Extra parts –

Motorcycle repairs and maintenance often brings with it a certain level of satisfaction. The personal pride in knowing you did it yourself. The knowledge gathered from the process, an intimacy with your machine earned from being inside the working bits and pieces of the machinery. An attitude of self-reliance as the repairs were accomplished without the aid of a factory technician, or dealership mechanic; not to mention the many service related dollars saved from doing it yourself. By not paying that dealerships going hourly rate, one can save significant dollars that will be much better spent going into the gas tank for extra pleasure miles rather than paid to someone who really has less at stake than you do when considering doing the job completely and perfectly.

And that brings us to the nagging question of shade tree mechanicism (yep I made that word up).  That heart sinking moment when one gets to the end of a project and there are extra parts laying on the workbench… It happens. There are as many reasons for it as there are home do-it-yourself mechanics.
Lack of organization-Lack of familiarity with the proper assembly- Lack of manual consultation.  

It seems that every project follows a similar pattern –

Prepare the work area –

Get the bike set-up and the tools out. Have the coffee brewed and the radio set to an appropriate channel (For me it is usually the oldies rock station) Organize the newspapers required to catch fluids if you are going to work on anything that may leak or spill. Rags, and supplies and new parts should be ready (Which for me means sitting on a nearby worktable so that I can see them and not forget them).  And anything else you may need or want as the time goes by.

Dig right in –

For my Goldwing is usually means taking off the seat and plastic body panels in an attempt to get TO the mechanism needing work.  Then it’s into the repair itself. Some times, I know the proper tool, and sometimes I need to make 2 trips to the toolbox before I get the correct size. It is actually easier on the Goldwing as 2 sizes cover a lot of the misc nuts & bolts.  8 and 10 mm are common to Honda motorcycles so I always have those out. The 12 and 17 are used and of course the metric Phillips head.  This is where things get fun. If I know what to do, the time goes by easily, unless of course the unexpected pops up…Things like an oil filter stuck so hard all the Kings horsemen were required to loosen it. And the dropped washer that rolls out of the garage and into the lawn that takes 15 minutes to find. That is part of the joy and challenge of the home repairs.

One of my habits while removing parts is to put the needed fasteners with the part I have removed on a nearby table, which I have set up specifically for this purpose. I stand the table nearby but off to one side so I have to take a few steps to get to it. That way I know my actions are deliberate and thoughtful and I believe that will help me remember where each part is, and how it goes back together. Usually….However there are those surprise parts that fall off as you remove a part or fastener. Those washers that roll away, or drop into the inner workings of your bike, never to be seen again. And of course – SPACERS – the very bane of my existence. It always seems that there is a set of spacers that I was unaware of that fall near my feet. Casually I pick them up and place them on the table behind me, with the tools and supplies and rags. Not deliberately walking them to the parts table so I have an accounting of them...No instead they are placed haphazardly and absentmindedly onto the tools table because they fell while I was engrossed in making sure the light didn’t crash to the cement below.  

Reassembly –

The fun part of the project. Everything is done. The wrench twisting, the screw turning, the grunting and groaning. Even the sweating from the effort of un-sticking fasteners without breaking anything (an absolute art in itself)  Knowing the job was well done and brimming with satisfaction and pride in the success of the effort, the home mechanic effortlessly begins to re-hang the removed parts. In fact this is a good time to polish each piece so out comes the cleaner and every inch of each part of plastic, and chrome is shined as it goes back on. The evidence of fingerprints wiped clean and forever from the body panels so as to not betray the intrusion. Briskly the parts seem to fly back onto the  bike – ever less to do as the project really picks up steam and momentum. Each part replaced is a marker of triumph for the home mechanic. Finally the last part is bolted on, and the seat remounted so the bike is now ready for riding again.

Clean – up

The drudgery of the job is always the clean up. My way of doing it is to gather the garbage and start a waste bag. I toss out wrappers, and used parts as well as dirty paper towels, and empty containers. Then the bag awaits further stuffing as I begin to return the tools to their permanent home in the tool chest. I like to have a rag in hand and I wipe them off as I place them back in the proper drawers. Knowing I put them away clean helps assure me they will be ready when I am for the next project.  Soon they will all be back in place and I can go out on that test ride…

Then I see them – those spacers I so carelessly placed on the wrong table! Damn my inattention! How could I leave these off the bike? Why did I not notice them as I reassembled the housing?!  What should I do now..?

Here is where the human aspect of motorcycle maintenance becomes apparent…I ask myself this telling question… “How important are these spacers?” Of course I already know the answer. The designer wouldn’t have put them in if they weren’t needed. But it means I have to take the tools back out, and the parts off again…

And the cycle repeats……