gstallons

I was telling Twin AH about a MG dealer Joe Eish from Salineville , Ohio who is long gone . When you ordered from Joe or Ida , you would get the parts in a tore up Tide washing powder box wrapped in masking tape along w/a old grocery store ticket along w/your MGNOC discount . Then you would mail them a check . They were magnificent people !

Back on topic : I can't understand why a bike dealership would not cater to older (15 yr +) bikes . You would at least get the owner/bike to the shop and then decide if you want to proceed. A lot of shops want 50% down of the repair estimate before starting . I know some shops that ended up broke and had a hop full of bikes left there because the owners would not pick them up. It seems like facilities only go for fast $$$ and no worries about customer retention or a good reputation . Also you get "advice" from the Company on how to handle YOUR business or at least you thought it was your business .

Mmmm . OK ! as long as you are HAPPY. Peoria Ill ? Floating ( I know what that is) ground ? No one in the States could correct this ?

You paid $2k for the Quota ?????????

just asking , when does the light come "on" and for how long ?

It makes you realize everything ends up into two categories : jetsam or flotsam .

I can't press the like button to this . I can only say prayers for these folks and hope for a safe exodus .

I have finally stopped leaning (as much) in the corners as I used to ! On a lighter note , I was sitting at a light in Paducah today and on my phone was a YouTube short playing where this Ga trooper had stopped a Mustang . As the SuperTrooperGirl was walking up beside the Mustang , the Mustang (of course) pulled a holeshot and left the TrooperGirl standing. As she twirled around to go back to her Cruiser I got excited and gassed my car and almost ate the backend of a Ford truck !

You know Pete , he's so non-confrontational .....

maybe I should make an amendment . Did you listen to your PARENTS ?

From what I read you can use the "special interest" motorcycle portion of this rule being a motorcycle registered after 01/90 w/no models having been equipped w/ABS or CBS braking systems. I am going to think this will all be up to the interpretation of the people issuing the license .

Did you listen to old people when you were young ? I sure didn't , they were clueless dinosaurs !

The ABS retrofit ?

I remember when I was 17 I had a buddy w/a Dodge Charger with a problem . We called this older man and described the problem . he told us to take one valve cover off and look for a pushrod off. We got lucky on the first valve cover. Found one bent pushrod and the lifter out of it's bore. Reinstalled the lifter and straightened the pushrod on an anvil and reinstalled . I will never forget being able to describe the problem to these OLD mechanics and they would tell you before you finished what was wrong ! Boy , it ain't that way anymore ! The worst thing I have witnessed is going from carb. engines w/ point/condenser ignition systems to outer space technology where you require reprogramming if you replace w/shield wiper blades . or something as stupid as getting a magnet to close to the camshaft(s) on a 3.6 Pentastar (aka Chrysler) engine. Yes , YouTube it to see how ignorant and sensitive these are to unwanted magnetism . I think these vehicles just need a cell phone under the hood w/the # to the closest franchise. I am beginning to wonder if technology is going to destroy the ICE before the EV does

I was going to get Makita this last time ( I have owned it before and the batteries played out) but the place I was working at had Milwaukee . I bought a drill , impact gun (where the bits plugged in) 3/8" 1/2" 3/4" impacts and some more junk. Milwaukee is good and so is Dewalt . I'd stay away from the H/F and other stuff.

F it , get the harness and get it right !

Someone retrofitting ABS has too much time on their hands . Besides , who is going to test / verify the effectiveness of the ABS on the bike ? If this reg is true , there is finally a Country that is more kooky than America .

Hey , Makita is good stuff ! Pricey , but good !

I can't understand how they require ABS on a bike that was never fitted w/ABS If you were to import your car / truck or whatever that was not built w/ABS would they deny entry on it also ? Is this the V11 or another bike ? Are ALL bikes on the road there ABS ?

I am a member of a mechanic's forum and a few years ago a member was overhearing two managers of fast lube service joints talking and one was bragging about how his store was under the target of incidents per/1000 service jobs . Wow ! I wonder how the 101st Airborne feels about a 95% success rate on parachute packing ?

The other edge of the sword . YouTube can show a video of a complete R60/5 rebuild in 3 20 min. videos. A customer then becomes an expert on time and skills required to do the job ! They get the impression "anyone can do this" or just look under the hood and a flashing red LED will show the defective part. Things are not as easy as they used to be. No intelligence , knowledge , experience , skill or any unseen abilities or $75k worth of tools / shop equipment are considered when you start to bill for your labor. Now , would you rather do a valve adjust on a 20 yr old V11 or a new anything else ? These dealerships don't know and don't care to even look at anything else to see . Now , this does leave an opening for someone to do repairs on these "vintage" bikes.

You think that's something , you should hear stories about changing oil in a Saab 900s w/a M.T. and they drain the oil out of the trans. add 5 qts. of engine oil and the customer gets down the road and bad things happen !

Explain the no drain plug Smart engine again. I can't believe a drain plug can help lower the cost enough to warrant doing something this stupid . But I am not a part of the program .

Well , if the people at the dealership don't know ANYTHING , it can be very easy to not be able to diagnose the misfire. Pete , it would be extremely difficult to not declare war 9and I mean WAR) on the tool box robber. For the ones who do repairs for a living , customers fall into two inevitable categories . Good customers you would go out on Christmas Day and help them because their money is good and you appreciate their patronage . Bad customers that beat you out of money , tell insane stories about you and will never leave you alone. I do not understand why some dealerships have a cutoff on "vintage" vehicles ? The problem is not the bike as much as the customer. The bike is an inanimate object , the customer can be a pain-in-the-ass.

If you owned a shop you would want to get at least 50% up front before you start . If not you would have a lot full of $$$ converted into bikes no one would want . AND trying to get ownership of a bike from a mechanic's lien is absurd . Phil , I do like the magic trick w/the triumph head !