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Message started by slopoke on 03/24/05 at 08:55:07

Title: I admire Y'all
Post by slopoke on 03/24/05 at 08:55:07

I am facinated reading all the tricks and changes people here have made to their bikes. I would LOVE to just be able to re-jet the carb and replace the white spacer.

I am so afraid of messing things up, though....... THEN I'd have an expensive mess! A simple thing like an oil change is OK, but go much beyond that and I am one of those people you talk about who has to take it to the shop.

I AM willing to learn with help, though, so if any of you are around Montgomery, Alabama, let me know. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only Savage rider around here - it's another Harley town! :P

Slopoke

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by WD on 03/24/05 at 09:28:42

None of it is all that hard to do. Making mistakes is how any of us learned/learns how to do this kind of stuff. Unless you manage to literally blow up the bike, anything you do can be undone.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Male, female, young, old, novice rider, longtime rider, doesn't matter. There comes a time when you come to the conclusion that "Stock Sux". Even just deleting the factory stickers and replacing them with something more your speed is a good start. Follow Greg 650's tech photos on the carb mod, and you'll be "fine as frog's hair" (I used to live in MS and TN).

FYI, all towns are Harley towns. Doesn't matter what part of the States you are in. Savage is a specialty bike. Anything else we can help you with this morning?It's what we're here for.
-WD

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by bobo383 on 03/24/05 at 18:09:22

That's how I learned, by getting in and doing it. There's wrenchers anywhere. Get out and ride with those Harley guys -- you'll find somebody who'll help.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Greg_650 on 03/27/05 at 07:03:41

It's all a matter of just giving it a shot. Get dirty, bust some knuckles and break a sweat. It's about being curious and imaginative. Get a good set of tools, read the manual, and never be afraid to ask questions. There isn't a real mechanic anywhere that hasn't had to fix his own mistakes...trust me on that one ::)

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Ed_L. on 03/27/05 at 07:18:56

Wenching is easy, just take it apart till you get a bit nervous then put back together. Next time go a little bit farther with it. Before you know it you will be rebuilding carb in your sleep. ;D. It also helps if you have the right tools, don't by cheep ones they can make the job a lot harder. Don't forget to ask questions, you will find years of knowledge and experence here.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Diane on 03/27/05 at 08:34:42

I know the feeling Slopoke. I have always been mechanically inclined but have never had anybody to teach me. I am terified at the thought of messing up my baby. When I bought my saddle bags the guys here gave me instructions and I was excited because I knew I could do that. Was all set to go buy the tools and do it on my day off. Then d*amn I come home from work one day and the boyfriend had had one of his buddies come over and do it for me. All I could do was smile lovingly and tell him how sweet he is when what I really wanted to do was scream. But you see he has no mechanical abilities. Anytime he picks up a tool I cringe, so he will never understand my desire to do it myself.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by WD on 03/27/05 at 14:01:03

According tomy wife, you should pity us because we have nothing better to do with our time. :-/ ???

Although who does she holler for when her stuff breaks down?
-WD

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by slavy on 03/27/05 at 14:08:25

Don't even think that enyone has been born knowing or beeng able. Some start earlier, some- latter. Take your time , go to the bike and start with the simpliest things- how to remove the seat, how to change the oil, how to check the tires, find the fuses, and so on. Once You feel more comfortable with the very basics You will start going deeper. Use Your common sense. Every time You put something back together right, You will feel really good.
The hardest victories are against Your own weekness and this victories are worthed the most !

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by klx650sm2002 on 03/28/05 at 00:41:46

I used to throw spanners and things, that was over 20 years ago, I've grown up since then.

Clive W :D

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Savage_Rob on 03/28/05 at 06:36:29

Ed_L. wrote:

I think that about sums up most of my learning in wrenching - other than working on the family car with my dad when I was a kid (and that was a Chevy 350).

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Greg_650 on 04/01/05 at 07:12:17

You learn about wrenching the hard way sometimes....funny story about my beginnings in mechanics with my Dad (he's gone now)...

When I was around 14-15, I was "helping" to change the oil in my Dad's '56 Cadillac. My job was to drain the oil, so I went under the car and drained it...and as was the case with things in the '60's, I carried the oil to a nearby field and dumped it (all the environmental things were different in those days).

After that I returned to tell him that I was done...and he then poured in the new oil while I watched. (ah, those wonderful father/son moments ;)....anyway, soon he decides to start the car and drive it, but it won't move (he really wasn't much of a mechanic, but he tried). This puts him into a panic and he starts calling his different mechanic friends. They give him all kinds of advice and things to check....the big question was "why won't the car move after changing the oil?" And finally someone asks him "which oil?"....

Did everyone know that the '56 Cadillac had a drain plug on the transmission pan?

Yep. That's how I got started ::)

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Paladin on 04/01/05 at 10:38:17

That's the same way that I became a master communications tech. I've destroyed a lot of equipment, caused considerable trouble. My record was taking out all military communications between the near east and europe for four minutes.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Greg_650 on 04/01/05 at 10:45:45

Paladin wrote:

You didn't bring down any satelites?
::)

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Savage_Rob on 04/01/05 at 10:58:58

Paladin wrote:

Heh, that's kinda like when someone (seems like they were at AT&T, I think) took out the SS7 network with a bad firmware/software load a while back. That'll leave a mark.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by slopoke on 04/01/05 at 14:01:04

See, THAT"S what I mean.... just make one little mistake and POW, I'd be walking!!! :-/

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Greg_650 on 04/01/05 at 14:02:59

Ah, but you fix it, never do it again, and maybe even make it better :o

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by gandalph40 on 04/01/05 at 14:52:16

slopoke wrote:

I AM willing to learn with help, though, so if any of you are around Montgomery, Alabama, let me know. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only Savage rider around here - it's another Harley town! :P

Slopoke

I can't say that I can help with the jet or spacer mod, but I'm up in Birmingham and I'm up for a ride!

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by sluggo on 04/01/05 at 15:00:01

Paladin wrote:

that is excatly how you become a "master technican".

best i ever did was make my destroyer escort do 360 degree tight circles for 12 minutes, then got to blame it on something else. never let the guy who caused the problem investigate what happened. ;D

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Paladin on 04/01/05 at 18:04:57

slopoke wrote:

See, THAT"S what I mean.... just make one little mistake and POW, I'd be walking!!! :-/

Nah.... You will either figure it out yourself or you'll post and we will (snicker) solemnly explain (guffaw) how to correct what you did.

Trust me -- we have all been there, done that, got the T-shirt; if not as a bike mechanic then as whatever we are master of. As Sluggo said, it is how you become a master.

And no matter how good you get, you will still make mistakes.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by gitarzan on 04/03/05 at 11:44:55

T-Shirt? I never got the T-shirt!! :-[ ... >:(

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Mr 650 on 04/03/05 at 16:34:08

So did you have to do 100 push-ups or what? :D

Paladin wrote:

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Paladin on 04/03/05 at 18:19:41

Are you kidding? All I did was bump the harmonic generator causing it to pull out of it's slot. The next slot is the monitor/switchover unit and the slot past that was where the backup harmonic generator was suppose to be but wasn't. If you're running with no backup it's not my problem when your primary fails.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by WD on 04/04/05 at 04:37:15

Well, drop the admiraton of my wrenching abilities... :'( I took the engine in my wife's car apart to fix a coolant leak. I, hmm, how to say this nicely?, hmm, royally f'd up. Win some, lose some. Still a learning experience. Been down since Sept 04, guess another week or 10 won't be that big a deal...I feel like an idiot. ::) :'( ::)
-WD

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Tony on 04/04/05 at 04:55:45

WOW! I was unaware that so many were involved in telecommunications. I am a Comm. Tech. for VZW. I mostly work on Lucent wireless equipment (CDMA, TDMA, AMPS, 3g/VCast) and Microwave shots. MW is my trained specialty, But i have been know to switch over to the nonexistant standby card and drop a 3 ds3 hop faster than I could mess myself. (my boss was duly impressed (sarcasm)).

On top of all of my electronics training I too am still quite apprehensive about opening up the carb to make the changes.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Mr 650 on 04/04/05 at 10:12:59

No sweat, open it.
Greg has some great pics on the procedure if you have not already searched them out.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Savage_Rob on 04/04/05 at 20:22:29

Hmm, the Autoplex huh? My experience is mostly with DSC DEX 600's (the Motorola EMX 2500 cellular version, but they're all similar), the Ericsson AXE's (wireless again), the Lucent 5E (CLEC environment) and now a bit with the Veraz softswitch with VoIP LD. Telecom is an amazingly small world.

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Greg_650 on 04/05/05 at 05:20:41

This topic now has me amazed....

:o

Title: Re: I admire Y'all
Post by Tony on 04/06/05 at 06:05:17

There was some motorola equipment around during the creation of verizon but that has all been swapped out. I (thankfully) am not a switch tech. I have no motivation to become and "inside" guy, though I do have a basic understanding of the 5ess and the definity. I love working in the field no matter the weather. The stuff I most like working on is the Microwave shots. We use mostly Harris Fairanon stuff but we do have some others scattered around. they keep them around i think just to keep us on out toes as we have no documentation for them and it realy makes your brain hurt when something goes wrong (that why i like it).