Tomorrow, Wed., I become a teacher on the SIL's bike.

[John Schmidt]

Has a new front tire and has asked me to help with the R&R. I told him I'll help from his shop stool cuz learning by doing is the best method. Got a weak smile and "oookaay" then asked exactly what I meant, so I told him. Naturally I'll lend a hand, but once up on the lift with jackstands under the engine guards, I plan to tell him what needs to be done and direct his efforts....some verbally and some by demonstration. Should be an interesting day. He's all excited about doing it, kinda nice. 

[Thunderbolt]

Good on you John.  Muscle memory is better than just watching.

[John Schmidt]

Good on you John.  Muscle memory is better than just watching.

You're so right Terry, the idea of learning by doing was kinda drilled into me as a college student earning my certificate years ago. My teaching certificate has long since expired, but my propensity to do so has not. Andy, SIL, is certainly an eager student. 

Hope you're enjoying retirement....say "hi" to Iris.

[Willow]

You're so right Terry, the idea of learning by doing was kinda drilled into me as a college student earning my certificate years ago. My teaching certificate has long since expired, but my propensity to do so has not. Andy, SIL, is certainly an eager student. 

It sounds like a worthwhile adventure but it troubles me to hear you repeatedly refer to Andy as your sister in law.   ???

[Jess from VA]

That's always how I read SIL.  (don't know why)

[John Schmidt]

   Ok guys, so how do I abbreviate son-in-law. From now on I'll just call him by name....Andy. We had a good day working on his bike. The biggest hurdle to pulling the front wheel was removing the speedo pick up. That cussed little bolt that holds it in place would not move. I finally went to my place and got my Dremel, used a cutting blade to cut a straight slot in it. Finally it broke loose but what a PITA for over an hour. Not much room to work in there so you have to be careful. He was kinda amused by the methodical approach I used for removal of the wheel and where I placed everything as pieces were removed. He later realized how easy it was when he went looking for various bolts, etc. Got the new tire mounted, I gave him a 90 deg. metal valve stem to have installed, the local dealer was curious why I didn't want them to balance it. Told him I used balance beads....said he never heard of them so I showed him the kit I had with me. He'll probably be talking about that for a few days now. When we dropped off the wheel, I asked about new bearings, was told not in stock and would take 2-3 days for them to come in so I said forget it. We left after they said it would be a couple hrs. minimum before they could do the tire swap to I told Andy to call a local bearing house I had used and gave him the nomenclature needed. They had 19 in stock so we picked them up and when returning to pick up the wheel I asked how much to change the bearings since we had new ones; $30. Great, saved me some time and frustration. Less than 10 min. we were out the door....new tire and new bearings. Back at his company shop I went through the clean and grease process with him, anti-seize on various bolts, and the sequence of assembly. I bolted the calipers in place and in doing so I just tightened them down and stated "that feels about right" for 22 ft. lbs. Andy said to hand him the torque wrench, he slapped the socket in place, set it to 22 and applied the torque. The bolt moved ever so slightly then the wrench goes "click."  Happened on both of them....he couldn't believe it so when doing the other side we did the same thing and got a little more movement before the click. He wondered what happened on that side, how come I was off on the setting. Told him I'm out of practice. Got it all back together, 2 oz. of beads inserted and then aired up again to 40psi. Lastly we replaced the bubbled up chrome tranny covers, all he needs now is a new alternator cover since his is bubbled up. Otherwise all is nice and shiney. He then took off for a short ride around the block, pulled back into the shop with a huge grin and said that's really grippy now. Hope so, you could almost see the air in the old tire it was so bald. I have to laugh....he's like a kid on Christmas morning with his "new" Valkyrie I/S. It was a good day! 

[Jess from VA]

Good story John.   

I hope he knows that brand new tires are often slipperier than old bald ones.

[..]

Speedo pickup - Little bolt?

Mine has a cross headed screw.

[Valkorado]

   Like a kid on Christmas day.  I still get that feeling every time I throw a leg over one of my Valkyries!

[John Schmidt]

Speedo pickup - Little bolt?

Mine has a cross headed screw.

Actually it has a phillips pan head bolt, also referred to as a pan head screw. Over the years I've found the term bolt and screw used interchangeably and fully understand what folks are saying. 

Generally screws are tapered and don't need the hole to be drilled and tapped ahead of time, a bolt does. Often it also goes through the material and out the other side in an enlarged hole without being threaded, then being held in place with a nut/washer combo. In any case, it was in there solid and on a 21 yr. old bike there's no way of knowing how long since that tire was replaced. Judging by the lack of tread....table top smooth, it had been quite a while. The date stamp was 11 yrs. old.

[..]

Speedo pickup - Little bolt?

Mine has a cross headed screw.

Actually it has a phillips pan head bolt, also referred to as a pan head screw. Over the years I've found the term bolt and screw used interchangeably and fully understand what folks are saying. 

Generally screws are tapered and don't need the hole to be drilled and tapped ahead of time, a bolt does.

Oh yeah