bike in 1st and get help from the tranny.

3. if there is a nult/bolt u cant break free, use a long breaker bar (a wider piece of tubular weldable steel works great) and use quick burst of torque repeatedly instead of putting high constant pressure on it.

4. when removing a bolt that previously had thread locker or any other material on its threads, use a wire brush to clean off the threads and compressed air to clean out the housing before applying new thread locker and reinstalling bolt

 

[BluePill]

3. if there is a nult/bolt u cant break free, use a long breaker bar (a wider piece of tubular weldable steel works great) and use quick burst of torque repeatedly instead of putting high constant pressure on it.

Good suggestion. Very important to make sure that you will be pulling in the direction that loosens - not tightens - the fastener. Its an easy mistake to make, and with the extra leverage it's easy to break a bolt. Also, make sure the socket is fully and squarely engaged to avoid rounding the flats on the fastener.

 

[dart1963]

#1 Don't ever be afraid to ask for help! If you're doing your own maintenance and you think you are over your head... way better to get someone else to look at it, than to "think" you've got it right!

 

[Superfly]

Not so much on these bikes but if you suspect a vaccum leak on any engine the coolest method I've ever seen is to start the engine and as its idling take a propane torch that isnt lit and that just has the gas seeping out at a decent rate and then poke around all the vaccum fittings and hoses and lines.

You will hear the engine idle up if you have a leak. The gas will be sucked in and burned. Then pinpoint the spot and youre all set:iconbeer:

 

[elishatarvin]

Good suggestion. Very important to make sure that you will be pulling in the direction that loosens - not tightens - the fastener. Its an easy mistake to make, and with the extra leverage it's easy to break a bolt. Also, make sure the socket is fully and squarely engaged to avoid rounding the flats on the fastener.

And make sure its not reverse threaded. Not something u come across too often, but uf a bolt is bein a booger, that might be why.

 

[Marthy]

And make sure its not reverse threaded. Not something u come across too often, but uf a bolt is bein a booger, that might be why.

Do you mean that righty tighty, lefty loosy is not always thru??? :rant:

 

[dart1963]

Do you mean that righty tighty, lefty loosy is not always thru??? :rant:

My 63 Dart had reverse threads on one half of the tire lugs.... talk about :rant::rant::rant::rant::rant:

yeah, luckily a quick call to the guy I bought the car from and he appoligized for not reminding me about the reverse threaded wheel lugs.

That is, the left two or right two tires (can't remember now). according to these guys ( http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=52076 ) they did it until 1970

 

[elishatarvin]

My 63 Dart had reverse threads on one half of the tire lugs.... talk about :rant::rant::rant::rant::rant:

yeah, luckily a quick call to the guy I bought the car from and he appoligized for not reminding me about the reverse threaded wheel lugs.

one half of them? whatever the engineers were smoking that day...i want some :steve:

 

[JonKerr]

I've actually seen that on some cars that have a single wheel nut on the hub (similar to the way a lot of race cars are setup) the idea is that on the left side of the car, when you hit the brakes, the natural momentum of the nut makes it want to back off when it's a standard right handed thread. By making the left side a left hand thread, the nut will actually tighten itself when you hit the brakes hard. We used to do it on the 4wd RC cars I used to race too.

 

[elishatarvin]

that makes sense. for some reason when i read that i pictured half the nuts on a single wheel . i thought about each wheel individually not the car as a whole. maybe one too many :iconbeer:

 

[pyrocpu]

Yes, reverse threaded lugs on one side of the car was common before it was discovered that taper nuts do a more-than-adequate job in keeping the lugs on the hub. Hella confusing though, going from a more current car, to something a bit more vintage!

To the OP: doesn't an impact gun work?

 

[Marthy]

My 63 Dart had reverse threads on one half of the tire lugs.... talk about :rant::rant::rant::rant::rant:

yeah, luckily a quick call to the guy I bought the car from and he appoligized for not reminding me about the reverse threaded wheel lugs.

That is, the left two or right two tires (can't remember now). according to these guys ( Left hand threads on left side of mopars - For A Bodies Only Mopar Forum ) they did it until 1970

Yep! LH thread on the right, RH thread to the left. Most of the old school cars I'm working on have those center knock off nut. I always get a bit nervous when I need to use a 12 lbs lead hammer on a $5M car! Indycar are like that too. Back in my A day I was changing a wheel in 5 sec.

Here's me here at Indy500 in 2008. I was suppose to do it again this year but my driver got bump on the last qualification day...

 

[elishatarvin]

:hijack:
:spank:

 

[dart1963]

:hijack:
:spank:

slightly... valid points... if it doesn't come loose, it might:
be reverse threaded
have thread-locker
might not be a screw

though I don't recall any reverse threaded stuff on our bikes.
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One more random tip... before lowering your bike off the rear stand (say, after some chain maintenance), ALWAYS double check you've got the kickstand down and locked.... heard a few storied of dropped bikes from something this simple.