You ever try to do something simple to your bike and it all turns to s#*t?

[Alien]

Every once in a while I like to put the Valk up on the lift and go over it with a fin3 tooth comb checking for loose fasteners, cracked hoses or any other problems before they reach critical mass.  Sunday was such a day. 

I checked the whole bike over and only found one issue.  The left front turn signal was a little loose, not flopping around, but a quick and easy fix right?

I removed the signal from the fork tube, tightned the allen bolt and reinstalled the signal. 

As I was tightening the outside bolt (gently, but apparently not gently enough) I hear "POP".  Crap.  I figured I broke the bolt with my big gorilla paws even though I was conciously trying not to over tighten it.

I pulled the signal off and found that the bolt had not broken.  Instead, the threads had let go--NOT STRIPPED--just cleanly came out of the hole in a nice little coil.  Sigh.

What to do?  My first instinct was to tap the hole for another bolt but I've had some Loctite thread repair in my tool box for a while and I thought I'd give it a try so that I could reuse the original bolt.  Following the instructions, I coated the bolt with release agent, mixed the two part compound filled the hole, tightened the bolt, waited 5 minutes, removed the bolt (hey, nice clean new threads!) and waited 30 minutes as per the instructions for the repair to cure fully.

30 minutes later I reinstall the signal and as I'm tightening it..."POP"  CRAP.

I disassemble again and decide that I need to let the epoxy cure longer this time.  After letting it sit overnight, I try again and guess what?  Yeah, you guesses right--"POP"  MOTHERF@#$%@#$%!!!!

Screw it.  I grabbed a tap, tapped the hole, found another allen bolt in my stash and reinstalled the signal.  This time all went well.

All told it took just over 24 hours to tighten my turn signal.  

[Hef]

Thanks for sharing. I thought I was the only one who had those kinds of problems. My wife always laughed at me because when I had a simple job to do, it usually never turned out to be simple. The older I get the more it seems to happen - don't know why, that's just the way it is!

[czuch]

Thats absurd. I have worked in automotive restoration shops, one British, and own several old Fords.
24 hour turnaround?? Ya got off light. I had to mill a part for a 53 Austin Healey that was made out of unobtainium. That "POP" you describe is the sound of blood pressure on the rise.

[Jack]

 

[Tx Bohemian]

Know what you mean, happens to me alot.  I just figure it's a fact of life and think if everything went perfect it'd be a boring world.

This past w/e I did some "bohemian rigging" on my riding mower that should've taken 10 minutes and took over 1-1/2 hrs.

Same issue, broken bolts.  Needed to install two self-tapping bolts and the first went on no problem but the other kept breaking off. Went through 3 bolts before I finally got done.

[RainMaker]

Can't count the number of times something simple turned into a long term project.

My wife says that with me, there is no such thing as a "5 minute job".  Ever.

[Black Dog]

My ex used to call them 'Steve Jobs'    ...  The real tell-tail sign that you are embarking on a 'Steve Job' is directly related to how long the local hardware store will be open...  I've learned over the years that I must start my 'easy' fixes before noon on Saturdays.  Be they plumbing, electrical, or car repairs, I usually hear the 'Pop' at 8:45pm, and the hardware store closes at 9:00 

My latest example of a 'Steve Job' happened Memorial Day...  I had returned from the 'Q' in The Woods, later Sunday afternoon, and my son said that he had turned on the 'Air', as it was 93* most of the day...  I walked in the house, and it was 88* inside, and sweltering...  I checked, and the air was on, the furnace fan was blowing (warm air), but the outside unit was quiet...  Went and checked the circuit breaker, and it was OK...  Hmmm, what is it?  Went outside to check the switch on the house connect, and lo and behold, the breaker key was missing (like an emergency shut off)...  I had the house resided last fall, and evidently the workers had pulled the key when moving the box to hang siding...  Problem was, is that I had no idea where it was...  Trip to Menards, Home Depot, and a local hardware store told me I was not gonna find a key that day...  Called my electrician (a friend and neighbor) only to have him call me back from his cottage in upper Wisconsin (no help).  He told me just to go buy a new box, complete with key, and remove the old one and wire for wire, replace it with the new one (240V, no problem  )...  I did, and it worked, but it was almost 3:00 Memorial Day afternoon... 

Black Dog

[tank_post142]

" I had to mill a part for a 53 Austin Healey that was made out of unobtainium. " 

about 12 years ago we had to create a right head for a WWII German Maybach  12 cyl engine from a block of aluminum. was planning on pulling the head and making new copper head gasket. 5 weeks later she ran like a top.

[Robert]

Now that was good thanks   like the old saying goes misery loves company. I also hate when to start a project you have to repair the tool that you need to do the project or do something to get the job done which in itself builds to the bigger project

[R J]

Now in my older years, those 5 minute jobs become jobs for my kids.

They always manage to get them done in 5 minutes also.

Right now my youngest daughter is on a 5 minute job for me, it was her turn.

All I wanted done was my keyless/wireless code box, (garage door opener) mounted.    Seems as all the firking little gadgets the door company put up are getting in the way.    Not enough meat left for the gadget.   It needs 3" and all that is left is 2".    I told her to just cut the chunk of wood holding the rubber door slide on and mount it in the notch.     Well you know how these Construction Engineers are, do it right or don't do it.    We are at that stage now, she has had the project for about 2 months now.     Told mom, I just might have to go out and do a redneck installation.    She hide the keypad from me so I guess I won't be messing around.

[OverdueBill]

I run into these "quick" jobs all the time.  Try as I may, I cannot follow the old rule of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it."

[old2soon]

This will give you some idea. Since i've had my Valkyrie(2 years the 30th of this month)my Honda dealer is on their 4th parts mgr. I've been on a first name basis with all of them!! RIDE SAFE.

[hotglue #43]

Msapers..... sounds normal to me... ... but ... then I know Gear Jammer.. ..  are you familiar with Bobby's Law?  He makes Murphy look like a wuss.....LOL.   

[biguglyman]

I feel your pain....

[Momz]

Kinda like buying a new tool to remove an old part and installing the new part.
Fiest you break the new tool taking out the old part,...breaking the part in the process.

Next day you buy another tool and try to instal the new part. You bugger the threads on the new part,...and just go in the house and stew about how simple things can go so horribly wrong.

Well there is always tomorrow, another day, another screw up!

No wonder dealer techs take shortcuts!!!

[john]

" He makes Murphy look like a wuss ".....LOL.                                   

[MNBill]

When I tell my son I need a hand with something that will only take a few minutes he disappears. He knows whatever it is I need help with will take hours.

[art]

I just put new brake disks and pads on the front,easy job ,NO.After instaling everything one side was rubbing hard enough to prevent the wheel from rotating.The wheel was instaled properly but the caliper was not releasing.It turned out that the caliper was not floating on the mounting bracket,it was frozen in place on the slide pins.I could not usfreaze it without removing the caliper from the bike and putting it in a visemeaning I would need to bleed the brakes again,DAMM.Anyway I did remove the caliper and had to cut the pins and use a lot of force to get them out of the caliper.Then I tried to get new pins,Nope the dealer would need to order them at about $20 for two little pins and at least a week of no riding.I have a small harbor freight lathe so I made two pins and cleaned the pistons then installed the calipers for four hours work and no cost.The little lathe sure is paying for itself since I have been making other stuff with it also.I would recomend that other riders check there calipers for freedom of movement because it is a pain in the butt to fix and new calipers are very expensive .Just the mounting bracket is $75 each.I have 140000 miles.What happened was that water got past the boot an into the pin area and rusted it solid.Now its clean and lubed with antisease .A small job turned into three days of work.At least I got my Valk back.

[shortleg]

   That is what I call Fudd,s law of relativity:
 The job always expands into the time available.
  So if you have a 15 min job it will expand into
 the time you have that day. 24 hrs!!!!
       Shortleg[Dave]

[FLAVALK]

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. Wife and I were in Home Depot the other day..she spies one of those so called "5-Minute Fan". A ceiling fan that they lead you to believe can be installed in five minutes. I looked at her and said "Are you serious?". We both laughed. It would take me 5-minutes just to get it out of the box!  

[musclehead]

it took me about 6 hours to install my air horns, I was reading from some of the guys that it took them 1/2 hour.......  REALLY? 

[bigguy]

Click for blog "Breaking my Valkyrie"

Click for blog "Breaking my Valkyrie"

Thinking of having one of these made for my shop.

[fudgie]

I got a old Simplicity I use around the farm. She is my plow bitch in the winter. No deck, just a plow. Went to trim bushes so I hooked up the trailer to it and no start. WTF? It ran 2 weeks ago. New batt and starter sel. Ok, choke is still out, no cables loose. Batt must be dead. Put the charger on it. hour later, no click. Dam it! Try boost. Nope. Charge it again for another hour. Nothing. Batt % & amps are good. Mess in the engine. Why am I not getting a click? Set cut off is gone so thats not it. Look down and a lever for the mower deck, thats not on it, is down. I remember yrs ago this would kill the tractor if it was down. Flip it up and it starts. 

[RP#62]

It is for that reason exactly that I have a 48 hour moratorium on working on the bike prior to a big trip.
-RP

[Jess from VA]

Yeah, anything to do with leds and turn signals on a bike sends me into a murderous rage. 

[alph]

I pulled the signal off and found that the bolt had not broken.  Instead, the threads had let go--NOT STRIPPED--just cleanly came out of the hole in a nice little coil.  Sigh.

before tapping it out with a larger threaded bolt, get a thing called a "Heli-Coil" and insert it with some BLACK loctite.  it'll never come loose again!! 

http://www.emhart.com/brands/heli-coil/