We drop into our Tech Editor's workshop Boyd's Motorcycle Surgery and see what dirtbike tricks of the trade he's got this month.
FREE TRICK: BRAKE LINE FIX
TROUBLE:
Brake lines come wrapped in a tight plastic packet which forms them into an incorrect shape. This means they can be hard to get them to sit in the correct position when fitted to the bike.
TRICK:
Use a cable tie or tape to hold them in the correct position, then warm the brake line with a heat gun or hair drier and then allow it to sit and cool down. When the brake line cools it will take the new shape but be careful not to melt it.
DIFFICULTY: 1
TIME: 10 minutes
COST: $0
TOOLS: Heat gun, cable ties or tape
FREE TRICK CABLE NIPPLES
TROUBLE:
If you fit the cable nipples in your throttle tube dry then they can bind up causing a rough or clicking feeling in your throttle. It can also lead to the cables being kinked and eventually start them to fray.
TRICK:
Before you fit the nipples into the throttle tube apply a small amount of grease to the nipples or throttle tube so the cables can move freely in the throttle tube without biding up.
DIFFICULTY: 1
TIME: 2 min
COST: $0
TOOLS: Grease
CHEAP TRICK HOUR METER
TROUBLE:
Many hour meters have an inductive cable that slips into the back of them that senses a pulse from the coil. This cable can come loose when you are working on the bike and moving the hour meter around causing it to come out and stop working.
TRICK:
Place a drop of glue on the cable where it slots into the hour meter. Don’t go overboard in case you ever need to break the glue off and remove it but just apply enough to keep it in place.
DIFFICULTY: 1
TIME: 1 min
COST: $2
TOOLS: Super glue
FREE TRICK: KILL TRICK
TROUBLE:
A customer bought me a motorcycle for a service and after servicing it I could not get the bike to go. I then proceeded to spend the next hour tracing why the bike had no spark.
TRICK:
What I found was the customer had wired up the kill switch in reverse so on was off and off was on as he felt it was a good idea to deter thieves but forgot to tell me wasting an hour of my time. So the trick is if you have some kind of theft deterrent system on your motorcycle, tell your mechanic so he doesn’t want to kill you when it comes time to pick up your motorcycle.
DIFFICULTY: 1
TIME: 1 minutes
COST: $0
TOOLS: Communication