Tricks of the trade

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by Dave Wolfe

Yesterday I figured out its much easier to reinstall a kickstand by first putting the spring in place on kickstand/frame, then putting kickstand in place and attaching bolt, rather than trying to put spring on afterwards.

It doesn't help if you're installing a missing one, but if you need to R&R your existing stand, use the penny trick. Swing the stand so the spring is extended. Insert pennies between the coils of the spring. The spring will only contract slightly, holding the pennies, which in turn keep the spring extended to almost its full length. Pop the spring off, do the necessary work, pop the pennied spring back on, and remove the pennies. $0.12 made my centerstand swap a million times easier.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by InvisiBill

It doesn't help if you're installing a missing one, but if you need to R&R your existing stand, use the penny trick. Swing the stand so the spring is extended. Insert pennies between the coils of the spring. The spring will only contract slightly, holding the pennies, which in turn keep the spring extended to almost its full length. Pop the spring off, do the necessary work, pop the pennied spring back on, and remove the pennies. $0.12 made my centerstand swap a million times easier.

^^^^ this is totally, 100% awesome and in the spirit of this thread.

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by InvisiBill

It doesn't help if you're installing a missing one, but if you need to R&R your existing stand, use the penny trick. Swing the stand so the spring is extended. Insert pennies between the coils of the spring. The spring will only contract slightly, holding the pennies, which in turn keep the spring extended to almost its full length. Pop the spring off, do the necessary work, pop the pennied spring back on, and remove the pennies. $0.12 made my centerstand swap a million times easier.

That information is worth every cent.

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

That information is worth every cent.

... that you've paid for it.

[Dave Wolfe]

Originally Posted by InvisiBill

use the penny trick. Swing the stand so the spring is extended. Insert pennies between the coils of the spring.

Effen brilliant I must say.

[InvisiBill]

I'm not even sure where I saw that - it was recently when I was doing my swap, and I found it in some random thread somewhere in Google results. If you're searching for it, it's all over, but I just stumbled across it (and am so glad I did).

[InvisiBill]

When you're changing fluids, open the fill port before opening the drain plug.

It will prevent a vacuum lock which keeps the old fluid from draining. But even more importantly, it ensures that you're able to refill the fluid after you've emptied it. There's not much worse than finishing up some maintenance and not being able to open the cap to fill it back up, meaning your bike is stuck there without its blood until you can find a way to get it open.

[JohnnyBravo]

Lots of folks don't get ^ that one

[snot]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Lots of folks don't get ^ that one

Did that once on an oil change on my car. I had a long day and almost forgot to open the hood... Oil was nice an hot too.

Lesson... Keep head on shoulders while performing task.

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by snot

Did that once on an oil change on my car. I had a long day and almost forgot to open the hood... Oil was nice an hot too.

Lesson... Keep head on shoulders while performing task.

Been there done that
I guess I didn't tell my story about an oil change in Iraq where someone was like how come the oil isn't coming out, being at the end of the day, hot, tired, done son... I crawled down in there and peeked at it just in time to hear "oh ****...I didn't pull the plug" and see the deluge... A hemmit carries a nice amount of oil and I was not only pissed but I looked like I had been oil wrestling
first things first, even at the end of the day folks!

[Tim Fox]

Milk for me. Settles my stomach and hydrates some.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Tim Fox

Milk for me. Settles my stomach and hydrates some.

[adouglas]

You may have seen some gadgets for holding the rear brake caliper in alignment while changing the wheel.



Note this may not apply to all bikes, but some (like my R6 track bike) have rear calipers that aren't actually bolted to anything. They're held in place by pinching between the wheel hub and the swing arm, and have this tab that fits into a blind slot to keep them from rotating.

The problem that these gadgets solve is this: You have to hold the caliper in place when mounting the wheel, making it a fair bit of a hassle to keep everything lined up. You really do need three hands.

So the idea is that you shove this $40 piece of Delrin through the adjuster from the right, into the caliper, and it holds the thing in place while you align the wheel and shove the axle through. When the axle hits the tool it just pops out. Clever.

Hard to visualize, so here it is.... the photo shows this floating caliper setup, without the wheel or the actual caliper (you're looking at the caliper mount on the inside the swing arm). Sharp-eyed observers may note that this one's been modified and is actually screwed in place... a nifty mod that costs $149.



Love both ideas, hate the prospect of spending money. So I rooted around in my toolbox and discovered that I had a socket just the right size. Gave it a shot today and it worked great. $0.

[csmith12]

Care to share the size/brand of the socket?

[adouglas]

It's a 19mm, 1/2" drive Allen bit that I use as a front axle holder when needed. Nothing special about it... just root around your tool box until you find one that fits.

Could probably do the same thing with a piece of PVC pipe, too... a slightly oversized piece; cut a lengthwise slot to allow it to collapse (like a roll pin) and I'd bet it'd do the trick. But that's like, work. Love it when a found object solves a problem.

[cadd]

Originally Posted by InvisiBill

When you're changing fluids, open the fill port before opening the drain plug.

Rear differential fluid change. Almost **** my pants when I wasn't able to open the fill plug after I drained out all the oil. The fill plug was rusted in place. Had to borrow a buddy's impact gun to break loose all the rust. Never again will I drain anything unless I have access to the fill hole.

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by adouglas

So I rooted around in my toolbox and discovered that I had a socket just the right size. Gave it a shot today and it worked great. $0.

I've used socket extensions similarly. Stick it in like an axle from the back side, and just push it out as you slide the axle in. Obviously, this may not work for every specific case, but your idea of using sockets could work really well, as they come in a variety of diameters and lengths, and you're likely to have a number of them around.

If you find one that works but could be a little better, it might even be worth looking at other brands of the "same" socket. Some are longer/shorter/thicker/thinner than others, so you might find a perfect match for a few bucks.

Originally Posted by cadd

Rear differential fluid change. Almost **** my pants when I wasn't able to open the fill plug after I drained out all the oil. The fill plug was rusted in place. Had to borrow a buddy's impact gun to break loose all the rust. Never again will I drain anything unless I have access to the fill hole.

Exactly. I had trouble getting the Vulcan's rear drive fill plug out after draining it. Old fluid > no fluid, so make sure you're able to refill it before you drain it. Don't just make sure you have new oil on hand, make sure you can put it in too.