The handy 'TIPS & TRICKS' thread

Greasey Fingers

Greasey Fingers

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member 'Edgee2004' dosnt like this thread.

This thread went to shit and didn't pass approval of member Edgee2004. Sorry for trying to get into the spirit of sharing Edgee2004 please accept my humble apologies.
 
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Cleaning tip
The best engine degreaser is a product called power purple. Pour some into a spray bottle and apply to oily/greasy areas and use a nylon brush. Rise with straight water and boom nice and clean. The stuff just works great, I even use it on my carpets if I have grease on my shoes.
 
custom GPS mount
No need to buy an expensive GPS mount, take an old GPS mount that goes in your car and drill six holes in a square pattern (see picture)

Once that is finished you can out three zip ties through the holes and synch them tight (I tried just one tie and it didn't hold it tight enough). Final step is to wire the power cable off the battery. I used a cigarette outlet, in line fuse, and some 18 gauge wire. Run the wires under the tank for a nice factory look and enjoy. My total cost was a little over 10 dollars not including a GPS.

Final product

 
DEALING WITH STIFF OLD RUBBER PARTS: warm up your carb boots, rubber grommets or any other 30-year-old rubber parts in hot water (dry off well) before putting them on the bike, they will be much more flexible. Less elbow grease needed :) Alternatively you can use a hair dryer.
 
Hot Tip: is your motor bike from the 70's and 80's? buy an impact screwdriver and a torque wrench!
 
this is a ???? thread for me.

it starts with two suggestions that mechanically speaking "may" work but probably do not.

Clutch Cable
the clutch cable thing would only weaken your springs. if you have a hard to pull clutch the clutch cable is probably bad and needs changing. if it is not the clutch than you probably have an issue with the clutch and this voodoo will probably do nothing really.

Master cylinder
the MC air bleeding trick?? it "may" work. only because the MC valve is going to be closed and when it is released the air "may" return back to the resivor. on a hydrualic system you cycle the system until air is gone. but due to traditional line routing in vehicles and pressure this will not work. motorcycle line do travel north to south/up and down so maybe. however this is not a full proof method. tradtional bleeding is easier and safer, plus does not take long, so why not do it that way?

Purple Power
This is great for degreasing but will hurt paint so, you should not use it. foaming engine degreaser is just as cheap and safer for paint. plus if you heat the engine and then use the degreaser as the direction call out it works great.

GPS Mount
Ok i like this it a low cost mount. not super secure but great idea. i think it may rotate a little.

Old Rubber
This works but if the rubber is cracked it is a waste of time.

everything else is ok. when i read Viagra i know this was going to wrong direction, lol
 
Greasey Fingers said:
This thread went to shit and didn't pass approval of member Edgee2004. Sorry for trying to get into the spirit of sharing Edgee2004 please accept my humble apologies.
Click to expand...

Whoa, man. Don't give up on this thread. There are some good tips.

He offered one man's opinion which is fine. Some things work for some ppl and not others. That's OK.

I've used some of the tips and I'm glad I did.

Going thru my head right now, "Stayin' Alive". WAIT, that may not reflect real well on either myself or this thread. Forget that part. But don't dump the thread.
 
Don’t get butt hurt man.
I am just saying that there are better ways to do things, and as a 12 year vet in the field of aviation maintenance I feel I have a good insight. Because, unlike ground base vehicles, if something stops working inflight your chance of dying increases exponentially.
I do like the thread and I think that open discussion is good. Your whole reason for starting this thread was to get “good” tips and tricks.
So I was giving insight into “good” practices. Sorry to offend you.
And I never stated anything negative other than the thread was taking a turn towards Viagra and other non-relevant comments.

P.S. I am also an instructor in the field of aviation maintenance, not an easy thing to do if your dumb.
 
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Stripped screw head
if you have a srcew that is hard to remove and notice that the head is semi stripped looking put a little bit of valve lapping compound on the tip of the screw driver and it fill up the space between the screw driver and the head of the screw that is stripping. this will give you a better bit on the head of the screw.
 
Ignition testing/coil
If you think that your coils are bad and not firing, or you think that the coil is missing or shorting take a timing light and connect it to the wire off the coil that you want to test. if the light has a constant flicker than the coil wire is good, test all wires at this time. if you notice a long duration between flickers than the coil is missing. test the ohms if the coil and then continue to follow down stream to the fuse panel test voltage and continuity of the wire to the fuse. if you notice a wire test continuity to ground but is a power wire than you found a short.
 

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